Ofsted and feeling under immense pressure

[Argesrt]

I‘m not in the UK so not quite Ofsted, but the equivalent.

I am an art teacher. However my school struggled to find someone to cover the English teacher (ESL, secondary level)- first her maternity leave, now on long term sick leave. My only qualification to teach English is that I am a native speaker. I‘ve never taught languages before, and obviously it is quite different to teaching art! I‘ve been doing it for almost a year now and actually really enjoying it.

However, my school is being inspected next week. All the teachers will be observed. Two of my English lessons are going to be observed.

I am filled with absolute dread. I do think I do a good job, and I have done a few courses to help me be a better language teacher. But it’s not my profession and I am feeling very nervous about being observed.

The fact that I know exactly which lessons are being observed is adding to the pressure. They know I am expecting them, so there is no excuse for the lessons to not be perfect.

Has anyone got any tips or words of wisdom to get through this?

Oh gosh, that sounds hard! Inspection is hard anyway and being observed in a subject outside of your specialism is doubly so.

Firstly, difficult as it is, try not to get too hung up on 'perfect'. Few lessons are and it can often depend what happens on the day. I recently had a lesson where a child had an allergic reaction as we were coming up the stairs. You can imagine how that impacted the lesson!

Is there anyone you can ask for advice on your observation lessons? A senior leader? Someone from another school who teaches that subject? Just to give you some reassurance.

Good luck!

What support have you had from your leadership team when you took on the new role? What have their observation feedback/coaching points been over the past year? If they've been supportive and given you guidance, great - you know what you need to work on. If they haven't, how can they possibly expect you to teach amazing lessons for the inspectors.

Can you view it as an opportunity to get feedback about things you might be able to do differently/better and therefore a chance for professional development?

In my opinion (and experience), teachers are only as good as the support they are given. And I do mean genuine support - not so-called support plans...

That sounds really tough, I'm sorry. I'm sure you are doing a great job, and it sounds like you are really helping your school out in a tough time!

I think if you do get a poor observation, then it's probably a chance to open a conversation about attending further CPD or getting more support in the role? At the end of the day, it sounds like you are doing them a massive favour?