Secret Teacher: I loved my last class. Will this year's students step up?

“Oh, that class.” My heart sank as I heard those dreaded words last September, signalling (I was sure) the beginning of a year of poor behaviour, battles for concentration, and general frustration as I was saddled with a “bad” class. But my plummeting heart did a rapid u-turn as the comment was quickly followed by an upbeat: “They’re lovely, you’ll absolutely love them!”

And oh, how I did! Of course there were the usual behaviour issues to be dealt with, attainment to be painstakingly brought on, and friendship problems to work through. But on the whole I was delighted with my class all of last year. They were kind, funny, thoughtful and creative. Eager to learn, their questions kept me on my toes but were generally perceptive and interesting. After the end of every exhausted week, I knew I’d be going home with a smile, a story to tell; the time when half the class got together to do a random act of kindness day, when they burst into fantastic impromptu song and their pure excitement at writing poetry based on a dull 15th-century painting – not my idea of an easy task.

Their kindness to each other, and to me, was special. When discussing a child in the class who was struggling to make the right behaviour choices, their responses actually made me cry. “Sometimes things happen to you in your life and you can’t always remember to be nice,” said one. “We need to remember that X does lots of nice things as well,” said another. Incredibly mature, forgiving, yet simple responses from people so young. Children are generally selfish, we are told. Not this lot.And though they weren’t perfect, I reminded myself that they’re not robot children and that they have to learn through their mistakes.They did. While every single child made me proud at one point or another during the year, it was their way of being as a whole, as a community, that made teaching them so enjoyable.

After what was, in many ways, the teaching year of my dreams, I’m now worried. How can my new class live up to the last bunch? Having met them briefly they seem fine – bright, attentive and keen to impress. But I have the nagging thought that they just can’t be as good as the last lot. I know this isn’t fair – not to them and probably not to me – and it seems faintly unprofessional to think like this at all. But when you spend more time with the children in your class than with anyone else in your life, I defy anyone not to form an emotional attachment that if it’s good, lifts your whole experience and, if it’s bad, can make you feel negative about teaching in general. My greatest fear is that I will turn into that teacher who loses the enthusiastic spark in their eye because of “that class”.

I recall all too easily the ashen face of a colleague who had “that class” last year. Beaten down by their inability to work together without fighting and a general lack of respect, her decision to leave teaching was made easier.

I am up for the challenge of a new class and I’m excited about getting to know them all, but after speaking to teacher friends it seems that I’m not the only one who feels unsure. I wonder what can be done by school management and teachers themselves to smooth the transition between new classes? The hour or so of transition arranged by many headteachers that allows the teachers to meet their new classes is something, but it hardly seems sufficient. And although I have heard the wisdom of more experienced teachers telling me to take the time at the start of the year to settle your new class and get to know them, time is at a premium in a daily timetable that is stretched almost to bursting.

One strategy I have found helpful is sending your class to their new teachers with a passport of their likes and dislikes, their interests and what they think are their strengths and weaknesses. This is a handy snapshot to give to the next teacher and can hopefully give a sense of the personality of the class.

While I face the new school year with apprehension, I know that being in the classroom is a collaboration between the teacher and their students. I can’t just hope that my new class will be lovely, I need to foster the loveliness that I’m sure is inside them all and put into practice the things I learnt from my last class about kindness, openness and enthusiasm.

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