6:30ish: Wake up, have breakfast and get ready for the day!

7:15am: I get in the car and put on a good playlist to wake me up. I’ve been loving Olivia Rodrigo’s new album at the moment. 

7:50am: I arrive at school to a gorgeous view. My school is in high peak and so I’m lucky to have a lovely drive in the morning.

7:55am: I say good morning to my mentor and HLTA before grabbing a cup of tea. 

8:00am: I then look at my day and organise all the bits and pieces i need. If I don’t have a lot to get ready for the day i will ask my mentor if there’s anything they need help with. 

8:30-8:45am: The children arrive and i say good morning to them. This is a good opportunity to see what children may need extra support that day. Remember that every day is a new day! 

8:45-10:15am: In the morning we have maths. Today I did a team teach maths lesson so during the register i reminded myself of the slides and made sure all the sheets were prepared. We taught odd and even numbers to the Year 2s. 

10:15-10:30: Singing assembly for the children and I do some marking from maths.

10:30-10:45am: Break time !

10:45am-12:00pm: I had PPA time during the second session. I spent this time going through the purple book and completing the tasks for the week. I also went through the slides for my next team teach this afternoon. 

12:00-1:00pm: Lunch time! Lunch is a great time to get to know colleagues. TAs and admin staff are an invaluable part of school so take your time to get to know them as well. 

1:05-3:15pm: For the last sessions of the day, we did History and RE. In History i went around the classroom looking at their writing. This was an independent writing session, so I couldn’t give too much support! So, i decided this was a good opportunity to practice all the names of the children, they love it when you know their names so try and get this sorted in the first week! 

In RE me and my mentor did a combined Y2/3 session. I read a non-fiction book about Islam to the children, asking them questions as we went through. A lot of this session was thinking on my feet which is good to practice. The signal, pause and insist technique is invaluable in the classroom so make sure to find out what your class uses early.

3:15-4:45pm: After the children have left for the day i have a debrief with my mentor and get tasks done that weren’t finished in PPA time.

4:45pm: I then drive home and pick up a Vinted parcel on the way. Vinted is a fab way of finding teacher clothes on a student budget.  

5:00 onwards: I do some assignment prep and make sure to have a rest. Before a ridiculously early night!

Written by Charlotte, current PGCE Primary student at The University of Manchester

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