Originally published in the TES, Summer 2014 as part of the column 'Tales from New Teachers'
It seems odd that something that’s such a large part of most new
teachers’ lives is often barely covered on teacher training courses – being a
form tutor. However, with all the time in the world, the complexities of this
role cannot be taught – they need to be experienced for you to learn how to
deal with the pure madness this role can bring. For me, I was swamped by the
sheer volume of work that being a form tutor entails, and found it very
difficult to balance with teaching my subject. Additionally, the tutor time at
my school is at the end of the school day, and whilst the behaviour of the
pupils at my school is impeccable, even these high standards can start to slip
a little as the clock ticks its way to 3pm. So I had two challenges on my
hands: how to organise the vast and varied amount of tasks that form part of
this role, whilst ensuring I was encouraging perfect behaviour in tutor time?
I sought advice from my mentor, who helped me to get on top of
things by advising that I dedicate one of my free periods to ‘form admin’.
This, she suggested, would stop my constant worry about what was coming up next
in the school calendar. I also asked for her support in tutor time in terms of
behaviour, especially on Friday afternoons!
I also consulted my ‘school next-door-neighbour’, a fellow History
teacher in the classroom next door. I had always admired the way that her form
would line up absolutely perfectly outside her room, and the behaviour that I
could see and hear when the door was left open was perfect. I asked for her
advice, and she suggested creating a ‘form tracker’ to put on my noticeboard to
display members of the form behaving well, and those not meeting the high
behaviour expectations.
I am fortunate to have a very well-organised Head of Year, and once
I had expressed that I sometimes felt overwhelmed, she promised to help as much
as she could.
I took my mentor’s
advice and scheduled a ‘form admin’ period, which has greatly reduced my
worrying! My Head of Year also did as she’d promised, creating a booklet for us
form tutors to simplify what tasks we had to do on which days. I also followed
the advice of my next-door-neighbour and created a form tracker, although it
didn’t have the immediate positive effect on behaviour that I had hoped. My
mentor then agreed to come and observe and support in my Friday afternoon tutor
times. That had an incredibly calming effect on the class and their behaviour
was much improved. We have now decided to continue this collaborative approach
for a few more weeks, to show the class that they are capable of excellent
behaviour even at 3pm on a Friday! I feel much more positive about my role as a
form tutor – I’m not perfect yet, but certainly on the way to getting my head
around what is the hardest, but most rewarding, part of my job.
