NQT- hate my first term! want to quit. please help

i am currently extremely stressed out due to being 'bullied' and constantly being told that i'm unsatisfactory if Ofsted was here by the Head and Mentor.'ve been trying my level best to do everthing (planning, displays, assessment etc) but there is ALWAYS something negative for them to say. i feel less motivated, on a Sunday i spend all day 'crying' because i don't want to go school. i'm an NQT and because i loved teaching i'm still there. But i can't take it anymore i just want to leave!! do you think it will be hard for me to find a job elsewhere?

 

i am currently extremely stressed out due to being 'bullied' and constantly being told that i'm unsatisfactory if Ofsted was here by the Head and Mentor.'ve been trying my level best to do everthing (planning, displays, assessment etc) but there is ALWAYS something negative for them to say. i feel less motivated, on a Sunday i spend all day 'crying' because i don't want to go school. i'm an NQT and because i loved teaching i'm still there. But i can't take it anymore i just want to leave!! do you think it will be hard for me to find a job elsewhere?

 

The next resignation date is by end of February to leave at Easter. BUT Don't be bullied out- induction is a 2 way process and the school has responsibilities to get you through induction- THe mphasis is on passing- so actions need to be taken to ensure you can meet standards. Ofsted criteria are not really helpful to NQTs for that reason you have induction standards and the whole induction programme which is a cumulative process- you can not meet standards first term but you can by the end of induction- it is the final assessment which counts

 

Speak to your LEA NQT advisor. They are very supportive and helpful. If you are 'failing' (according to school) it is down to the school for not supporting you enough. If unsatisfactory, LEA will want to know why and will put extra support and resources in for you. I know it is difficult, but not all schools are like this, you just need to find a way to survive. Dont be frightened to make waves and find out what their role is. My understasnding is college gets you QTS but school has to teach you to gain NQT. It is a two stage process.
good luck

 

You need to make everything positive for yourself, even if Ofsted would say that there was a reason that your lesson weren't adequate doesn't mean you can't enjoy your job, everyone has classes where they know that the lesson is inadequate because sometimes the studnets don't play ball or you don't differentate or assess enough etc. Anyway, be positive, praise the kids all the time for the slightest thing. Make you and them feel like you are doing really well. If they don't tell you that you are failing then don't concern yourself overly. Take their horridness as advice and be positive with them too. A change in your attitiude will change theirs about you, even if you do nothing differently. In your meetings get in their first with I tried what you said and it worked in this way, now I am going to do this....

Enjoy your lessons! Stuff them. And for goodness sakes don't let what a hyperthetical ofstead inspector get you down.

 

Arge the "they"s "their"s change from students to staff half way thorugh and it isn't very clear. sorry

 

thanks for all your replies. i'm on stress leave at the moment since last week because i just couldn't take it any longer. i know you might think that this was the easy option but believe me it wasn't. i've been going in since October thinking it'll get better but its got worse. they've extended my first term which i'm really unhappy about because i've done everthing that i could. i just can't see the Head or the Mentor thinking postive about me!! i have about 5 hours sleep every night and i'm constantly thinking about school which has made my social and family life ****!

 

AND i'm seriously thinking of leaving. But just don't know how? and how i'll get another post with a **** reference? but i know that i'll feel soo much better once i'm out of that school!

 

My advice would be to speak to your NQT LA advisor about this situation. You could have an informal chat to your union regional rep as well to find out what your options are. I left a post in my NQT year due to severe problems and did supply for a while. I then got another post and as I hadn't been in that school very long I didn't use the HT as a reference. I am about to leave another job after a year to a lovely school. So it doesn't necessarily mean the end of your teaching career.

Just to say you should not be observed against any other criteria other than core standards. Your observations should be based around how you are meeting those standards. Only those qualified as Ofsted inspectors should observe using Ofsted criteria. If problems are happening then the school has to clearly show how they are going to help you and support you to meet those standards. If you wanted to leave at Christmas you would have to negotiate early release from your contract with your HT and govs. But speak to the relevant people as the LA NQT advisor is there to help you not the school.

 

I was in a similar position two years ago. The school I was at sounds exactly like yours. I was given an unsatisfactory first assessment and left during the second term. I got another job and completed the final two terms of the NQT year successfully.

