Every profession requires different skill sets. Whether it be patience as a police officer, a steady hand as a surgeon, a good eye as an engineer or empathy and compassion in the caring profession. Teachers are no different on this front. In a way similar to the caring profession, teachers look after children in their care during the school day and this requires a specific skill set. The times I heard as a teacher, ‘I couldn’t do your job. I don’t have the patience.’ To me that’s the easy bit. Nowadays, children have so much more to contend with and teachers have to be there to do so much more than just teach. Now that takes training, learning on the job, listening to those more experienced and research to know how to support those children coming in to school with complex needs, social issues, troubles from home and coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
As mentioned in my previous blog, ‘Let’s hear it for the children!’ children are having quite a tough time at the moment. I’ve mentioned it before, the cost-of-living crisis is hitting families hard and as I type it continues to get worse. Children are sometimes forgotten in this as the issues around petrol and home fuel costs are at the forefront. Yet, the knock-on effect is clearly being felt by those coming in to school not having eaten or know they are going home to a very limited ‘tea’ time.
Having left the teaching profession recently and now running our own business, my wife and I want to do what we can to give back to the profession. Our company ethos is to ensure that we at all times respect the profession, teaching staff and the children within every school. To us, it would have been easy to set up our ‘Refer a Friend Scheme’ with a one-off payment to a teacher who recommends a new teacher to us. Yes, this gives back in a way but we felt this didn’t give back enough. Having done some research when setting up our company, we wanted to partner with some companies that give to the profession no questions asked. That’s why our ‘Refer a Friend Scheme’ donates to FareShare and Teach First but also gives back to the teacher! We are proud to work alongside these two charities and to be able to offer this as our reward as giving back is so important to us.
I could write a whole blog on each company with ease but even if you are just passing and having a read of the blog, I urge you to have a look at their websites and see what an important role they play in so many ways in supporting children, families and the teachers of the future.