Page 90: A day in the life of an ECT2 in the EYFS

Page 90: A day in the life of an ECT2 in the EYFS

Page 90! When I come to writing my next page, I often surprise myself with how far I have gotten. This started way back in lockdown as a student teacher with a lot of time of my hands. Now I have been teaching for a year and a half, began to pick up further responsibilities and is a staff governor. It has been lovely to have this page to not just reflect on my practice but to further research, network with others and have and professional output of all of the teacher things that go on in my head!

Throughout my time as a student teacher, ECT1 and now ECT2 I feel I have established a pretty good work day routine. Obviously the joy and nature of the job is that every day is different, however, here is what a typical day in the life looks for me.

I am a morning person, I like to use my mornings to prioritise myself, my wellness and fitness. My  endorphins are pumped ready for the school day and this allows my after school to be free for whatever may crop up. From my Monday night food shop to a catchup with a friend! So here we go:

5:50 alarm goes off!

6:00 leave for the gym 6:10 arrive at gym and workout. This is a run! In the warmer weather and light mornings I switch this for an outside run.

6:50 shower and get ready at the gym.

7:15 Set off for school, picking up two colleagues on route arriving at 7:30.

7:30-8:00 catch up on planning, subject leadership general teacher bits and bobs.

8:00-8:45 set up classroom for the day, group time, indoor and outside provision. Eat some breakfast too!

8:45-9:00 welcome the children in!

Now it is learning time, in the morning we have a phonics session, continuous provision and a communication and language session. 

11:45-12:30 Lunchtime. I always go on a 15 minute brain break walk with my colleague followed by 3o minutes left for eating and catching up.

Now it is afternoon learning time, we have a maths sessions followed by continuous provision, tidying up for 2:30.

2:30-3:00 story, milk, snack, star of the day and daily chats! I love my last 5 minutes of the day chatting to the children about what we have learned and what we have enjoyed.

Then it is home time and I head onto my after school tasks. These vary daily, but always include ballet club on night a week!Everything day works different for every teacher. Some nights have a staff meeting, some nights I prioritise finishing late so I can finish early elsewhere, this is just how I get my after school balence.

- Monday and Tuesday - I like to set up camp in the PPA room, usually having a later finish between 5:30-6:00.

- Wednesday - Staff meeting night, a prompt 5:00 finish.

- Thursday - This day greatly varies, sometimes having phase meetings, sometimes stay late or earlier.

- Friday - I like to prioritise this as my early finish. I love having my PPA on a Friday so it means all recourses are printed and organised so after school, I set up provision and planning boxes for the next week, and head home around 4ish!

I you are a teacher, I hope you have found it useful to see how I work my days. I'd like to add I do a lot of in work hours, but this really limits my amount I have to work in the evenings when I am home or over the weekend. Just the balence that works for me. If you are not a teacher, I hope you enjoyed being nosey!

- Miss Yeoman