Hey there Teacher Tappers!
Have you started a countdown to the last day? Or are you ignoring the date because you still need to plough your way through your to-do list?? Either way – here at Teacher Tapp we hope you’re juggling the transition days, handover to new class teachers and wrapping up assessments.
Prize draws 🎟️
Huge congratulations to Carolyn, our winner of the April prize draw! 🥳
Here she is 👇 enjoying her dinner out on Teacher Tapp with her teacher friends. In the May half term, she took her work besties to The Ivy and Teacher Tapp picked up the tab. We particularly liked the green themed cocktails and like to think that was in honour of us 💚.
Our new prize draw for June is going to be a little different to usual 👀…watch the app for more details coming soon!
Election priorities
This is the week the election manifestos are being released – but what issues do teachers believe are the most important ones facing the country at this time? 🧐🔍
Unsurprisingly, education, health and the economy come out as top priorities for all teachers regardless of seniority. In fact, there seems to be very little variance across the board – with the exception of housing, which is more pressing among younger teachers.
YouGov data presents a very different picture, with the economy, health and immigration coming out as the top three issues.
Do you feel like the pledges and manifestos are on issues that matter to you? Is education getting the attention it deserves – OR would you rather politicians stayed away from schools? Let us know what you think 💬.
What happens to the quality of learning when PPA takes place?
When we have previously asked about who covers a class when a primary teacher takes PPA (Planning, Preparation, and Assessment) time, the most common answer was an HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) at just under a third. This was followed by another teacher (24%) and a TA (Teaching Assistant) at 13%.
But is the quality of learning as high in those lessons as it would be normally? Overall, 52% disagreed while 39% agreed.
When broken down by the number of FSM (Free School Meal) pupils, we see that in more affluent areas, more teachers are likely to strongly agree or agree that the quality remains high. Additionally, it’s worth considering that in fee-paying schools where 55% of teachers ‘strongly agreed’ that the quality was as high, the most common response (45%) was that another teacher covers the PPA.
Is there an optimum way of organizing PPA? And is this one advantage of job shares: that PPA is always done by a teacher who knows the class well? Let us know your thoughts on PPA on socials or through the app… 💭💬
Is a week enough?
The May half-term arrives just after the KS2 tests and in the middle of the GCSE exams, but is its arrival universally welcome? And is a week enough?
We asked you at the start of the holiday, giving you the option to be asked again if you weren’t sure. Here are the results:
On the first round of asking:
- 😎 30% of primary and 45% of secondary teachers said a week is needed and enough.
- 🤨 Not all felt satisfied, as 62% of primary and 48% of secondary teachers wanted more than a week.
- Around 4% wanted to be asked again…so we did.
The second round showed:
- About half of primary and secondary teachers said a week was enough 😎.
- 47% of primary and 45% of secondary teachers said they would like more than a week 🤔.
What do you ask students to do in detentions?
A detention can sometimes be as onerous for the teacher as it is for the student. So, what do you ask pupils to do if they have been issued that sanction?
✍️ The two most common responses were “complete homework” (probably indicative of the most common reasons detentions are set) and “sit in silence” 🤫.
Other responses included having restorative conversations or reflecting on their behaviour, finishing incomplete classwork, and tasks like cleaning, reading, and sorting worksheets.
Additionally, a significant number reported that their schools used centralised detentions, and they were not the ones to set the detention task.
Do you think what happens in the detention impacts how much of a difference that detention makes? Have you ever set an unusual task in a detention? Let us know! ✍️
Top events
This week’s top event is run by School Surveys and their webinar ‘Using the power of school surveys to cultivate thriving school communities‘ 🥳🙌.
This event is available online and on demand, but we also have in-person events too! Check the app to see all the new events on offer.
Ups and Downs
On the rise 📈
Strict teachers Back in 2022 we asked what you would do if a student handed in homework late and it was a one-off rather than a persistent problem – 69% of secondary teachers said they would give them a second chance. This week that number is only 57%.
Heading down 📉
After school meetings and activities Those teachers with meetings or activities after school on 3-5 days has dropped again this year. In 2022, 38% said they had activities or meetings afterschool on 3-5 days, this dropped to 34% and now it is 27%.
Daily Reads
Our most read daily read this week was the blog: Find the bright spots
If you would like to read the rest you can find them here 👇
