A Day in the Life of a Year 1 Teacher

Lucy Rodgers explains why, when you're a teacher, every day is different and there is rarely a dull moment.

Working with the youngest children is both rewarding, and at times, challenging. Their enthusiasm for learning is infectious and you will often find yourself smiling at the things that they say and do.

8am: I arrive at school and start preparations for the day ahead. This can be reviewing less on plans, preparing resources, setting up the classroom and speaking to other members of staff within the class.

8.45: The doors open and I welcome children as they arrive; with the vital task of finding out what they would like to eat for lunch. The children self- register in the classroom and complete a short learning task to start the day.

9.00: We all go to assembly, an important part of the day where the whole school gathers for collective worship.

9.15: It’s time for phonics; children split into various groups and their daily phonics lesson includes learning a new sound, reviewing previous sounds taught and application through guided reading.

9.50: Next we move onto our English lesson, which starts with handwriting or grammar before a reading and writing activity linked to a key text.

10:50: It’s playtime and an opportunity for me to prepare the resources ready for the next session of Maths.

Lucy Rodgers is the postgraduate programme administrator at CREC. She is a teacher by training and has worked within primary schools across Birmingham and now higher education and research.

12.00pm: It’s lunchtime for the children and I will use this time to complete marking from the morning and prepare for the afternoon. I will visit the staff room to catch up with any important messages and have a short break.

12.45pm: The children return to the classroom and the afternoon starts with our first of two curriculum lessons. This could be History, Geography, Science. Art or Computing to name a few and will vary across the week. These lessons are designed around a theme or big question and are planned to build on prior knowledge and skills across the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1.

3.00pm: The final session of the day is circle time or story time, where children can talk about their feelings or discuss their day. We then gather our belongings ready for home time.

3.15pm Once all the children have left it’s time to sort the classroom, mark and complete reports and assessments. There may be an after-school club to run or a professional development meeting to attend.

In the evening, I often need to adjust planning and prepare resources to ensure that the needs of all the children are being met.