Knowing where is a good fit for your first job, or any job, can be tricky. For many of us, we're keen to make a difference in the lives of the children we teach and we also want to go where God leads. But what does that decision process look like when you're scrolling through TES.com? And do we have to go to the hardest, more deprived areas in order to make a difference?
Here, Katie and Tom give us their thoughts.
Katie’s Answer:
The postcode doesn't dictate how challenging a place is or how easy it might be for you to work in that school. When I was applying for my first job, I initially applied to a school 2 miles down the road from where I ended up taking a job, so the catchment was very similar but the school culture was very different.
I'd read up on the school on the website but during the day, including meeting the senior management, I wasn't keen on working there and I was quite glad they weren't going to offer me the job - it just wasn't a good fit. However, 2 miles down the road there was a school which did fit my work ethic and the way that I approached situations.
If you're starting at the beginning of teaching, you sometimes have to take what you can get and then as you are trained and begin to be able to choose jobs, you are likely to have a better understanding of where you might fit well. Almost all training schemes offer a range of placements during your time so you’ll have done work in at least a couple of schools already.
As for feeling up to teaching in disadvantaged areas, I was a good fit for a school with a good community ethos. While it wasn’t an inner-city school with obvious challenges in terms of behaviour, the area still had its problems, but it was a different style. You won't get rid of problems anywhere in the school world, but they come in different shapes and sizes. Anywhere you go, the children will need good teachers so you’re choosing a worthy profession regardless of where you end up.
Joe’s Answer:
I'd like to tell a little story. When I began teaching, I envisaged teaching in a nice, leafy lane school. I was trying to find the best school and get a feel for what was around. So I did supply for two months which was quite helpful.
But I remember going to one school, the one I work in now, which is the 'most deprived school in Leeds'. I remember walking in with a friend of mine who was also doing supply. We went in and it was horrific. There were kids on the roof, there were police in one room. It was just chaos. There had been 80 exclusions that year and they'd got through three head teachers in one year too.
As I was leaving, the deputy head asked me about applying for a job. I didn't know what to think about that. But as I prayed about it, I felt that it was something that God was calling me to - I felt like it was where he wanted me to go.
I ended up getting the job and I've been there now for 8 years and I've seen how God has changed that school. Partly through the staff team - a new head teacher joined at the same time as me. I now don't think I could go and work in a different school. I'm a bit posh, or at least I sound a bit like it! That originally stopped me from thinking I could fit in. But you don't need to fit in, you need to love. Because when you love, the children respond. They don't have any prejudices against us, a lot of it is in our heads about 'how do I fit in?'.
But you'll be absolutely fine, wherever you go. And as teachers, we do look after each other. There's a big focus on well-being, across the whole of teaching at the moment and I think it's wonderful. We’ve dipped over the last couple of decades but it's definitely on the way up in terms of job enjoyment. And there are people in the job who just want to be there as well.
