Trainee teacher’s well-being club boosts attendance

When I was thinking about becoming a teacher, my main focus was on disadvantaged pupils, particularly pupils of colour and LGBTQ+ pupils. Research says they can often be left out or treated differently in school. I wanted to become a teacher so that I could make a difference in education and help pupils. When I saw the Teach First’s vision, I thought that we were very much aligned.

That I would go straight into a classroom was also a factor in my choice; I needed to be thrown in at the deep end. I got a lot of experience, and in my second year I feel a lot more comfortable. Summer Institute was very helpful; not only in learning about how to be a teacher but also networking with other teachers. We still communicate and we can discuss how things are going and it's nice to have people that relate to you.

Relocating from London to a village secondary

When I signed up, I asked to move out of London to the West Midlands – I was thinking of Birmingham or Coventry, those big cities where I know the schools tend to be much more ethnically diverse. Relocating to a school in a small village was a big contrast to what I was expecting.

The people are welcoming and there’s a sense of belonging.

Moving was quite difficult at first, which is why I would suggest having a call with your headteacher to feel more comfortable. Get the feel of the school by asking about the work culture, whether they appreciate different ethnicities. After moving here, I felt more comfortable. The people are welcoming and there is a sense of belonging. The school’s culture has an emphasis on being part of the community.

You can’t judge a school by its website

Starting in the school, my first perceptions were that it is quite affluent; some pupils who were off horse-riding and, maybe being from London, horse riding seems like an extravagant sport, but it's different here. At first, I thought, “Is this the kind of school that needs a Teach First teacher?”

From working here, now I can see why Teach First would want to help such a school; having a large range of socioeconomic statuses –some pupils live in big houses, and other pupils are eligible for free school meals who need the extra support.

Just looking at the website doesn't show everything that's happening within the school. I'm glad that I stuck with it because I’m seeing a big contrast compared to schools in London and the West Midlands.

The challenge – and the support

When I first joined the Training Programme, I thought I would just be teaching maths and doing the university work. The Teach First programme is a challenge, but with all the support from Teach First and from the university, it didn't seem too much.

Teach First helps push you to do further activities but obviously keeping in mind your wellbeing. Once I got used to the modules and organising my time, I thought, “Do you know what? Let me try and do a bit more.” I didn't think I'd be part of some extracurricular club but I'm glad I can manage my time to do more.

I feel that Teach First has helped me manage my well-being and if I'm strong in my own emotional intelligence, then that will hopefully be an example for pupils.

Well-being club

I would say the most rewarding part for me has been forming the well-being club. It runs every lunchtime in my classroom. It makes me feel like I'm not just teaching my individual classes, I am part of the whole school and having a wider impact because as a teacher, I don't want to just be focusing on maths.

The well-being club was set up because lots of pupils were going to pastoral service during lessons and it was impacting their learning. We thought it would be good for them to have a chilled place to go to at lunch.

I like how I’m having an impact on pupils feeling more comfortable in school.

Obviously, one of the cons of is that my classroom gets quite messy, but I like having pupils come in if they need someone to talk to. If something's happened that day, they can talk to me or other staff in the room or talk amongst themselves. I'm getting to know pupils who aren't in my maths classes and I’m teaching them different methods to relax, de-stress or manage their homework. I really like how I'm having an impact by teaching them something beneficial and helping them feel more comfortable in school.

We always say to pupils that the best place they can be is in their lesson and now we can see an impact on lesson attendance: after they’ve come along to well-being club, we have seen that they are going to lessons more rather than missing them to go to the pastoral service.

Seeing an impact on individual pupils

Your mood as a teacher impacts your pupils; if you’re confident and you believe in yourself, it’s reflected in your pupils who will hopefully believe in themselves too.

You can see the difference in her from last year to now.

One pupil moved to the school in Year 10. She’d had a break from learning as there’d been issues in her last school with teachers not adapting lessons for her. She has said that it’s different in this school. She is doing entry level maths instead of the GCSE, so we need to make sure she gets a qualification. She is attending the well-being club, getting to know more people and talking a bit more. At the start she wouldn’t really respond if you spoke to her, now she will come to my classroom and start a conversation.

I’ve seen a big change in her – a lot of teachers have encouraged her to try new things, so she started playing guitar and doing animation. She's made such huge progress, especially socially.

These are the things about being a teacher that you never really see until you consider the difference from last year to now.

Pursuing the biggest impact

I am in my second year, and I very much want to go down either the pastoral or senior leadership route where you have a bigger impact on things like attendance and Pupil Premium. Perhaps going to a role that focuses on encouraging pupils to attend school and helping them feel more comfortable there.

Want to make a positive impact in the classroom?

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