Hi there,
Summer holiday freedom is almost within touching distance. The finish line is in sight – the glorious weeks that remind you why you chose this profession (obviously way behind the reward of making a huge difference in the world!).
It will soon be time to relax in your garden, on a holiday sun lounger or in a sunny beer garden, while your non-teaching friends board sweaty trains for their commute, where they wistfully look at your social media photos, wishing they had more than 20 days of holiday leave each year.
We’re not quite there yet and some of you will be navigating exam season but it is definitely time to get your summer planned out. If you haven’t booked your holiday yet, we’ve found some travel discounts you might be interested in.
Before you run out the school gates faster than Usain Bolt and jump on a plane, make sure you grab a coffee and read through our newsletter.
This month, we’ve got our usual roundup of teaching news including a summary of the NEU Conference, some super useful recommendations of free courses and a tricky brainteaser.
Teaching News
A piece of news that we found interesting (but definitely not surprising) recently is that 9 in 10 secondary teachers are developing their own curriculum resources for lesson planning. This was highlighted in a survey conducted by the Department of Education.
While the number of primary school teachers developing their own resources was slightly lower at 74%, it shows that the government’s expectations for the Oak National Academy to become the resources saviour for teachers was widely miscued.
In a previous survey, over 50% of teachers said that using Oak National Academy had not reduced their workload. This is why we are seeing more teachers turn to alternative resources such as Twinkl, TeacherToolkit and Primary Resources.
I think we can safely say that we are not shocked that the government has again failed to understand the needs of teaching professionals but let’s try and stay optimistic for the future. We’re eagerly looking forward to hearing the progress on Labour’s promise to recruit 6,500 additional teachers!
NEU Conference
The annual NEU Conference recently took place in Harrogate, with some of the hot discussion topics being:
Pay and maternity rights – Delegates agreed to launch a formal ballot on taking industrial action.
Calls to abolish Ofsted – They passed an urgent motion to redouble efforts to abolish Ofsted.
Tackling violence in schools – Calls for the union’s executive to campaign to highlight intolerable working conditions caused by extreme behaviour.
Workload – Members voted against a national ballot for action on workload at this point to focus on the pay and funding ballot, with the objective of seeing workload improvement through the success of this.
Free Safeguarding Programme
The NSPCC is offering a free safeguarding programme for primary schools, called Speak out, Stay safe. It includes virtual assemblies for children, follow-on lesson plans and face-to-face workshops. You can find out more and sign up on the NSPCC Learning website.
Free Online Courses
Open University has recently provided a new free course – Supporting children’s learning in primary education today which can be accessed via the open.edu website.
Prospero Learning is also offering a free Introduction to Behaviour Management online training course aimed at teachers, TAs, SEND teachers, supply teachers and support staff.
Top Teacher Discounts of the Month
Dreaming of a summer getaway either abroad or in the UK? There are lots of good holiday discounts on offer at the moment for teachers:
Haven – A family favourite, Haven holiday parks are located around the UK, with facilities including indoor and outdoor pools, fun activities for kids and adults, as well as evening entertainment at many locations. With the recent good weather we’ve had, a nice summer could be on the cards and with up to a 15% discount, it could be a lot cheaper than holidaying abroad.
There’s also up to 10% discount at Hoseasons and Parkdean Resorts through Discounts for Teachers.
If you don’t want to chance the UK weather, (or don’t want to see swarms of kids until at least September) Jet2Holidays are currently offering savings of up to £100 per person and an extra £60 off for teachers.
Eurocamp is also offering discounts between 5% and 35%, where you can stay in mobile homes or camp in luxury Safari tents, with sites all over Europe. Many Eurocamp resorts have the facilities you’d expect at hotels including pools with slides, kids’ clubs and outdoor adventures.
This Month’s Trivia
Have you been racking your brain about our last trivia question?
I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old, what am I?
Did you get it? It was of course, a candle!
We’ve got a teaching related one for you this month:
My dad teaches chemistry and my mum teaches maths.
My nickname is IRON59, what is my name?
As always, the answer will be included in next month’s newsletter.
Celebrating our 20th Anniversary
We wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who wished PK Education a happy 20th anniversary. We were overwhelmed with the good wishes and we’re all looking forward to the next 20!
Start Your New Adventure in September
With summer fast approaching, now is the time to find a new role for the next academic year. We are looking for dedicated professionals, including primary teachers and teaching assistants, to join the team and start an exciting new challenge from September.
If you’re looking for a new role or know somebody who is, please get in touch to find out about the opportunities we have at some fantastic schools.
Take a look at our current vacancies or get in touch to speak to our friendly team so we can help match you with your ideal role.
Don’t forget, if you recommend a candidate to us who isn’t already registered with PK Education, we’ll send you a £100 voucher on the completion of their first 10 days!
Enjoy the rest of the good weather, it’ll no doubt be raining again soon!
From the PK Education team
