In the Classroom

School Structure

To an extent the organisation of a school will depend on its size. However, every school will have a Senior Management Team to lead it. This team will include the Head Teacher, one or more Deputies and possibly the school Bursar.

Primary schools are then divided into Key Stage teams and possible year group teams for the purposes of planning the curriculum as well as individual lessons for a particular year. They may also have a number of Coordinator’s, for example for Numeracy, Literacy or Music.

Secondary schools will certainly be split into subject departments with their own Programmes of Study (sometimes called Schemes of Work) and departmental policies. These Departments may be grouped together into Faculties covering Arts, Technology, Humanities, etc. Secondary Schools will also have pastoral teams of tutors. These can be organised by year groups under a Year Head or vertically through the school in a system of Houses under a Head of House.

As a full time member of staff, you will be expected to set your own work based on the Schools Programs of Study as well as mark any work set according to the School Policies. Furthermore you will be expected to attend relevant out-of-school meetings, e.g. staff, key stage and year group meetings, parent information evenings. If you a secondary teacher you will also be required to act as a Form Tutor. This will mean that you are responsible for overseeing the pastoral welfare of a class of about twenty five pupils

Special Education

A Special Education Needs (SEN) register is used to record children who have learning or behavioural difficulties. Students with specific learning difficulties, or special needs (SEN), are often taught within mainstream schools. Such learning difficulties can be emotional, behavioural, physical or through learning difficulties such as dyslexia. SEN students will be monitored and their progress evaluated via an IEP (Individual Education Plan) under the supervision of the school’s SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator).Pupils are assessed as to the level of their needs (from Stage1 to a full Statement) and the school is then given state funds to help individual students, through withdrawal from lessons and/or in-class support, possibly from a Learning Support Assistant (LSA)

There are also separate SEN schools that provide an education at both the primary and secondary level. SEN schools have smaller classes that are often supported by a teacher and a classroom assistant. Types of SEN schools in the UK include EBD (Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties), MLD (Moderate Learning Difficulties and SLD (Severe Learning Difficulties) and Autistic Schools.

Class Sizes

Class sizes are usually around thirty. Schools are not allowed to exceed this number at KS1 but may do so elsewhere, although this is unlikely. If classes are ‘set’ for example for SATs work in primary schools or for particular subjects in secondary schools, you may find that the less able classes are smaller, sometimes containing less than twenty students. In primary schools, teachers generally work exclusively with one class for a whole year.
As a secondary teacher, you will have your own timetable and classes taken from throughout the school, teaching your own subject specialism. The number of times that you see a class a week will depend on your subject, the pupil’s age and the number of periods the school day is divided into. For example, in a timetable of eight periods a day, forty a week, a History teacher may see their KS3 class twice. Within the school week, you should also have a number of free periods (about 15% of the timetable). These are to give you time to prepare resources, to mark and probably to be used for lesson cover for absent teachers.

Ethnic Diversity

You may have up to 22 different languages being spoken in your classroom and often in London will have at least one student with no English at all. The cultural diversity in London is wonderful and provides an exciting platform for developing different techniques to reach children from all backgrounds.

Dress Code

The dress code for schools in England will vary; however, as a general rule a professional standard of dress is expected. That is, men in secondary schools will be expected to wear ties although won’t necessarily be expected to wear jackets. Jeans or leggings are generally not acceptable. The best idea is to go along to your first day looking professional and the Headteacher may let you know their expectations.

Lunchtime

Hot school dinners served at lunchtime are still very much part of the British school culture. Most children sit down to eat a two course meal in the hall which is supervised by the “dinner ladies”. Some children will have packed lunches or go home for lunch; however, the majority will eat a hot school dinner. You can choose to eat a school dinner in the hall with the students, however most teachers take their own lunch and opt for the peace and quiet of the staffroom!

PE (Games)

Inner-city schools especially in London have limited space and often no playing fields. Sometimes a pair or group of schools will share fields or recreation areas. Depending on the space, weather and the number of students, PE lessons are often restricted to indoors or confirmed outdoor activities.

