Help, I'm a new primary subject leader in geography!
Well hello there, and welcome to update #086!
It’s daunting starting a new role, everyone feels the same.
Why is this?
Well every time we take on a new responsibility, we are moving out of our comfort zone.
I know for myself, that I can lose confidence, and these are some of the things I’ve found helpful:
I remind myself that someone thought I’d be up to this: in other words, other people have confidence in me, even if I’m unsure at the moment
I remind myself that I don’t need to know it all
I make sure I am tapping into the people and resources that can help me to do the job
Suppose I’m a new subject leader in geography these are some of the things I could do to get started:
1.   Have a quick check that the current plans match the NC for geography
2.   Quick audit on quality – paper stuck on paper? Or gorgeous resources?
3.   Talk to some pupils about how they are getting on in geography
Let’s take each in turn:
Notice that each of these can be done quickly – there’s no need to spend ages getting this information.
A little bit of information can tell a big story.
It’s important when we are doing this work, to come from a place of curiosity.
It’s never a blame game when things aren’t up to scratch.
However, once we have realised that things can be improved, we do need to get cracking. And that’s because our pupils deserve the best.
It’s also important to improve a few things quickly.
This is because it gives us a sense of momentum. We feel motivated to keep going when we can see we’ve made some progress.
No need to wait to have all our ducks in a row, let’s just get cracking!
You can watch Hydeh Fayaz talk about her journey in leading geography in ‘New to Subject Leadership’ on Myatt & Co (£/free trial).
And you’d like your pupils knowing more, remembering more and being able to do more through the power of stories and high quality texts? Then The Teachers’ Collection has over 150 planning units and vocab lists with book suggestions across the national curriculum. You can download a sample planning unit and vocab list for science here.
Until next time
Mary