If you want to talk more in detail e-mail me:

spooky193@yahoo.co.uk

 

DURING MY LESSON feedback, the mentor is commenting on stupid stuff, like displays not mounted properly, playdough cutters are not clean enough.etc.. after i raised the issue with teh head that this shouldn't be mentioned in the lesson feedback i feel things have gone worse.
basically they making it hard for me and i feel i'm being interrogated all the time..i'm being watched all the time and being pulled inside the office for making any small mistake! last week i was taken into the office for leaving school at 4, and the painting area had a few paint splats on (she described the classroom as a disgrace)i should be spending more time "cleaning" the place and making sure that the environemnt is spotless. which i do that was the first time i went home at 4 in ages.

 

I really would say speak to your LA NQT advisor. It is hard enough in your NQT year never mind having to cope with this. They should be able to help you and advice you. Going home at 4 is not a heinous crime. Plus cleaning the classroom is not your responsibility. Yes having a pleasant teaching environment is. If displays are an issue then this should be a separate issue and not brought up in observations. (Displays are one of the 25 tasks that are not required by teachers to do even though I do all mine!) Speak to those who can help you and support you and don't deal with this alone.

 

I am absolutely horrified that so many NQTs are having such a foul time and so little support from their schools. Teaching should be (and can be, believe me) great fun and very rewarding, but I have to say that most of it depends on the quality of the support you get from colleagues. Teamwork is key. You really must speak to your Local Authority NQT advisor; try to make an appointment so that you have plenty of time, and make a list before you go of everything you want to say. Don't make it all negative (unless there is absolutely nothing positive you can find to say), but be factual. Try not to come across as a whinger, but as a new professional who is willing to work hard but who requires support. Best of luck. I'd really like to know if you're secondary or primary, and whereabouts in the country you're based.

 

primary - North west.

I have got the NUT involved who also believe that their are certain things that are being said that should'nt be. I am also the third teacher in that school who has got the Union involved regarding the same Mentor.

other teachers are really supportive and really do feel that everything that i am doing is good, and i should'nt constantly be getting negative feedback all the time. they also feel that the mentor/head are being to nit picking during lesson obs. on an occasion i got unsatisfactory for a lesson that i did with the children (they thought it was not creative enough) because i was so confident that the lesson was not that bad i asked my friend to teach it in her school who teaches the same year group with similiar abilities- she got Outstanding and it was done exactly how i told her to!! it explains everything???

 

I don't know anything about the North west, but I do think you should ask the mentor/HT if you can visit other schools as part of your NQT induction. This would enable you to compare your practice with that of other teachers, and to compare your school with their's. This might give you some more confidence. Keep on going, though, because as you say there are other teachers in your own school who think you're doing well. Your NQT year will be over soon, and then you can enjoy your career.

 

i'm on stress leave at the moment, seriously this school is making me cry all the time. even though their are teachers who feel that i'm good i just don't know for how long i can cope? i feel the best option is to ask for a early release? it'll make my life more colourful. but, at the same time i want to teach but not at this school. just don't know how to get out of this school and find a new job with the **** reference that i'll end up getting

 

Try to arrange a meeting with your HT or mentor, together with the Local Authority's NQT adviser AND the Local Authority's Human Resources manager. If your HT or Mentor refuse, then make an appointment with the LA people anyway. Explain clearly to them exactly how you feel and why you want to either get sufficient support to help you progress, or you want to be released from your contract. I'm sure you're not doing as badly as you think, but if you are, then your Head will probably be happy to release you. If possible, talk to your Union and ask if a rep will accompany you to the meeting.

I hope it all works out for you - try to keep smiling!

 

thank you soo much for all your support- i'll get in contact with the LA with the NUT. and arrange a meeting with the Head to sort things out.

 

can you detect any personality clashes?

 

yes, definitely- other teachers at school have said the this. and whilst speaking to the NUT- they have also beginning to think that theirs personality issues. no matter how much i try with this mentor their is always something negative for her to say and their have been so many occasions where she has come inside my classroom after school whilst i havn't been in looking at ways she could say ' look this wasn't done, or why have you done this' etc.

i'm just having enough!!