Congratulations on getting to the end of another year. It has been a year full of assessments, reports and most recently, parent teacher interviews. It has been an interesting year, new National Professional Standards for Teachers, the looming National Curriculum and immense changes in school funding and resource allocation. On top of all that you have had to keep at the very center of it all quality teaching, engaging teaching and pedagogy.
Each school term is different; Term 1 tends to be optimistic, midway through summer, spirits are high and there’s a buzz in the staffroom. Term 2 tends to be where the children settle, characters emerge, parent meetings ensue and the realities of winter settle in, quickly. Term 3 has assessments and Term 4, well, Term 4 is full on. No matter what time of the year it is, it’s important to remember why we do what we do. It is all about the children that we interact with. School politics, Departmental expectations, new syllabus outcomes and new legislation comes and goes, but the only lasting thing is the impression that you leave on your students.
I hope that you relax and get refreshed over the holidays, you deserve the break!
Thank you for your ongoing support through I’m a New Teacher, it has been so wonderful to see the new teacher community grow and to see many recent graduates feel supported. As many of you know, I’ve released a FREE ebook ‘Avoiding Accreditation Disasters’ that has been received by so many new teachers all around the country. I hope that you have enjoyed it and found it useful.
Thank you.