If you're a primary teacher who's nailing it....

[NightNightJohnBoy]

Please give me your tips!
I've been teaching a while (a few years) and it really isn't getting any easier. The workload overwhelms me and the hours are arduous. In my current school, colleagues who have always seemed super confident are starting to crack under the load. We'll all be looking for new jobs next year. Meanwhile my teacher friends in other schools are reporting the same workload challenges.
So, rather than hang out with the moaners, I'd love to hear from those who are managing.
By managing, I mean someone able to get the job sufficiently done in reasonable hours (say, 9 hours a day), and feels relaxed enough for concern and hobbies when you get home.
What are your tips? Can I turn this situation around?

That should say 'conversation' not 'concern'.

Realise they need you more than you need them. Find a school with a decent head (easier said the done) and decent marking policy. Don't do other people's jobs for them - be a little bit awkward and push back on jobs that you don't need to do. Consciously plan lower marking tasks into your week and bin off any onerous marking tasks completely (eg in LKS2 use TTRS and a spelling app for every child at some point in the week). Leave display laminating lying around and often some kind soul will cut it out in a spare minute. Don't overcomplicate displays or change them too often. Try to stay in the same year group and push the point with your head on why this will improve outcomes. After a long day, stop. It's a job, and not a particularly well paid one at that.

Oh, and if you feel overwhelmed or stressed, do something to make the children laugh or smile. Sing together, dance together. That's why you teach. You will all feel better.

I hear you. It's a very tough job, physically and mentally overwhelming. It's sometimes impossible, and dependent on many things, but here are a few things that have helped me.

• When you get told to do something time consuming, nod, smile and then just don't do it or do it in a much quicker way. If you think they arn't going to check, then don't do it!

• Play the game. Input your foundation subject data quickly and guess. Nobody will know where your children are at in art, so just make that a ten minute job. Pretend you have looked through all the books to check their progress, but don't actually do it.

• If you have a TA, ask them for help. I have had a few that won't help, but most are happy to help, buy them biscuits, etc etc and ask them nicely if they can do some photocopying for you or some trimming etc. Show them you value them and they will help you.

• Invest in a paper trimmer. Take all your sheets home and ask family members if they can help you. They can trim whilst you sit and enjoy an evening glass of wine.

• Start doing your reports now. Start writing the personal statements on a word document, ready to just copy and paste them into the report later.

• Mark books within the lesson. Go round the room and mark your books whilst they are working if you can.

• Get the children to self mark wherever you can. Put the answers on the board and they can mark their own work.

• Create tasks that don't involve lots of sheets. Put the task on the board when possible.

• Find a school that allows all of this happen! And a Head that is sympathetic to workload! In my experience, if your children are making progress and you're doing a good job, SLT won't care whether you have done a starter, added a plenary, done a report on this and that or done a comment and rest of it. Just play the game, where you can.

Huge thanks for the tips both of you. I'll review and come back. You're so right about reports , I'm going to start that now.
I really try to get round to mark during the lesson, but class is very high need (25% OOYG), many just scraping by, so lesson time is needed to support. Will try and get better at that though.

I think it depends on the school/ area you are in. My borough is far easier with workload than others I have worked in.

I also have noticed that teaching KS1 is much easier than KS2 but that’s just me personally. I was a KS2 teacher for years and now in KS1 I find I can often marking planning and prep takes much less time. I only work 8-9 hours a day in total, no work in the evenings and weekends. The only time I work in holidays is when it is school report time and I want to get a head start.

I multi task quite a lot and will use odd minutes here or there to advance prep bits for following week or for deadlines. I do bits of advance work like this constantly. It’s quite hard to explain but this means I’m not stressed when certain deadlines for data etc have to be met. I think it can also depend on your cohort of kids and how supportive management are.

Hmm not sure about "nailing it" but I've survived almost 31 years so my top tips:

Find ways to meet SEND needs that can just become part of the day for everybody so that it doesn't feel like an extra job. EG. Library of social stories in your class, visual timetables that the kids prepare, costly corner or (if SLT allow it) couch with loads of cushions in your classroom, sensory break materials (Pilates bands?) in a box in class, using a range of signs (Makaton?) as part of your daily routine etc.

Go minimalist on the weekly planning, only plan as much as is actually helpful to you and don't let them tell you that you have to hand it in.

Set clear boundaries about how much you will do at home and stick to it so you have some leisure time.

Build in twice daily calming and feelings check ins to your routine, they really do help with having a class feel more manageable.

Plan practical activities for Mondays wherever possible , it makes a gentle start for the children and means you're not rushing in on Monday morning to get in line for the photocopier.

Don't be afraid to be the person who asks if the work load impact has been assessed when they're wheeling out their latest shiny new scheme, intervention, approach...

Have monitors in school and basically train your class to do as much as possible for themselves. Hard in the first term but pays dividends after that. Plus it's great for the children.

Get it into your head that pretty much everybody feels like they're bumbling along and just about making it through, they're not all doing it much better than you!

Finally, if you find something that promises you a slightly easier life with no detriment to the children EG pre prepared lesson plans that you find on line. Then grab it with both hands.

The secret? Move abroad. 🤣
I work way less than I did in England...and I earn more. There's much less pressure. (And I'm HoY...I was even more relaxed when I was merely a classroom teacher.)

I agree a lot of what has already been said.

I've taught EYFS, KS1 and KS2. I'd say all are hard but in different ways.

EYFS/KS1 need more preparation particularly if you follow a continuous provision timetable but KS2 has more marking.

I laminate things I feel Im going to use the following year E.g banners, signs etc. this saves time.

Keep planning that you can tweak the following year.

One last thing

Build up a bank of activities that take little to no planning or preparation but still engage the children and get them learning. Then you can "wing it" if you need to without it being detrimental to the kids.

P4C lessons and activities
Active maths/English
Drama activities

All work well for this and you'll find tons of ideas for them online.