Hello, Tappsters!
What day is it? Who cares! You are deep into the holidays now – we hope your bladder is enjoying being able to visit the toilet whenever you want, and enjoying lunch whenever you feel like taking it (more on this later…).
Prizes for our Mystery Tappers
Today, one lucky Tapper has a special message in their app telling them they have won a prize – we can now reveal it is a £200 gift card 🤑
Not the lucky winner? No worries! We have ANOTHER mystery prize up for grabs this week!
Full terms and conditions here.
And now, for our best edu-data findings…
1. Hello, sir! Hey, miss! Remember me?!
Running into a former student can be one of those lovely teacher moments — hearing what they’re doing now and knowing you played a part in their journey is a heart-warming reminder of why the job is so special.
And it’s not a rare event either:
- Only 6% of teachers say they’ve never bumped into a former student.
- A huge 59% spotted one just this July or August!
- Even better, 89% could remember the student’s name. 🧠
But does remembering their name make a difference to how positive the encounter feels?
For the most part, almost everyone found it positive — fewer than 1% said the experience was negative. But when we separate the results by memory, a clear difference appears:
Those who couldn’t recall were less upbeat, with only 35% saying it was positive.
Teachers who remembered the name were much more likely to say the experience was positive (54%).
2. Commuting 🚗🚶🚝
Most teachers don’t spend long getting to school: 73% get to work in under 30 minutes, which is right in line with the UK average commute of 29 minutes (government data).
But when it comes to a dream job, many say they’d be willing to stretch their journey:
- 41% would drive between 30–45 minutes
- 19% would go as far as an hour!
So, does your current commute change how far you’d be willing to travel for that ideal role?
The answer: yes.
- Teachers with short commutes (under 15 minutes) are the most open to going further.
- A huge 93% would accept a 16-60 minute journey for a dream job.
- Of those, 10% would even stretch to an hour.
- But—crucially—almost none (just 1%) would go beyond that.
- Teachers already commuting over an hour take a different view.
- 38% of them said they’d happily do another hour-plus journey for a dream role.
Interestingly, even among today’s long-distance commuters, not everyone wants to keep it up.
In fact, 59% said they’d prefer a shorter commute, dream role or not.
3. Male and female experiences in primary schools
This week, a social media video got us thinking about what it’s like to be a male teacher in primary schools.
Nearly half of male primary teachers (45%) say they’ve received negative comments about their role – and for almost one in five (18%), those comments have been as recent as this year.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that 11% of female primary Teacher Tappers told us they work in schools with no male teachers at all. And for those who do have male colleagues, stereotypes can creep in: one in five female primary teachers said someone had assumed their male colleague was senior to them in the past year.
💰 Extra money for extra time?
We also spotted a gender divide when it comes to working extra hours.
When asked if they’d teach an extra hour a day for extra pay, female primary teachers were more likely to say no (31% declined) compared to male colleagues (18% declined). The same pattern appeared in secondary schools too, though the gap was smaller (30% vs 22%).
And what would teachers do with that extra hour? The top choice was running a sports club – but this was far more popular with male primary teachers (49%) than female teachers (36%).
👉 Have you got a story about gender stereotyping in schools? We’d love to hear it! Drop us a message in the app, or tag us on BlueSky, Twitter, TikTok or Instagram.
4. Timetables
This has been our most requested question of the summer! Loads of you have tweeted, BlueSkyed, and emailed to ask: how many teachers already know their timetable?
September still feels a long way off, so is everyone set and ready to stick their timetable on the wall, or are some still waiting on last-minute confirmations?
The good news is… most teachers are sorted! 🥳
- Secondary: 92% already have their timetables, but 4% are still in the dark and another 4% only have a rough idea.
- Primary: Almost everyone knows what they’re teaching. Just 1% are still waiting to hear which class they’ll get. Meanwhile, 66% already have the full briefing (PPA included), and 33% know their class but not all the finer details.
So, if you’ve got your timetable in hand – you’re in the majority! But spare a thought for those still waiting for the final word…
5. EYFS/KS1 💚 their classrooms
Classrooms for younger learners are very different spaces to the rest of the school – but what do these teachers like best about their learning spaces?
The top two things that came up more than anything else were reading spaces and outdoor areas. But what made them special?
Reading Areas
Whether it was your “reading corner,” “book corner,” “library nook,” “reading den,” or “class library.” the space in your classroom where you keep your books was the TOP answer for your favourite space.
And it’s easy to see why – Teacher Tappers described their mini libraries as places that were “cosy”, “inviting”, and “well-used by children”. And it wasn’t just what they looked like, lots of you made the connection between your beautiful book corners and fostering independent reading and a love of books among your learners. Plus a crucial “calm space” in the classroom.
“I love my library the most as I managed to create a book nook in a class that has a door in every corner! I was able to get a lovely, comfortable sofa and two bookshelves, which helped to create a nook. My sofa has lots of fox cushions, fox blankets and cuddly reading buddies. These are mostly foxes, as I am (you have probably guessed by now!) in Fox Class!”
Outdoor Areas
Just behind the book nooks, the second most mentioned area was the outdoor play area.
These were more than just concrete and grass – we heard about “mud kitchens”, “construction zones”, “gardens”, “verandas” plus forest school areas, and nature features. These included ponds, bird feeders, and even hedgehog houses!
The love for the outdoors wasn’t simply about getting some fresh air – Teacher Tappers said that their outdoor provision was linked to “better behaviour”, “engagement”, “communication”, and “sensory opportunities”.
“My favourite part is our outdoor area. Being outside is so good for children and adults. Behaviour is better, learning is better, and engagement is higher. I loved enhancing it with the children and following their interests.”
“I teach EYFS SEND children and last year we had continuous access to a massive outdoor area with climbing frames, forest school and swing. It was completely invaluable and we were outside rain or shine!”
Daily Reads
The top read in the last week was the bluffers guide to results day!
Have you seen a great blog you think would make a great daily read? Let us know by emailing england@teachertapp.co.uk and we will check it out!
