Every day is different, it’s what a love about teaching but a typical day last week Monday 9th of January.

I get up at 5:30 am to get some exercise and do some studying as this allows me to enjoy my time after work knowing the harder tasks are already done.

If not told beforehand I am ready for 7 AM for the agent to send me on my way to the school they have for me, they will explain the year and whom I am to report to any other information to be aware of. If by 8:45 ish if they haven’t called, then your not going to work as schools will be getting ready to open.

I’m going to a local school, within walking distance (huzzah), and actually my favorite school. I get there at 8:15 because I want to get ready for the day ahead and prep myself for the class.  I talk to the Teaching Assistant (TA) who will know the students much better than anyone else and ask if there are any English as an Additional Language (EAL) and Special Education Needs (SEN) students. Understanding this lets me know about students who cannot control their behavior or have difficulty communicating in English.

I complete the registration on the SIMS platform, check lunches and then inform the students of who I am and what we will be learning today. I do tell them what I expect from them and how I like to reward students who do well such as adding a game at the end of the day, time permitting.

My class is a Year 1 class with mixed abilities so I start with phonics for 45 minutes then quickly into English comprehension before a little break of 15 minutes where I do playground duty. We come back and wash our hands and have a snack, normally fruit before moving on to Maths, we are doing fractions. I get the students to form into a mass then call out fractions and the students explain their answer by moving the mass around, quite fun for both the students and me.

Lunch, normally an hour, I mark their work if not already finished for 30 minutes and then grab some food. You are expected to mark the kid’s work as standard practice, check which colour that particular school marks in, and write the word supply to show that that day a supply teacher assessed the students. You can avail of the staff room but I get more done if I stay in the room where I am working. 

After lunch, we watch Alphablocks on YouTube as we do the register as this is a cartoon the kids like but also educational (often students come late because of traffic).

Schools tend to do the tougher subjects in the morning and afternoon as the kids become less attentive after lunch. We do PE and PSHE, first, because it’s a primary school I have to lead it, I play cricket as it allows all the students regardless of ability to experience bowling, running and catching or rounders if outside. If inside, I do light exercises followed by duck, duck goose, or bench ball.

We come into class and drink some water and settle down to PSHE which basically is a class for encouraging good social manners, respect for others, and why brushing your teeth is important. I’m very concerned with this subject because it teaches the kids concepts that they are too young to fully comprehend such as democracy when they can barely spell their names.

20 minutes before the end we play a game like heads down thumbs up which the kids love and engages all students including the EAL and SEN kids. 5 minutes before finishing and the kids are getting their bags and jackets and I walk them to the designated zone in partnership with my TA as we await the parents, my school has a policy that should the person collecting the child be unencountered before they must have a passcode otherwise we will not allow the child to go with them, it’s a great idea. There are two children who after 3:15 are still uncollected so we bring them to the reception and my job is done for the day. 

I’m thanked kindly by the Assistant Headteacher and warmly told I’m welcome back anytime, I do value these relationships as they can open up opportunities later and to be fair the agency does help with this even if only for financial gain.  I walk home and 15 minutes later the day is finished. There really is no typical day, the beauty of the job is that every day is full of new experiences and challenges