Teaching can be an extremely stressful job, with long hours and evening/weekend work to do out of standard office hours. Team that with the pressure of Ofsted inspections and observations as well as problematic children and difficult parents and you have a recipe for occupational stress.

So how can you deal with this stress as a teacher and make sure that it doesn’t get on top of you?

The worse thing that you can do is bottle up any feelings of stress and pressure in the hope that they will go away, there are many places you can go to discuss the causes of your stress such as you Head teacher, teaching colleagues or your union but it’s important to remain professional and not be tempted to vent on social media or to people who may discuss things that you have said to others.

As a teacher remaining professional is very important but you must find a way to release your stress, whether it’s going for a walk in the evening after you have finished your work, having a bath and reading a book or a good old fashioned glass of vino! A relaxed teacher is a good one so try to stay calm and let go of stress.

In the UK children getting an education is a basic right, all children are required to attend formal education from the age of four and will attend until at least the age of sixteen. Each child has an equal right to that education regardless of gender, race, religion or social background, however these aspects can so easily impact on a child’s education.

Most teachers will be aware that in a classroom there is often a number of disruptive students that can cause the learning of their fellow students to suffer through distraction and negative behaviour. This can be a form of bullying and can be used against children in the form of peer pressure to encourage others to also be disruptive and shun their education.

As a teacher you are never going to be able to force a disruptive child to sit quietly and learn with the rest of the class however it is your role to ensure that they do not hinder the learning of other children and do not take away their right to a good education.

Managing disruptive pupils often involves exclusions from lessons or individual study sessions, whichever way your school chooses to address this behaviour it is always worth the battle for those children who want to learn and have that right to.

Did you know that employers often report rejection of their job offers? Or that many people make their job searches in the wrong places especially when scouring the web for vacancies? Poor hiring choices can have an negative impact on both the hiring organisation and the candidate hired to fill the position.

It can cost the organisation financially or negatively influence its internal morale and culture. On the other hand, a candidate who may be wrongly matched to the vacancy’s requirements may end up being unhappy and unproductive hence adversely impacting on both him/herself and organisation he works for. Use of a recruitment agency is therefore necessary in order to find the best candidate for a job and therefore commence a fruitful working relationship between the hiring client and the job seeking candidate. (more…)

Often you hear parents say that their child’s teacher, in their opinion, is far too young to be teaching. But what is this statement based on and where is the research to back this up?

Teachers range from early twenties right up to their sixties and seventies with many more in the middle. I think different age groups of teachers bring with them different qualities and also maybe issues. Although younger teachers may not have the life experience a teacher that is in their fifties does, it doesn’t mean that they cannot tech as well. In fact, often you will find that it is these teachers that build a better relationship with the pupils and they are more in touch with the way they think.

Young teachers may have more of an idea about some of the latest crazies / bands and new technology, which can all be used not only is conversations with the pupils but even tied in to a lesson to make it more fun. I think it is important to have a range of teachers from all ages.

There are many avenues you can explore when it comes to finding a teaching job suitable to you. If you want something that is local, you may look in local newspapers or on the council’s website as these are often the only places you will see them advertised.

There are also some great teaching job agencies out there that will hunt down the right position for you. The teaching vacancies they have available range from full time to part time and permanent to fixed contract / temporary. If you have recently become unemployed or have decided to start supply teaching work then this can be a great way to quickly land the job you want. The teaching agencies will not only help you with finding a job but often offer help and support in terms of class room behaviour or lesson planning. Many have a website with useful downloads that can be accessed by teachers that are registered with them.

There are many media courses in schools and a t university, but it’s a vocational subject that’s often picked on for being rather poor for job prospects. The main reason for this tends to be because it’s supposed to be ‘studied by people who didn’t know what else to pick’.

That’s true in many subjects though, and media is a large industry, so there will be people who chose it because they wasn’t sure on what they want to do in the future. It can give people the experience needed to start a career in Journalism, Copywriting, Press Relations, Advertising, Photography and Videography among others.

There’s no right or wrong subject to study, and every course has the potential to help an individual develop skills and a successful career, and media courses should not be written off.

If you’re looking to break into teaching then you’ve probably heard of the Student Associates Scheme, but don’t panic if you haven’t. It’s basically an opportunity for students in higher education to spend 15 days in an English secondary school, giving them an insight into the life of a teacher.

You essentially shadow a teacher and learn form them and hopefully take inspiration from them, but it’s a way of preparing for the working world that awaits you when you finish university. You won’t just watch though and you can develop your own teaching skills by mentoring students.

Many people are rather scared when they step into the classroom for the first time, but this early experience can prepare you for the future, when you may have to ’go it alone’.

NUT stands for the National Union of Teachers and is a great union to be part of. They offer help and advice for teachers as well as pay calculators, courses, conferences and events and much much more. Most teachers are members of this union and it is the NUT that organised the strike for teachers pay and the way they work.

The NUT has now opened an advice line for new and existing teachers to call should they have any concerns or problems at work. If there is a dispute over a teachers’ pay for example, the NUT will assist a teacher with how they need to approach the subject and the time scales and processes involved should the situation not be sorted out immediately. Some head teachers also use the advice line to reaffirm their own understanding of a matter before relaying it to their staff.

NUT have said the sheer number of calls they receive shows that teachers are facing a number of difficulties and that they are pleased to try and be of some help.

When a school knows that they can expect an Ofsted visit at any time, teachers can become very anxious and free an immense amount of pressure. The reason for Ofsted is to check that the teachers and school is performing as it should do, that the children are safe and being given a good education. Some teachers will say that although this is great in principle, it can have a negative effect on the way they are able to teach.

Teachers are expected to hit targets in order to retain pay grades while the pupils merely become a number on a spreadsheet. Many teachers feel that they have now become victims to Ofsted and that the powers that be are more interested in targets and budgets than the individual pupils needs. I strongly believe that our schools and teachers do need to be regulated but that maybe it’s time for a restructuring of how this is done.

Teaching can bring with it a number of benefits, and is still considered one of the most rewarding careers in Bedford. However, whether you are trying to become a teacher for the first time, or are looking for a new position after having had a teaching job in the past, there are a number of ways you can find the best teacher vacancies in Bedford. These include looking online, in local media, enquiring with recruitment agencies in the area, and phoning up schools on a speculative basis to see if there is any work available. Here are some tips on how to find teacher vacancies Bedford.

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