Is it bad form to resign after one term in a new school?

[SandyBeachandtheDeckchairs]

As an NqT who is working over 55 hours a week I am beginning to question how much longer I can do this for. If it was just this year I could do it, but all staff seem to do the same at my school. The message seems to be that if we want the best school and the best for the kids, it's the least we can do. Staff are lovely but I have my own child who I would like to see sometimes! Can you change nqt jobs or will it reflect badly on me?
How do ask at interview what the working hours are? My plan is to get a job in a school much closer to home and look closely at staff retention figures first!

I have worked at every evel in secondary school for 20 years. Currently a classroom teacher. The workload expectations can be over whelming and make you feel a bit sad. ( this week has been hard) However on the plus side if you quietly work out the crap that you can ignore bluf your way through and the stuff that you need to do it is fine. During term time I am ruthless about time management both at home and at school. Biggest tip....look after yourself, go to bed early and do things that make you feel happy and ring fence quality time with your child. Do not do work in the holidays.

I think working in the same school as your child is fine in a secondary or in a very large primary (3 form entry+)

In anything smaller, at primary, the experience is changed for both parent and child. The teacher parent 'knows too much' - which teachers are good, what changes are planned that might affect their child, the children with difficult home lives etc etc. The pupil has the disadvantage both of not being able to forge their own 'in school' persona, and also very possibly knowing several of the staff in different capacities, as friends of their parent as well as school teachers. A blurring of the boundaries is only too tempting - having your child sit in your classroom rather than proper before and after school care etc, said child then maybe wandering round the school or using facilities that would not normally be available to a child after hours (playground equipment; field; ICT suite) or overhearing conversations that are not meant for their ears.

I have seen TAs with their own child in the school work very well - TAs work school hours, don't tend to attend staff meetings etc etc - but teachers who genuinely manage both roles professionally and keep them utterly separate are much, much rarer.

55 hours in primary is normal. I am decently experienced, but would still say that I spend 9-10 hours a day in school, (7.45 - between 5 and 6), do an hour at least every evening, and work much of Sunday on a regular basis.

It's mainly the marking, tbh - a good day produces 96 books to mark, a bad day can produce 130 - as well as lots of meetings about e.g. SEN children or specific incidents or a specific area of responsibility.

Stick it out if you can - will be the same everywhere.
I am an NQT in secondary, and do 45 hours Mon- Fri (7.30-4.30) including lunch and break times (we get an hour for lunch, but work about half of that) and about 5 hours at the weekend, so 50, but also have meetings and school events sometimes on top.
I am an older NQT ( retrained from other job) so used to prioritising and cutting the chat etc to focus, from pervious profession, younger NQTs seem to to spend longer on tasks.

Stick out the year. You are almost 1/6th of the way. You don't want to look flakey, and you will become a better teacher in yourself if you overcome obstacles.

Be ruthless with time management, by only working on things that are important.

Look for more suitable jobs from Easter.

I've been teaching 10 years and am a HoF in an independent school. I consider myself pretty efficient, and rarely take work home other than dealing with emails and correspondence that I don't have time to action at work and have pretty much zero marking due to my subject. However I still work on average 50 hours per week-up to 65/70 in particularly busy times of year. So 55 hours a week as an NQT sounds about normal to me tbh.

Stick out the year.

Learn from your mentor or someone else in the school who is really good at this how best to prioritise your time.

Did no-one tell you that 50-60 hour weeks are pretty standard in teaching (and across much of the public sector these days)??

Hi everyone, thanks for your continued support. Yes they did tell me that the hours would be long, and in my previous career I also worked long hours, I just hoped that the talk by the head about work-life balance would mean things might improve. I also underestimated how dog tired and emotionally drained I would be. I often feel most days that I don't know what I'm doing, and I find it really stressful. The school are being very supportive, with lots of help coming my way, but it's really tough.

I've seen some of your other threads, and you seem very overwhelmed, bless you.

What was your previous career? Can you spend some time reminding yourself why you chose to drop that and go into teaching?

This is a really crap term and you've only been doing the job 5 weeks, it definitely takes longer than that to really find your feet. The hours that you work might not reduce, but you will become more comfortable in the classroom and everything won't seem so stressful.

There's a holiday coming up. There always is. Sometimes it's a real struggle to make it to the holiday, but you always feel better for having one.

Hi piggy I do keep doing that, and I really love my class too, but I am really overwhelmed. My previous job was creative, pressured and deadline driven but also corporate and soulless in a way, I had done lots of voluntary work in schools before and loved working with children, so thought that teaching would be a good career option, it's the opposite of soulless!
Hopefully this week will be better!

Pay for a full subscription to Twinkl...masses of great displays, power points, worksheets etc.

Get a set of stampers to help with marking, e.g. "Things you did well" so you only have to write a few bullet points once you've stamped it on,

See if you can recruit a friendly parent to help laminate, mount work, photocopy etc. I have a gran of a child who was in my class about 5 years ago who still comes in every Monday afternoon to help with those types of tasks.

