Student teachers

We were expecting a new student teacher a couple of weeks ago. He didn't turn up - not a word, no idea where he was. Our head of department 'phoned his college to be told that he'd left the course - nice of them to let us know.

We were then contacted by another training college who have sent us a different student. He's very keen, wants to try lots of things, all very good - although I do have some reservations. Having been educated abroad he doesn't actually seem to know very much about education in the UK and what the syllabuses entail. I hope that he doesn't have a romanticised view of what teaching in a school is all about as we've had at least one student come for a couple of weeks and then leave saying that he really hadn't been aware of quite how much hard work is involved. I think that this student is prepared to work hard, but I don't think he knows (yet) how limiting the syllabus is at A level, and having come from a business environment he's not yet used to the standard of work at different Key Stages yet. Even at A level it takes many new teachers quite a while to realise that most of the students can absorb information at a far slower rate than we can with all the practice that we have had. My main task when mentoring new teachers who are teaching A level for the first time is getting them to halve the amount of material they expect to get through in an hour.

Teaching can be enormously rewarding but it is actually a hard slog, with lots of preparation and a lot of marking. You have to stick very closely to the National Curriculum and the exam syllabuses, and you have to work hard to get through the work in the time you have. All this has to fit in with gym displays, sports matches, Christmas concerts, field trips, individual music lessons, study days, and pupil and staff absences. I don't think that the government helps with the type of advertising that they use to encourage new teachers. It tends to give the idea that you can hang out with a load of interesting and interested students, and doesn't mention the stress, levels of work, or poor motivation of some students.