Changes 1

I haven't posted for ages. I guess that is partly because I've been so busy but also because I didn't feel that I could say the things I've been thinking. Let's start with the end result - I've decided to stop teaching. I doubt that I'll actually stop teaching but stop teaching in school.

First, I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching at Northstead. It was my own primary school and whilst I had ups and downs there, I know that at least one teacher had such an impact on me that he changed the course of my life. When I was interviewed for the job there, I said I wanted to give something back to the school that gave me such a positive start, and I do feel that I've done that.

When we moved to Finland... and when we moved back, people asked us why. Sometimes it felt like I was giving everyone different answers but maybe that is because you don't ever make a massive life change for just one reason. It's a combination of many reasons, some bigger than others, that spurs you on to do something completely different. If I was to explain all the reasons right here and right now, I would stand a good chance of blocking up cyberspace completely, so today, I'll just talk about one thing. BTW, I'll intersperse it with pics of my leaving do.

I've been teaching Y6 and in England, that means SATs. Actually, I don't mind SATs. They have a useful purpose in letting kids and their teachers know what they have learned so far. What I don't like is putting children under immense pressure and judging them as people based on their academic ability. I'll come back to that another time.

We had an Ofsted inspection just after Christmas. It went pretty much as expected and the results are publicly available so I'm not breaking the official secrets act here. We came in the category once known as satisfactory but which has recently been changed to 'requires improvement'. The report did highlight areas of excellence in the school but even so, the effect of this judgement was really painful. In the aftermath, came an action plan to improve the school and a huge part of that was around monitoring. Book scrutinies became the norm and whilst all the feedback was fair and largely positive, it meant that all books had to be marked every day. I tended to mark English and maths books daily and the rest when the work needed it.

I decided to experiment for two weeks, marking everything to the required standard whilst not letting my work slip in any other area. It didn't work. I got to working 70 hours a week and was still slipping behind. Now, don't get me wrong, the school wouldn't have minded. The senior staff were actually very supportive. The thing is, the expectation by 'the system' is that teachers should be doing more and more. To do the job perfectly is impossible and the result is demoralised staff. This isn't the profession I entered. It's not the only reason but it's one reason why I didn't want to do it any more.

This is one area where Finland have really got it right. Teachers have a sensible working week and there is no prescribed way of marking work. It about trust and professionalism. I miss that!