How to Survive Your First Year in Teaching

Let's face it, anyone who has completed teacher training in whatever form has found it a complete emotional roller coaster. Like nothing can really prepare you for the training year, nothing can really prepare you for the NQT year either.

Amazingly, despite completing my training and leaving my second placement full of confidence, I quit my NQT job back in March 2013 for various reasons and I needed a bit of a confidence boost before I leapt into supply work. At the time, this was it.

It's divided into well thought out sections covering everything from “Before you start” to “Professional development and promotion”.

If you've had an excellent teacher training period and proactive/helpful mentors in your placements, and you took the time to find a school that works for you and your NQT year, then reading this will provide you with a source of comfort and satisfaction over the next few months.

For me, as someone with two terms of NQT experience, the chapters and sections I found most helpful were “Climbing the Paper Mountain” and possibly “The First Lesson”. However a lot of what I read was relatively straight forward and each school is different, so in reality you do learn on the job.

So not essential, but certainly worthy of perusal in any spare moment you may have.

Relevant to new teachers entering the profession within the British education system.