Think seriously about going part time once you've done your nqt year. I job share and work 3 days. I love it.

Stick it out for your nqt year. The workload in teaching is never light but it won't always be this hard.

YY to stamps!

Stamps are our friends!!

In theory we have admin support to do our displays. She doesn't. So neither do I. Teachers should not be doing displays. ask your union!

Yes noblegiraffe you're right, it's not the hours so much, just the accompanying feeling of panic. There's seems to be so much I don't know that really freaks me out. How do these other teachers know instinctively how to put together a good lesson? I end up overrunning on some bits, going too quickly over others, and am still trying to find my very illusive "teacher voice". I really wish I'd spent a year as a TA, just getting used to being in a school.
You all think I'm a basket case I'm sure, I'm pretty normal really, this has all really knocked me for six.
Thanks again everyone!

Other teachers know how to put together good lessons because they've got years of experience. And they still go badly sometimes! Overrunning on some bits and going too quickly over others is totally normal, it's recognising when that's happening in the classroom and adjusting what you're doing that's important. Lessons don't have to fit nicely into the planned little boxes. If the kids don't understand, do a bit more teaching. If you've set them off on some work and they've all got their hands up, stop the class and go over it again. If something takes too long and you don't finish it in the lesson as planned, just add it to the start of the next lesson.

I think in a PGCE you get used to planning lessons, with timings and certain activites that you need to get finished in each time slot. Learning doesn't work like that. I don't plan the next lesson until I've taught the previous lesson for that reason, but I know in primary you need to be a bit more organised. Things can be tweaked though!

If you know where your lessons are going "wrong" then that means you're a self-reflective practitioner. I've concluded that being self-reflective is something that is very hard to learn - you can either do it or you can't. But it's the key to improving as a teacher. If you can reflect on what happened in the lesson and identify what you want to change, then you are well on the way to becoming an excellent teacher. Just make sure you recognise your successes and don't spend too long dwelling on the bits that didn't work out like you wanted them to.

Hi

I work with a NQT part of the week - I can see things that need doing and do them - some things she can use next year - I'm making a resources box for different phases - so ahead of the game - these can be used as fillers too.

Get a folder and put one copy of each worksheet into it - ready for next year

Also before you photo copy write the date and if you have a traffic light stamp use it!!

Yes to twinkle (someone will have a password - download and keep them in date order and Year you teach

Get a diary - hunt down resources - ask what people have you can use

Get outside with the class when you can - use your time wisely and if a TA can deal with a situation let them

Refuse to speak to parents during teaching time ask them to make appointments

I'm in my 13th year. I do 8.15 til 4.30, leave at 3.40 Monday and Friday to pick DD up.
Prob 6-8 hours at home across the week.
So 39ish at school, 47ish all together. I get everything done.
Just wanted to spell that out so you know that it does get easier.

The school are trying to get me an experienced TA, my current one is new, and I'm hoping this will help lift some of the load. Someone who knows the ways of the school, can help with the many little charts and lists that need updating would really help, and also help me to stamp out the disruption. That's what I'm pinning my hopes on currently.
We're not allowed to use stamps or worksheets I'm afraid!
Thanks again everyone.

Not allowed to use stamps or worksheets.... wow....

on what grounds???

Barmy.

I've started having a look for positions for my previous job, just in case this doesn't work out. Feedback for my first observation wasn't great, and even with lots of support my confidence is really low. I wonder how it works, if I don't improve do I lose my job/fail the NQT year as a whole? If that happens it's over isn't it? Blimey!

I thought you could retake your nqt year if you needed to?

Im sorry your observation didn't go so well, were you very nervous, as that never helps. I hope you got specific feedback on how to improve? And some positive feedback too -
don't forget to congratulate yourself for anything that went well.

You should have a school mentor for your nqt year - talk to them and /or any supportive member of the slt and tell them you're struggling and want to improve but don't know how. They'll want to support you and keep you in school, so will help you. Ask to observe other classes in your ppa time (especially if the school is multi form entry, so you can see the same year group) so you can remind yourself how other people do it.

I'd say it does get easier, as long as you're in a supportive school, but focus on your class - ask them for ideas for topics (you could do these as golden time if they won't fit into the curriculum). Try to find the bits that you enjoy to get you through this tough patch. I don't know what age you teach, but it is hard getting the children into a routine after the long holidays. After Christmas you'll be coming back to a familiar group /setting and it'll be so much easier.

The problem is we shouldn't be doing 55 hrs a week like martyres. Other profession don't put up with it.

Unless under a exceptional circumstances, ducking out after 12 weeks points to poor practice.

but was tempted by a job going at my dd's school. No commute and no mummy guilt either!

Really bad idea. Especially if you are doing it to ease guilt!

It also don't necessarily change your hours of work.