From RQT to what??

[YawnyOwl]

How do you advance your career in reaching, I've not a clue .. I got pregnant in my NQT, then covid happened, now I'm back as an RQT. I'm keen to do more and advance, but there is 0 mentoring or support for in my very busy special measures school. How do you advance in teaching? And how soon? Not sure what next steps are, keen but totally lost

Teaching, not reaching!

There's nothing specific so it will depend on your school. What do you want to do?

If you're an RQT then it's your 2nd year. My advice would be to get really good in the classroom and then say yes to 1 or 2 interesting opportunities as they come up. E.g. If there's the option to be involved in something like ecoschools, school council, department planning, staff training.

You could also ask if your school has a coaching option for development where a more experienced teacher could work with you. Not all schools offer that though.

In general, nobody minds listening to an enthusiastic aspiring leader who is trying to support school initiatives or clearly has aspirations for promotion, but the easiest way to look silly or to lose credibility is to be one of those early career teachers who is chasing promotion whilst not walking the walk in the classroom. Being a solid classroom teacher is often undervalued in my experience, but it's key to being a good leader.

Avoid school council like the plague. Worst job in a school.

In general, nobody minds listening to an enthusiastic aspiring leader who is trying to support school initiatives or clearly has aspirations for promotion, but the easiest way to look silly or to lose credibility is to be one of those early career teachers who is chasing promotion whilst not walking the walk in the classroom. Being a solid classroom teacher is often undervalued in my experience, but it's key to being a good leader.

That's about right.

I've avoided it because it would have been a hellish amount of work in my school, but some of my friends have actually quite enjoyed it and we're given autonomy to run it how they like.
My mind briefly went blank with examples of different things that can be useful for progression, that aren't just an extra curricular.

We have an aspirant middle leader programme but I do recommend getting a couple of solid tests under your belt first.
Our head of geography got it in year 2 but she's a living legend.

Thanks so much for the advice! My school do seem quite keen on me which is nice, my head did say I was the best NQT they'd ever had and I always get very positive feedback. I'm doing curriculum planning currently which will also be useful, I wonder if I could get involved in mentoring or something next year?
This would be the type of thing I'd go to the tes forums about but they seem to have disappeared without replacement....

Whilst people do mentor in their 3rd year, I was one, on reflection I don't think people have become sufficiently proficient in the classroom to necessarily do mentoring justice that early on. It is the sort of thing that can be given out in the first couple of years. I know someone who was mentoring straight out of their NQT year, which I always found odd given they were in a department of talented experienced teachers.

Looking back, whilst I was a competent mentor in my 3rd year and had a good trainee, I didn't have the same range of experiences or pedagogical knowledge as I did in, for example, my 5th year. Had I had a tricky trainee in my 3rd year, I don't think I'd have been as effective. It's good to have on your CV though

Actually, I can't count my own career out. I was also involved in mentoring in my second year. My point still stands though, I think having a few years banked makes for better mentoring.

I was also a mentor in year 2 but I think it's too soon, really. Like when I did my masters in education and NQTs were doing it!
What's your subject?

Are you on edutwitter? So many opportunities for CPD and networking on there.

@MrsHamlet English... I see what you mean about needing more experience but our department has nobody with more than 2 years' experience teaching English. High turnover

I am on edutwitter but to be honest I'm just observing and grabbing resources. Don't really get how networking on twitter works, it seems to be a lot of hot air

Ah.... the best subject!

That sounds like some departments I've worked with. Some people I know were head of departmentin their 2nd or 3rd year and to be honest, they were at schools with high turnover.
It's a chicken and egg situation as new teachers need experienced teachers to learn from and guide them in how to create a sustainable career, but without the experience there's the partially sighted (year 2 teachers) leading the blind (trainees and NQTs), and if they 2nd and 3rd year teachers haven't had the benefit of experienced staff then the cycle continues.
The problem is often experienced staff don't want to work in some schools with high turnover, and cynically schools with high turnover tend to have fresh faced SLTs who don't want people with many years experience who might know more about teaching than them.

We did actually start off last year with some very experienced teachers who were newly starting at the school. But they quit or were sacked by the new year (warning bells, much?).

I guess the crux of my issue is... I don't have anyone who could mentor me or guide me so I feel lost. I didn't actually have a mentor in my NQT year as they quit a month into their role (as a teacher, not as my mentor) and were never replaced.

I've sent you a message but don't know if it has gone through.

Having seen your update, high staff turnover is a warning sign in many cases. The fact they didn't replace your mentor is also a concern as it doesn't show they're a school who is investing in staff development.

Who did your NQT paperwork? It might be worth asking if you can shadow them.
This is my role in school - I'd be buddying you up with someone who does what you want to do to help you gain experience.

It was various people... In the end it was officially someone v senior. There was a nice mentor type person who did another set with me but she left before I returned from mat leave!

@YawnyOwl

I am on edutwitter but to be honest I'm just observing and grabbing resources. Don't really get how networking on twitter works, it seems to be a lot of hot air

Hmm, I have been to several webinars related to my particular interests, found a local school to work alongside with some curriculum development, found another school to talk to about a particular in-school issue we have which they share. I've also read so many books I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't seen them on twitter. I find #SLTChat and several other regular chat spaces very interesting.

Maybe it's not for you, but it is a very useful source of CPD if you can get your head round it.

Do at least another yet of being a really strong classroom teacher. After that you could apply for small TLRs such as professional tutor, or timetabling or whatever your school is advertising internally. You could conceivably apply for HoD after 4-5 years and be good at it! Things will crop up that you throw your hat in for