Starting Out Guide For Newly Qualified and Trainee Teachers

Looking after yourself

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Planning is a priority

As a trainee or NQT you will bring some great, fresh and innovative ideas to the classroom. This is welcome in schools, but planning lessons does take time. Remember that you will not be expected to reinvent the wheel for every lesson. There are plenty of existing schemes of work, school and online resources which can be adapted to suit the needs of your students.

Assessment or marking is a real bugbear for many teachers. Giving quality feedback to students is very important, but it doesn’t always have to be time consuming. Talk to your mentor or induction tutor about different types of assessment, such as peer marking, students marking their own work or verbal feedback. Using a variety of assessment will keep students on their toes and help ease your marking load.

As part of the National Agreement put in place in September 2005, all teachers in England and Wales are entitled to a minimum 10 per cent of their timetabled teaching time guaranteed for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA).

All teachers, including headteachers with timetabled teaching commitments, whether employed on permanent, fixed-term, temporary or part-time contracts, have an entitlement to guaranteed PPA time within the timetabled school day.

This entitlement can be weekly or fortnightly depending on the school timetable, but it must constitute at least 10 per cent of teachers’ timetabled teaching time and not be part of contact time. NQTs should receive both the 10 per cent PPA time and their 10 per cent NQT induction time.

Make sure that you are being given this time and if you feel you are not receiving your PPA time or if you are only being given ad hoc time away from teaching or periods too small to be able to benefit, speak with your headteacher or approach your trade union representative for advice.

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6 teachers have added to this guide



  1. Jan 6th, 2009

    clare said:

    I talk things through with a trusted colleague. As the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved. My head feels much lighter afterwards.



  2. Jan 6th, 2009

    daffyd said:

    My pressure point is always report writing. As a PE teacher I see more children than many of my colleagues and often have to write hundreds of reports. I left it so late to start one year, that I nearly went mad trying to finish them all. Now I set myself 10 per day in the weeks leading up to the deadline, which doesn’t feel so arduous.



  3. Jan 6th, 2009

    dalveer said:

    During my interview, the head kept making a fuss about the fact I played the trumpet, which I mentioned on my application form.

    He asked me if I’d be interested in running the school orchestra, as the head of music was very busy. I said I might be. But when I was offered the job, I decided I’d needed to concentrate on my teaching for the first year.

    The head kept trying to persuade me, but I stood my ground, saying I’d be happy to do it the following year – which I did. I really enjoy running the orchestra, but it’s quite a big commitment and I still think it would have been too much in my first year.



  4. Jan 6th, 2009

    ewan said:

    In busy times, like report writing or during the SATS preparation, I try to think of ways to ease my marking load. I build some opportunities into my lessons for students to mark their own work, peer mark or set tasks that can be assessed with verbal feedback. The children benefit too, as they love getting instant feedback!



  5. Jan 6th, 2009

    james said:

    Invest in a paper shredder, then write it all down. Get everything that’s bothering you about colleagues, senior staff or even pupils down on paper, then shred it. This has the effect of shredding the bad day – very cathartic.



  6. Jan 6th, 2009

    keira said:

    I order a grande latte at my favourite café! At least twice a week, a group of us go out for coffee together after school. It’s a great opportunity to get things off your chest. It’s reassuring to know other people are having problems and we usually end up laughing about them, which helps get things into perspective.

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