Back to school

It’s the end of the summer holidays and there are mixed emotions out there from teachers and school staff. Teachers love their jobs. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be doing what they do. But to be a teacher, you inadvertently give so much of yourself, often without even realising it. There are many school staff who have completely switched off from work over the summer (and rightly so). Staff who have enjoyed their summer so much and feel ready for a new class/term to begin. Staff who feel re-energised but nervous about how the year will pan out. Staff who know everything will be fine, but there is a level of anxiety until they have spent at least half a day on their laptop to get their head back in the game.

For some staff though, switching off isn’t an option. Case conferences that have been scheduled over the summer, leaders who have to be on call or check the school email for any safeguarding concerns that occur. And then there are staff who struggle to switch off. They have been into school for at least a day or two each week over the holidays, preparing their classroom, dressing up wonderful new displays, or getting ahead with planning.

There isn’t a right or wrong answer for how you spend your holidays, but I think often that the ‘back to school blues’ is symptomatic of all of these things. We spend so much of our time and mental energy thinking about the 30 children we teach (more if you teach multiple classes), and often don’t put ourselves first. I’m not saying that this should happen, and I’m not saying it’s the only profession where it happens, as it isn’t, but it happens to every teacher or school staff member. And different professionals deal with this in different ways, but the school holidays are a time to recharge the batteries, re-find some of the passions that you’ve set aside during term time and often rediscover being part of your family fully again.

Lots of teachers talk about taking a long time to switch off in the holidays. I’ve found this at times, taking days to feel like I’ve got the energy to do more than sleep or lounge around watching tv etc. The holidays are a necessity to give teachers an opportunity to reinvigorate themselves and become ready to start again. And starting again is wonderful and challenging at the same time – a new school, a new role, a new class with new names to learn, a new teacher or teaching assistant that you are working with, new systems, new ways of planning. And it is at this point in the summer when school staff really start to feel torn. Most will have had lovely summer holidays with their family and friends and will have had the mental capacity to deal with life admin and do some of the lovely things that they really want to do personally. My family went camping together for the first time. I wasn’t sure my wife would enjoy it, and my two girls (8 and nearly 6 years old) had never been before, but we’ve decided as a family that its great and we will definitely be doing it again! The summer is a time to discover and partake in aspects of life other than your job, so why do we have such mixed feelings when summer comes to an end?

The excitement of new things

I always found September to be a time where you could start over and consider how to do things a little better. People sometimes refer to teaching as trying to fail each day a little better than the day before. I think the same applies to each new school year. New books for the children – there’s nothing like a fresh blank page – give the children the sense of a fresh start too. Sometimes a fresh start is exactly what is needed in so many ways.

The Septembers I was often most excited for were those where I was starting a new role. When someone has hired you to do a job, you have this feeling of self-worth that sometimes we forget about during the day-to-day hubbub of working. There are lots of things that can and do go wrong in teaching – and there is nothing wrong with this, it’s what we teach our children and how they can deal with failure – but that can impact on your self-belief sometimes. September is a blank page, a new start, and when someone has told you they want you for a specific role it can be massively reassuring that you are doing a great job.

Being part of something bigger

I have always loved the summer holidays, particularly as I have a young family and it’s a substantial amount of time that I know others don’t get with their children. Its amazing. But I always loved the first INSET day back at school as it reminded me that I was part of something bigger. Sometimes this was just at school level, but sometimes as part of a federation of schools or a trust that had many schools – and we were all starting back together. The canvas is blank and we can influence a new set of young minds in new and exciting ways. The best part about teaching is the children, and in Primary school, when they hang on your every word because you are reading them a wonderful new story, have hooked them with something you have done over the holidays, or reeled them in with a great joke, there’s no better feeling. Seeing the smiles on the children and staff’s faces on the first day of teaching, where everyone is refreshed and ready to go, you remember that what you are doing makes a real difference.

The other side of the coin

There are always two sides to a story however, and returning to school in September is no different. I referred earlier to the ‘back to school blues’ because for many staff there is also a feeling of anxiety. I remember thinking in the days leading up to that first one back with the children; ‘I don’t even know if I remember how to teach’. People may be going back to settings where they are not comfortable – people often say get out but it’s not always as straight forward as that. People may be returning to teach a really difficult cohort of children, where there are behaviours and challenges that are really difficult to manage. Some teachers might be moving up with a class when they were hoping for that fresh start in September. It might be as simple as you’ve had such a great time on holiday that you can’t imagine going back into the stress and madness that teaching can be. I don’t have any answers as to how to solve these feelings I’m afraid, but whilst I have felt the exciting feelings I previously talked about, I’ve also felt many of these feelings where you don’t know how you are going to get through the first day, let alone another year.

Some would say that if that’s how you are feeling then you shouldn’t be doing what you are doing. Some would suggest trying another school, or trying another role within a school. Some would tell you just to get over it. I won’t tell you any of these things right now, as I don’t think that it will help in the present (but they might be things to consider for the future). However what I really want to say, is that if you are a teacher, or a staff member at a school, it’s okay to feel excited. It’s also okay to feel nervous or anxious. It’s also okay to feel like you can’t do what you are about to do and its okay to feel a mixture of all of these things. But if I can pass on one thing to you right now, whether you have the ‘back to school blues’ or whether you are chomping at the bit to get back into the classroom properly, it’s this:

You are amazing for doing what you do. You are more than capable, and you are definitely good enough to do what you do. No matter what anyone says, teaching is a challenging profession for lots of reasons, but you are here, once again supporting children through their formative years and you are going to be great come that first day back in the Autumn term.

Remember to be kind to yourself and each other. And if you need support, reach out. There are an infinite number of people who understand the challenges teachers face daily who can offer support, or just be there to listen when needed.