If you’re a parent of young children and you are starting teacher training this year, you might be freaking out about how you’re going to juggle everything in September.

I’ve got some good news for you: teacher training is an absolute walk in the park compared with lockdown and homeschooling your own children. As a current full-time English secondary PGCE student with three young children (aged 7, 5 and 3), I speak with some authority. After being home full time with my children for lockdown, without a break, I can’t remember what I got so stressed about in the pre-lockdown part of my PGCE.

I know, I know - teacher training is still a pretty daunting undertaking, particularly if you have children waking you up in the middle of the night and you can’t remember how to write an essay because the last time you wrote one was back in the 1990s.

So, for all of you fellow parents worrying about what September will bring, let me share some survival tips with you.

There’s never enough time - but you’ll still get everything done

When one of my twentysomething, child-free PGCE peers bemoaned that she was lesson planning until 9 o’clock every night, I scoffed inwardly and replied: “Honey, I’m lucky if I start lesson planning by 9pm after getting through the whole supper/homework/bath/bedtime stories marathon!”

There’s no way around it: lesson planning combined with university assignments takes time - and you’ve got much less of it than most other trainee teachers. So, you may be faced with a rather unpleasant choice about when to get it all done: staying up until the wee hours after your kids are in bed, or getting up at the crack of dawn (my record was 4.30am) before they wake up.

And don’t forget about free periods at school, which are absolute gold dust - ensure you make the most of every free minute to plough through your workload.

It takes a village

Don’t assume that you’ll be able to get through teacher training, look after your children and be on top of the housework. It’s an impossibility.

Get help, delegate or, if all else fails, ignore it. If you have a partner, enlist them to take on extra domestic tasks. Otherwise, rely on the kindness of family members, friends or neighbours to help out.

Remember, too, as a student with dependants, you may be entitled to a (means- tested) childcare grant, which can go towards extra childcare costs. And make full use of breakfast clubs and after-school clubs at your children’s nurseries and schools.

Be a magpie

Everyone told me to use existing resources for lesson planning, but I started out being a martyr and preparing every lesson from scratch. That was until I had a major wobble halfway through my first school placement, when I was finding lesson planning utterly exhausting and couldn’t see an end in sight.

I started delving into my English department’s shared folders, where I found great ready-made resources. I also plucked up the courage to ask colleagues for ideas and they often shared resources with me, too.

Finally, don’t forget about the wealth of online resources out there - use these judiciously and adapt to your classes’ needs.

There will be tears

Don’t expect to get through the year without a weep or two when it all just gets a bit much. Let it all out and you’ll feel much better - even if, like me, this sometimes happens in front of your mentor, university tutor or other trainee teachers. Everyone knows it’s a stressful year and will be sympathetic.

The best thing I did this year was on one afternoon, after a busy day at school: I went into a gym and took out a student membership. In spite of the no-time issue, I just made gym classes fit into my schedule, and the regular exercise made me feel so much better physically and mentally - and helped me to perform better as a teacher.

Your school mentor and university tutor are your best friends

Do go to them with any niggling questions and tell them if you need a bit of help. That’s what they’re there for.

My university tutor has rocked, from granting me an extension when I fell miles behind with a big assignment to being extraordinarily good-humoured when my feral locked-down children “Zoom-bombed” one of our online tutorial sessions. My school mentor was also very accommodating whenever childcare crises popped up and I had to miss twilight training sessions or rush off early.

Parenting skills and life experience are your assets in the classroom

If, like me, you’re a career changer, think of yourself as a polymath who has extra wisdom to bring into your classroom. I trained in journalism and my writing expertise is definitely something I bring to my English teaching. Likewise, you’ll be surprised how much your parenting know-how prepares you for teaching: consistency when it comes to behaviour management, giving clear instructions, knowing how to communicate to young people ... the list goes on.

Rebecca Schischa is a trainee teacher and former journalist

This article originally appeared in the 10 July 2020 issue under the headline “My survival guide for trainees with young children”