Play based Early Years teachers. Please help, I'm miserable.

[WiltedFlowersIntheVase]

I'm a P1 teacher in Scotland and the play pedagogy movement is getting big up here. I previously taught very formally with active stations.

SMT asked me to move to free-flow this year and I have, but I absolutely hate it. I'm on my own with 25 children. It's never, ever, ever quiet. They have no interest in the 'must do' tasks and why would they when there are so many toys?! Academically they're not achieving what I know they're capable of. I'm stuck at my teacher table and they're not even able to concentrate there because of everything going on.

I've completed the 'training' but tbh it wasn't so much as how-to as it was people telling me how good it was. Maybe it is, but I hate this. I've never been so stressed.

I've spoken to SMT but they want this model. I'm dreaming of a worksheet at this stage.

It must be very hard if you are on your own trying to do this. No P1 class should have only a teacher on their own with 25. You can't possibly support the needs of the children in your class on your own in a formal setting, and much less so in a play-based setting.

I wonder if you would feel differently if your class was properly staffed?

Have you taught below P1? Worksheets and a teacher table sound much more formal than I would expect at this stage in the year no matter where you teach,

I agree that the issue here is that you don't have a TA.

I like to be organised and would not cope with trying to teach 25 dc all day on my own without any structured times.

Sorry, I have no tips or advice, just sympathy.

Well, my advice, always, is to put it back on people making the decisions, and I would say I am out of my comfort zone but really want to make this work, so could one of the SMT model it for me for a few days so I can see how to do it by learning from them

How on earth do you manage with no TA? Is P1 the equivalent of Reception in England? Just the practical elements (toilet accidents, putting shoes and coats on) must be a nightmare with no help!

They are slightly older than Reception children but it is the first year of school. The youngest turns 5 in January.

I normally have 25 on my own and it’s a hard slog but getting easier at this point. There’s no chance of support. All of our TAs are 1:1.

I did a nursery placement back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. We’ve always used worksheets up here in P1.

I feel it is being put down as my personal failing and I hate that.

I agree with the poster who said ask for some modelling of how to do it. I am a huge advocate of play but it can't be managed if you are in your own, it just can't! It requires you to be able to spend time observing, interacting and playing with the children to be able to move them on in their learning. If you have nobody there for support, I don't see how you can do that effectively.

Have you been given time/resources to equip your classroom to make it an environment which promotes play? I'm guessing not! It's a tall order. You need to invest a good amount of time getting your environment right to make sure it engages the children and helps steer them towards play that is productive and not wild and noisy. The pressure to do that properly mid-way through a year must be huge.

A play-based curriculum can be fantastic but it has to be done the right way and I can see how having it forced on you is making you miserable

I was given some money, but I wanted the Community Playthings blocks and they swallowed up most of it. We did have a good shop, house corner etc already.

I have been on the training but it was so limited. Most of the teachers who were promoting it also had outdoor space or at least an open area, which I don’t.

I am so, so drained.

Could you just look at introducing small changes rather than going all out straight away? The children still need a lot of training to be able to access equipment in a useful way. Maybe you've felt you have to make too many changes too quickly? If you feel out of control then it's very likely the children will pick up on that.

I think we all feel exhausted this year, whether we are comfortable with how things are working for us in school or not