Previous lives, late meetings, and are things getting better?

“Hey there Tappers! It’s half term for almost all of you this week – and boy, isn’t it a scorcher! With record May temperatures, we hope you’re staying cool and enjoying it while it lasts! 🙏 Don’t forget, we’re continuing to run a prize draw this month. You, and any Teacher Tapper in the same school as you, have the chance to win! All you need to do is tap just once between 1 – 31 May and you’ll automatically be entered. Full details and terms and conditions can be found here . Let’s get into it! ➡️ Careers before teaching For just under half of you (47%) teaching has been your first, and only, profession! This is particularly true among primary colleagues, where 50% went straight to teaching compared with 44% of secondary teachers! But what of the other 53%? Well, 17% came from a junior role, 14% a mid-level role and one in ten teachers reported that they’d reached a senior or managerial role (or higher), quite some experience that’s been brought through the door! Between subjects/key stages: Languages and EYFS/KS1 teachers were the most likely to have entered straight into teaching 60% of Science teachers reported having another profession before they became a teacher 11% of Maths teachers were in a senior or managerial role before becoming a teacher What did those who had another career think of them compared to teaching? Your views are pretty clear, more than three-quarters (79%) who have had another career said the workload of that career was less demanding than teaching . Even among teachers who came from senior or managerial roles, the picture barely changed. Just 14% felt their previous role was more demanding than teaching – while 63% said it was less demanding! If that doesn’t capture something important about the workload challenge of the profession, we don’t know what does! Staff Meetings A few weeks ago, one Tapper got in touch to ask about staff meetings. After those questions, another Tapper wanted to know more, and more! The more we ask about it, the more great ideas you send in for us to ask about! Part one is here. First, the frequency picture. Among primary teachers, whole-school staff meetings are most likely to be weekly, with 77% reporting their school does this. The picture is far more varied across secondary teachers, with almost half reporting at most once per half term. One Tapper wanted to know whether the frequency of staff meetings affected the end times of the meeting. The answer? Not really! Between 4:30pm and 5pm was the most common finishing time across all primary teachers – and was in fact the most common regardless of how often these meetings were held . On the other hand, secondary whole-staff meetings were a little bit shorter, often finishing around 4:30pm, despite happening less frequently (although departmental meetings were not covered by this question!). Anything we’ve missed about whole-staff meetings? Send any ideas to england@teachertapp.co.uk ! Teacher Tapp Trackers Now we’re at the half way point of the summer term, it’s time to check on our tracker questions – those which we’ve asked several times before so we can get a stamp on how you’re doing. Behaviour One of our most regular tracker questions asks whether teaching and learning stopped due to poor behaviour. Since the pandemic, the numbers have climbed, and this academic year looks like one of the worst on record. Primary teachers hit 49%, a record high, at two separate points this year. And while behaviour typically improves towards the end of the year, even the most recent reading of 42% is higher than anything we recorded throughout the whole of 2022-23. The picture is slightly more encouraging among secondary teachers, but only slightly. This year’s peak of 36% still edges above the highest point from last year. So, while the gap between primary and secondary remains, the direction of travel is the same for both. Workload Stressors May is peak stress season for many teachers, with major exam sessions in full swing – and our most recent data reflects that. 36% of teachers said student wellbeing had caused them stress at work recently, up from 29% last month, though broadly in line with the same point last year. The rise is visible in both phases, but it’s particularly sharp in primary: 44% this month, up from 34% in April. Relationships with parents are also showing the strain. 24% of teachers flagged this as a stressor, up from 21% last year – and among headteachers, the figure climbs to 53%. Working hours A quick check in on your working hours from last week. The proportion of headteachers working over 50 hours sits at 74% – unchanged from May 2021, but down from a peak of 80% in May 2023. For non-head senior leaders, the figure has fallen to 54%, down from 60% in 2021 and 64% in 2023. For classroom teachers, it’s now 24%, compared to 34% in 2021. Daily Reads The top blog this week was all about attending meetings where you feel out of your depth! A whopping 15% of senior leaders read this one! There are so many great blogs out there and we love featuring them on Teacher Tapp. If you have a blog you think we should feature, then please email us at england@teachertapp.co.uk and we will check it out! The post Previous lives, late meetings, and are things getting better? appeared first on Teacher Tapp .

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