A LETTER TO MY NQT SELF

Dear Me,

Relax. Everything is actually fine and you’re doing a brilliant job. I know right now everything seems to be moving at 110mph but this will actually just become the norm and you will learn how to manage it. This profession is pretty hectic at times but just trust the process.

Being consistently ‘outstanding’ doesn’t exist. Having high standards and expectations of yourself and those around you is great and hold onto that, but don’t pressurise yourself into thinking that every lesson you teach will be better than the last. It won’t. Consistently ‘good’ is ‘outstanding’, and some days nothing will even seem to be 'good'. That’s OK.

Every time you hear or read "you don’t go into teaching for the money" or "we only do it for the love of children" (or anything else along those lines), just smile and don’t take it so seriously. In fact, I'd say every teacher did go into teaching for the money because they aren't doing it for free are they? Seriously though, you know yourself the reasons you got into this profession and that’s what matters, stay true to them and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. The education world is full of wishy washy quotes that you will come to learn are generally meaningless and written by people who have never stepped foot inside a classroom.

Not everybody knows better than you. Sure, you’re not as ‘experienced’ as some of your colleagues (if we’re judging that on years spent in the profession) but that doesn’t mean you can’t back yourself and drive ideas and initiatives that you believe in. Ultimately, you are more likely to get the results you want by investing your time and energy into something you believe in and are passionate about, rather than nodding along to someone else’s "this is how we do it here" rhetoric.

Use Twitter but be cautious and open minded. It’s such a great tool for networking, sharing and gathering ideas and meeting like-minded people, but can also become the complete opposite quite quickly. Some people will push opinions on the platform that they believe are true and you might not agree. Some will simply use it as a tool to show off and make out that everything they do in the classroom is amazing. You will learn that it doesn’t quite work like that, so approach with caution and remember that it’s totally fine to share the negatives too.

Be you. Talk about your passions and life outside of school, inside of school. Bring them into the classroom and even do lessons based on them. Being a role model doesn’t just mean being the person who keeps order and reinforces the classroom rules. Despite what some children might believe, you don’t live at school. Share what you feel comfortable sharing and reap the benefits. Do the same with colleagues too, even if you think they might not be interested, they will.

Invest time in yourself outside of school. This will seem impossible at times, weeks will go by in the blink of an eye and you’ll realise you haven’t done anything outside of work other than sleep and work more. At times, more often than not in fact, you will have to sacrifice that lesson plan that 'needs' doing or those books that 'need' marking and live with the fact that they might not get done by the morning. You will survive, so will the children and you won’t lose your job. Realise this as soon as you can and use the time to do the things you love doing that aren't teaching related. You will become a better teacher for it.

Finally, keep doing what you do. You're having a positive impact that is wider than you will ever really understand.

Me x