Doing a GTP

This blog will describe my time as a GTP and I will list some tips I would give a new trainee . 

I started my GTP in Year 2 after a year in the same school as a Teaching Assistant, so I already had some idea of the school environment, routine and staff. However, the jump from TA to GTP student is quite substantial and is understandably daunting. 

I was fortunate enough to have a very supportive team around me to help me through my year as a trainee. At school my school-based-tutor (SBT), the class teacher I was working alongside and my TA were excellent, always happy to lend advice or look over a piece of work I had completed. It is also important to have support away from school. At the time I was still living at home and had the members of my family and also my understanding girlfriend to help guide me through the year.

The workload is substantial. My advice would be to use your time at the start of the year to get the fiddly bits out of the way first. 

• Getting your skills tests booked and passed as soon as possible will help avoid any unnecessary panics come the summer term. 
• Get observations of other teachers booked in (more about this below) because as soon as you start to teacher more of the lessons your time will just disappear and there may be gaps in your folders of work.
• Plan out your year roughly in September, allowing yourself plenty of time to meet deadlines - use the holidays effectively, I found that to write an essay during school time when you have marking and planning to do was tough.
• Make use of 'testimonials' - these are an easy way to demonstrate you have met a Q standard simply by typing out the standard, explaining how you've met it and then getting a senior member of staff to sign it.
• Try and arrange with your visiting tutor to have your observation visits early each term. This may cause slight panic at the time but come the final visit in the summer term, you will be finished earlier than other people on the course who book in a late observations. This is also an advantage if there are any problems as it leaves you time to book in additional observations.
• Get a second school placement at a school which is very different from yours if possible. I went from a rough school in the middle of a council estate to a small village school, attended by the sons and daughters of millionaires. This experience is invaluable, especially when it comes to applying for jobs at the end of your year.
• On that theme - apply for jobs early - from Easter time if possible. Getting a job position sorted will again take off some of the pressure come the end of the term.
• Make the most of  your training days away from school. Use the time to network and let off steam with other GTP's and grab as many free resources as you can. 
• Invest in some sturdy ring binders - i knew one girl who had flimsy ones and the day of her final assessment she dropped her folders and the paperwork went everywhere!
• Cross referencing will become the bane of your life - but do it, it makes your folders easier to navigate and an assessor will not miss out on any work. Each thing that goes into your folder needs to have at least one Q standard on it - otherwise why is it there?
• PRIORITISE - you wont always be able to do everything. Make a list of your jobs and do the most important thing first. Making lists is a really good way of organising your thoughts - during my year I actually kept a notepad by my bed to jot things down so they weren't floating around in my head while I was trying to sleep
• Spend time doing other things. It would be easy to neglect all other areas of your life whilst doing a GTP but for your sanity try and book things into your schedule which you will enjoy. Spend time with friends and family regularly to take your mind off the work.
• Use a diary. I never used a diary before i started teaching and it is a simple way of organising things. Take it to staff meetings and note down what is happening in school - something you might not think is relevant to you may still affect you - do Year 3 need the hall on the day of your PE observation? Is there an empty room for your assessor to use or is the school nurse in? You get the idea.
• Don't let the school use you as emergency cover - sometimes this can be helpful but try not to let them just use you as cheap labour - it's not what you are there for. If this does happen, tell your visiting tutor or training provider

Doing a GTP is the best way to train. You will experience the roller coaster of emotions involved in such a demanding job but the feeling of elation at the end of the year is worth all the hard work. When I compare my training to that of people who did a B.ED or a PGCE I think that I gained more from spending the whole time in school, based in a class.  

Please leave me a comment or a question below.