A day in the life of a teacher
by Caroline Pywell

6.00AM
Monday Morning The alarm bleeps insistently. A quick dash from bed to bath before sorting out cats, child and husband. No time to get my packed lunch, I grab half a loaf of bread, a lump of cheese and a banana and head out of door.

7.00AM
A long succession of traffic queues and road works. At least it’s daylight.

7.45AM
Draw up to the school gates. A delivery lorry is blocking the way in. A huge queue builds up along the road. We all get out of our cars and search for the culprit (having a cup of tea in the kitchen). Everyone eventually drives in. I padlock the gates and cart my handbag, laptop, 2 carrier bags of work and a bag of biscuits for the class snack into school.

7.55AM
Cart everything through the school and outside to the building which houses my classroom. The door is locked. Everything gets dumped on the floor whilst I search for the keys.

8.00AM
Sort the biscuits into correct tins. Run through the days planning for my lessons. Set out resources, separate exercise books into year groups and then go through to my colleagues to check on the day and go through the Year 5 planning with the cover teacher and the Year 6 planning with my team. I climb onto a chair to adjust the interactive White Board. My Early Bird helpers bounce in and continue to set up my laptop and tidy round, chatting to me about their weekend. The Teaching Assistant breezes in with the results of a Literacy Assessment on a Special Educational Needs (SEN) child. We discuss detail and a way forward.

8.30AM
Briefing for all staff. We wade through a précis of the week. It's incredibly busy
as usual.

8.45AM
The children line up to come into class. One parent wants a chat about an incident on Friday, the other about a split with her husband. The children chatter in the background whilst we talk. Then a flurry of the dinner money, snack money, trip money and letters before we settle to calling the registers. I just finish and two children saunter in late. One of my children with Aspergers Syndrome, by my side, tells me about her sore toe repeatedly. We agree that she will only tell me two more times!

9.00AM
We all walk up to assembly taken by the Head with Teaching Assistant support. I open the post addressed to the Literacy Coordinator and promptly discard a huge pile of advertisements. The Secretary asks me to do a diary check with her and I telephone the parent of a child with Asperges to check their whereabouts.

9.15AM
Back in class I spit my Year 5’s with books and pencils and concentrate on my Booster Group of Year 6’s looking at Maths (pie charts today). We break in the middle for 10 minutes of Active 8, an exercise programme to music. I am hot and out of breath. The children are smiling and puffing too – but they don’t have to carry on teaching!

10.15AM
Everyone returns to class before going out to play. I help my children with Aspersers to get organised and tell me yet again about their poorly toe. I talk through pie charts with one of my strugglers.

10.25AM
Tear up to the staffroom. Tip some coffee into a mug. Have two slurps and a child arrives with a 2 minute warning for the end of playtime. I go back to class sorting out a squabble on the way.

10.30AM
Booster Literacy for my Year 6’s. A number of reluctant boys take up my time as we swap partners and try to motivate and inspire. Success as two boys grasp how to turn sentences around for effect.

11.40AM
The dinner staff arrive. I spend time with a group of children who need to talk over friendship problem. The toe story is repeated again and again! I set up the classroom for the afternoon lesson then photocopy resources for the next day. You have to grab the photocopier when you when you can! Two of my boys are being told off by the dinner staff who need me to calm them down. Another member of staff wants me to look at some flyers for ICT resources. The Secretary has two phone calls for me to return. Finally get to the staffroom, move a pile of books out of the way and have a quick lunch. Go back and mark the Numeracy books.

12.40PM
The whistle blows. I spend the first 10 minutes getting hot and sticky with Active 8 again. Then Guided Reading with a group of 6 children whilst the rest of the class have focused activities set up at lunchtime. Remind D to take his Ritalin and get a hug in return.

1.00PM
Outside for a hectic netball session with all 28 children. The ‘toe’ is still causing problems. We spend a long time talking about the merits of having fair teams. Some understand, some don’t. I withdraw 2 children to consider sportsmanship. The girls win much to the boys disgust!. We exchange banter.

1.55PM
Grab my coat and whistle plus the playtime book and head out to the playground to supervise KS2 playtime. Spend more time getting the girls out of the toilets, mopped up and I bumped head. Sorted out numerous squabbles. It’s windy and I’m cold. Send the message in and wait for staff. Choose the best line for the Yard Card. Report all misdemeanours to the Class Teacher.

2.15PM
Load up the History Powerpoint presentation prepared at the weekend whilst the children take their coats off. Well received by all. A group of children tell me it was a cool lesson.

3.00PM
The children and I tidy the classroom ensuring all desks are clear and chairs are down for tables to be cleaned.

3.15PM
Give out letters and dismiss children. Talk to parents about problems with homework and go over the ‘chunking method’. Talk to parent about THE TOE!

3.30PM
Up to the staffroom for staff training on ‘SEAL’. I’m not sure much is going in!

4.30PM
Meeting ends. Mark Literacy and History. Mount digital photos. Set up for the next day.

5.45PM
Turn the lights out. Disconnect the lap top and Interactive White Board. Pinch two biscuits from the snack box. I’m exhausted.

6.30PM
Arrive home. Totally whacked but satisfied the ‘toe is sorted and that my class have actually learnt something and enjoyed their day.