Arrival and Welcome

When you arrive at a school for the first time, ideally you can expect to:

• Be greeted by the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher or your Line Manager (e.g. Head of Department or Key Stage Coordinator)
• Receive your timetable and a map of the school
• Be shown the staffroom
• Receive or be shown a copy of the Staff Handbook listing the school’s policies on, for example, discipline, health, and safety and equal opportunities
• Secondary teachers should also receive their Department’s Handbook, setting out the procedures for their own subject
• Receive general information on e.g. timings, assembly, registration, breaks and lunchtimes
• Be told procedures for you to obtain coffee and lunch
• Be shown where resources are kept and how the photocopier works
• Be taken through the emergency procedures
• Be given useful contacts, such as the administrative staff and Nurse, as well as where to find them
• Receive information on students with special needs
• If you are a primary teacher, check if your class will need to be collected at the start of each lesson and then taken elsewhere at the end of the lesson, e.g. the dining room or playground. Find out how to get to these places!

Do not be afraid to ask for any of this information!

The Primary Day

Before School

Teachers usually arrive between 8.00am and 8.30am to prepare resources for morning lessons and to brief any Classroom Assistants that they have supporting children in the classroom.

The children will arrive at about 8.50am and it is best to prepare a simple task for the first five to ten minutes of the day, e.g. hand-writing or reading.
At 9:00am, the children are registered to find out who is present and who is absent. The register will need to be completed in a certain way, possibly using specific colours. Always make sure you ask how to complete the register if it isn’t obvious. This is usually followed by a half hour assembly once a week and prayers in class on the other days.

The Morning

The pattern of the morning is largely dictated these days by the Numeracy and Literacy hours required by the Government. The activities for these two subjects are set out in detail by the Government and a large percentage of weekly planning by teachers will revolve around preparing for this.

An hour a day is spent on both Numeracy and literacy although this will normally be broken up by fifteen minute discussion activity and morning break (where it may be necessary to distribute milk).

Some classes will have a full time Classroom Assistant who can take a group of children needing extra support or hear children read. If you are teaching alone, you will need to organise independent group work during literacy hour to allow you to hear groups of readers daily.

The rest of the morning is spent looking at subjects that need visiting daily such as Spelling and Word Sounds.

Morning Break

It might be necessary for you to cover break time duty. Usually it is possible to grab some tea or coffee and then head to the playground to oversee their break. You should not be required to do this every break time but once a week might be expected. Check with the Head if there are any special things that you need to do, such as blow a whistle, or ring a bell to signal the end of break.

Lunchtime

The lunch break will be around midday and will last generally just over an hour. There is usually a cafeteria as well as a dining room for packed lunches. Teachers will have some kind of weekly duty to oversee the canteen at lunchtime of break (when snacks are sold) or to patrol the school. Lunchtime is also a time in which teachers can prepare resources for the afternoon. Most schools have some form of lunch monitors, who come in to cover the lunch period.

The Afternoon

Afternoon registration with your class will be from 1pm to 1.30pm and the afternoon is the time to look at usually two other curriculum areas, e.g. Science, Geography, PE etc., with a short break between the two. One whole afternoon a week may be given over purely to Art or Design & Technology.
If you are involved in sports activities, you will need to find out the procedure for organising games and PE. You may have to lead the pupils elsewhere to playing fields. You will need to be aware of changing policies.

The school day normally finishes with a story and then the preparations to go home, e.g. the distribution of reading bags. Always check if there is anything special that you need to do.

The Secondary Day

The Start of the Day

School can begin anywhere from 8.00am to 8.45am with the majority of schools starting at about 8.30am with registration (roll call). This is where Form Tutors who are responsible for a particular class will register the form to find out who is present and who is absent. Registration is followed by some kind of Act of Worship – this could be an Assembly, a Chapel service or just a prayer in class.

Both Registration and this daily Act of Worship are legal requirements set by the Government.

The Morning

The format of the morning will be to have between four and six lessons of about 45 to 60 minutes with a short break (about 20 minutes) in the middle. A bell usually indicates the end of each lesson.

Students will travel from Department to Department for lessons and there is often five minutes of ‘travel time’ built in between each lesson.

The Afternoon

The lunch break is usually about an hour and gives students the chance to eat, relax and take part in clubs. There is generally a cafeteria as well as a dining room for packed lunches. Teachers may have some sort of duty during the break. The end of lunchtime is marked by afternoon registration (roll call).

The school day ends between 3.00pm and 4.00pm although there are often clubs or sports matches after school.