Over the last couple of year, teaching has been quite different and at times very challenging. You will have had times where you may have only been teaching a handful of children in the classroom but then you will also have had to set up remote learning and communicated with children who were told to stay at home or that were isolating.

As the lockdown restrictions have now been lifted and children have been back at school now for some time, you may finally be able to start getting back in to teaching how you used to. Many children have missed out on so much education that is it obvious that they may of fallen behind. Although parents and teachers may be concerned about this, there are possibly solutions as to how children can again catch up. The government have yet to decide exactly how this will happen but it could be that extra tuition is offered to those pupils who need it most although as time goes on, this seems less likely to happen. What this will mean for the role of a teacher is yet unknown. Many are worried that they are going to be asked to work even longer hours or that they will have to push their class more which in many cases is simply not fair and probably will not work.

Working from home in some sectors of employment has become a popular choice for companies as they recognise the advantages of having fewer employees to cater for in terms of office space. Companies have become more flexible with working hours which has greatly benefited employees trying to balance work and home life.

If you find yourself working from home on a permanent basis it can be difficult to switch off from work at the end of the day so what can we do then to ensure a good work, life balance?

Having a dedicated work area in the home is a simple way to separate work from home. A desk in a corner of the living room or a space under the stairs can function as an office and enables you to walk away from it during the day for breaks. Taking breaks for lunch and coffee just as if you are in the office is wise and may in fact make you more productive. Stepping away from your workstation to stretch your legs or even taking a lunchtime walk are all ways to bring some stress-relieving elements into your day.

Working from home does require a certain amount of self-discipline as it is easy to get distracted but keeping to set work hours can help to minimise this and help you to keep focussed through the day.

There has been a long on-going debate as to if sets are a good idea when it comes to education. Often sets are not introduced until secondary school but some primary settings are also adopting this way of teaching. Sets are created in order to group students according to ability. It is there to allow that group to be taught the same subject at the same level and the same way rather than having to cater for a mixed ability class. There are very mixed reviews as to if sets are a good idea but they can mean that the teachers lessons are more targeted and therefore the pupils should take more from them. Having sets can cause issues amongst pupils though and you may find that there are arguments about who’s at what level. This can cause a lot of friction and can lead to bullying if not managed correctly. Some pupils may feel that they have been labelled and will therefore not push themselves any harder. Research has shown that sometimes it is helpful to put children with other children who are a higher ability to them as it can help bring them up too.

If you have just started or are about to start a new job then you may find the first few days hard. You will often have to get to know a lot of new people, new processes and new systems all in one go and it can feel a little overwhelming. It is important to take your time and only take on what you can manage. If you feel that the person training you is going too fast, don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat something. Depending on what the job is, you may already know what to do but you may not know how they do it within that company. IT is often worth spending time with different members of staff within the department and getting an overview of how they work and what is expected of you.

Make notes is essential. It may be that you worry you are going to forget what you have been told but if you make notes then you can go back through afterwards and make sure that you have fully understood what you need to do. It may be that you even rewrite your notes out afterwards in more detail while they are fresh in your mind.