Back to school: harnessing the collective energy at United Learning

Every year in teaching I have had the same feeling after the summer holidays: can I remember how to do it, how to actually teach? On describing this to friends and family, they found it completely ridiculous. How on earth could I forget how to teach, when I had racked up thousands of hours in front of classes?

Of course, I hadn't forgotten. But I did have a healthy nervousness running up to the first day of term, just as I did in my other life as a performing musician heading towards an important event.

I hope that this is fairly normal. Because, on reflection, this feeling always gave the first lessons after the summer holiday a tangible excitement, a bracing energy, as well as the opportunity to reinvigorate my practice. And when I started in a new school, the feeling was even more pronounced. Compared to other professions, this is unusual. As teachers we have the chance to kickstart our work every single year and consider fresh challenges: there are different classes to get to know and plan for, new colleagues to collaborate with and learn from, and exciting experiences to plan for students.