It’s a Wednesday morning and my stomach is filled with butterflies.
A week of curriculum training has not quenched the uncertainty of what my first ever school placement will be like.
Fears of intimidating mentors, cruel kids and unforgiving teachers are circling around in my head as I head towards the school.
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Expecting the worst, I enter the school and sign in, hoping not to faint before I even enter the classroom. But my worries are immediately reduced as the Reception class teacher comes to greet me.
She smiles, is welcoming and understands the need to show me every simple step. The classroom is clean and bright and expectantly awaits 25 four-year-olds.
So far that the worst part of being a trainee teacher isn’t having to learn all the abbreviations, systematic synthetic phonics schemes or maths mastery (all of which is new to me), but the uncertainty of new placements.
The challenge of being a naive 22-year-old fresh from university sank in fast, as I realised I have little clue what I am doing.
Embrace mistakes
People told me I would make mistakes and that it would be good because I would learn from them. I didn’t expect that to be in the first five minutes, however.
After jamming the only laminator in school with plastic sheets in a flustered panic, I will never again forget the importance of the small details like using a card sheet.
I’m learning to laugh at my mistakes and find the joy in each new day, usually laughing at the funny things small children say and do.
Create connections
As the placement has gone on and the clueless feeling lessens, I’ve started to enjoy parts of my day. The best by far is being with the children.
Having come from a routine of sitting in libraries from nine to five writing essays, it is refreshing to be out in the real world, working with real people and (hopefully) making a real difference.
Being in a Reception class with limited teaching assistants, it is encouraging to feel helpful as there is plenty to be getting on with: zipping up coats, wiping scraped knees, encouraging children to sit on the carpet and avoiding the occasional poo.
Overcome assumptions
Although I felt like I knew this age group from previous experiences, it didn’t occur to me how little they could do.
In hindsight, telling them to “write your name on your drawing” was foolish considering they had no idea yet how to write a single letter in their name.
Be firm
Now that I am starting to deliver some of the maths, literacy and phonics lessons, I am learning new things every day: how tone of voice is paramount with this age group, how being gently firm may not work with a whole class and how having an interesting lesson plan is key to getting them to engage.
My current target of working on behaviour management is difficult as I naturally am too soft on the children; they are only 4 years old after all.
Treasure other teachers
The support from my amazing fellow trainee teachers is what is getting me through (the consolation prize of a bottle of wine for the worst lesson delivered is some comfort, at least).
The patience of the teachers on my placement who are helping me to train is also incredible. The time that they have put into explaining each simple thing to me and showing me over and over again how they do their planning has really been invaluable.
For me, this must be the most defining factor of having an enjoyable and successful first placement. If you are a teacher who works with trainees, I promise you that your patience is so very much appreciated.
This time next year I could be in charge of my own class; a very exciting yet daunting prospect. However, at the moment I am taking each day as it comes and enjoying the small victories while they last.
If each day I have learned more than the last, then that is good enough for me.
Naomi Burns is currently a trainee teacher with the Ilkley All Saints’ Teacher Training Partnership
