The life of a nursery teacher

"It must be fun playing all day"

"All that time off you've got, you can't complain"

"You finish at 3:30 .. I work till 5!"

Just a few of the misconceptions I get bombarded with all the time. I love my job. I love my job but its not a walk in the park like some people seem to think. No i don't teach quadratic equations and no I don't have hundreds of books to mark but I have a whole other kettle of fish to deal with.

A room full of 32 three year olds who all want your undivided attention. A room full of 32 three year olds who have their own distinctive personalities and their own distinctive needs. I love them, I love each and every one of them even when they wee on me; get snot all over my new jumper; draw on my ipad; break the toy i bought at the weekend; ignore the same instruction i've given 150 times ... Then you have a break through. There is no better feeling when a child writes their name for the first time or they retell the story of the gruffalo in front of the class.

By 3:00 on Friday afternoon myself and my team will have heard "miss" 19381982192 times. We will have cleaned up various bodily fluids; we will have been and astronaut, eating mud pies whilst dressing a doll in a baby clinic. We will have tied shoe lace after shoe lace and zipped up coat after coat. All whilst trying to get a group of reluctant children to write their name correctly. Simultaneously.

We will have met the ever changing demands of the government, the boss, the parents and the children - all conflicting and mostly out of reach but we'll do it. And we'll do it with a smile on our face and glitter in our hair.

So next time someone tells you they're a primary teacher ...

Give them a hug, Give them a brew and give them a break.

Jess x

#teacher #eyfs