Becoming a subject Coordinator or subject manager in Primary School is really the first occasion where your role within the school changes slightly.
Up to this point you will have been solely concentrating on your Class teacher position – now you are going to expand your horizons a little. But don’t worry – its not too hard!
Ok …so where were we up to?
Ok yes you had drawn out the plan of your classroom – set out the fixed items on the plan and decided where you wanted to be! Good start …just like setting up a gun turret at the front complete with searchlight!
Its a vital part of your teaching – yet it is overlooked or given little thought by many.
Its not just a case of shoehorning in the children or arranging desks into groups – its far more involved than this.
Now you maybe think I have gone crazy here by writing about stacking chairs…well perhaps a little bit ! But hey who cares !
How is this relevant to anything involved in teaching or classroom organisation or the school – good question…so listen up !
No matter where you are in your career path – Newly trained, existing member of staff or even moving to a new school…you have to fill the spaces that you now find yourself in.
So what do I mean by this?….
Well there are 3 spaces that you will find in your school and you must have your own unique presence and interpretation of each – let me give you some more detail
It’s a startling and worrying fact that approximately 55% of new teachers will quit the profession within the first year or 2 – that’s over ½ of new teachers saying “it’s not what I thought it would be” or “it’s not what I want”.
Wow a sobering thought – so why are new teachers quitting in such large numbers…to answer that we have to wind back a little and firstly look at why people are entering the Teaching profession in the first place?
IT’S YOUR FIRST TEACHING JOB !
Congratulations on passing your teacher training and getting your first teaching job – we’re all very proud of you!
Now when the dust settles, the handshakes are finished and the drinks put away you can contemplate exactly what lies ahead….now that’s a sobering thought if ever there was one!