Secondary School Teacher
Secondary school teachers teach children from the age of 11 to 16, or up to 19 in schools with sixth forms.
Day-to-day tasks
In this role you could:
- prepare teaching materials, set up the classroom and organise displays
- plan and teach lessons and work with small groups of students
- mark work and talk to parents and carers about their children's progress
- manage the work of teaching assistants
- follow safeguarding procedures and work with careers advisers, counsellors, education psychologists and social workers
- organise trips, after school clubs or exam revision classes
- work and attend meetings and training outside of usual working hours
Skills and Knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
- leadership skills
- to be flexible and open to change
- excellent verbal communication skills
- maths knowledge
- administration skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
Industry Requirements
You can do an undergraduate degree that leads to qualified teacher status (QTS). If you already have a bachelor's degree without qualified teacher status, you can complete a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). This can be done at university or through a training programme based in a school.