Reflecting with Rebecca

🚨🚨🚨 TOMORROW 🚨🚨🚨

Mentoring a Beginning Teacher in Modern Foreign Languages. Zoom, 19:00, GMT.

Expect practical strategies, experience-driven advice and a freebie!

¡No te lo pierdas!

Reassuring. Responsive. Read the rest of Alison’s experience of working with me 👇

Rebecca has always been so responsive to questions I’ve asked as a mentor when I’ve either needed reassurance or maybe not been sure of something. Rebecca is amazing with words and if I’ve ever struggled with how to word advice for a trainee she will always know exactly how to say it in a constructive way. She has always been very approachable and always has pearls of wisdom to share. No question is too daft…fortunately!

Work with me - [email protected]

💛 Not long to go now until my webinar “Mentoring a Beginning Teacher in Modern Foreign Languages” hosted by .hazell via .

It’s on 3rd February at 19:00 GMT.

There is a link in my bio to sign up.

Hope to see lots of you there!

This week’s Top Tip Tuesday is about looking after yourself.

Teaching is tough. There are no two ways about that and there are pinch points in the year; especially around now where placements are coming to and end and you’re uncertain about what happens next. As a group teachers really can be quite resistant to change!

So, here’s my two pence worth on seeking support:

🫂 It sounds cheesy but a problem shared really is a problem halved. Find your people in school and confide in them; so often when I do this I’m met with “what can I do to help lighten your load?” (Big shout out here to my work bestie Alison who ALWAYS asks this despite being very busy herself.)

🎓 Make sure you let your training provider know so they can signpost you some support.

💕 You can also contact and if you are training at a local authority school you may be eligible for your specific LA’s teacher support service. Here in North Yorkshire, ours is called Health Assured.

You can also reach out to me if you need to talk things through. 📧 [email protected]

Look after you!

I love this graphic by which captures one of my favourite quotes.

It’s especially fitting for Blue Monday — today my school encouraged us to get together for “Brew Monday” and after school a colleague and I met in my classroom to catch up over a cuppa and some leftover Christmas Lebkuchen. It did us both the world of good.

Have your schools/workplaces done anything to highlight wellbeing this Blue Monday? Let me know in the comments!

This is your Monday motivation to sign up for some CPD this year, and my motivation to put my slides together 🤣

💛 I will be delivering a webinar on Tuesday, 3rd February, 2026 focusing on Mentoring a Beginning Teacher in Modern Foreign Languages. It’s free-of-charge and will be really informative for anyone who is currently a mentor or is considering becoming one.

Sign up link here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aOovy9SlS9qTSzGBtqAHRQ #/registration

Let’s talk kindness.

I had a long conversation with a beginning teacher today who is possibly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I do love a person with impeccable manners!!

He is also a very positive, resilient person but can struggle sometimes to talk positively about himself, and specifically around his good practice in lessons. We talked at length about this today and on the way home I ended up in B&M (I’d like to say I needed something, but everyone knows B&M tells you what you need). Anyway, I happened across these cards and thought they’d be the perfect pre-Christmas break pick-me-up.

I’m intending to gift them and ask him at the end of the placement to either return them so I can pass them onto the next BT who needs them; or to hang onto them and pass them onto someone he thinks needs them later in his career. A couple of quid well spent I think!

Do you struggle with a BT who struggles to see positives? Or are you that BT? Get in touch! I can help with this.

📧 [email protected]

Today’s Motivation Monday is yours truly post-Zumba. I haven’t been in 8 weeks; and after I missed the first two or so I feel into a really bad routine of just not going and staying late at work instead. I decided today was the day to change that and forge better exercise habits, putting myself first which is so important to do when the majority of your job is thinking about others and putting their needs ahead of yours.

I warmed up, shimmied, jumped about like a loon, whooped at the top of my voice, cooled down and stretched. And I feel GREAT! For 60 whole minutes I couldn’t think about anything else apart from following the steps. And let’s face it, my (absolutely mammoth) to do list will still be there when I arrive in work tomorrow morning. Self care is not selfish. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

I’ve already prepaid next week so I will see you then . Thank you for such a warm welcome back this evening 🧡

Who has already started the interim report for their beginning teacher? Here are a few tips I’ve shared with subject mentors over the years:

- 💾 Make sure you save a copy. Most are put directly onto VLEs; copy and paste what you’ve written into a word document so you have a record of it, and a backup if anything goes wrong with the VLE. Unfortunately one of my colleagues learned this the hard way one year (think it was you Alison, I know you’ll be reading this!)

- 🙀 Don’t drop a bombshell in the report. The report should not be the first time a BT or the training provider is hearing of any concerns; no matter how minor. The report should really be a summary of mentor conversations and feedback throughout the placement so far.

- 🎯 Set SMART targets. Ensure your targets are achievable, succinct and clear.

- ✅ Check your report for SPaG.

I am delivering a webinar on Tuesday, 3rd February, 2026 focusing on how to support beginning teachers including writing effective reports, so keep an eye out and please do sign up!

In the meantime if you need some support with your report writing 👇

📧 [email protected]

This time of year can be so tough. Setting off to work in the dark, leaving work in the dark; and apparently the last week in November and first two weeks in December are the trickiest in terms of student behaviour. Throw a timetable increase in there and it can feel like you’re crawling to the end of term. Surviving vs. Thriving.

I’ve had this saved on my phone for about three years now, and I often send it to friends, colleagues and beginning teachers who I think it will resonate with.

Take a screenshot and save it to your phone for when you need it most; or for when you think someone else might benefit from seeing it.

Need someone to talk through the overwhelm? I can help with that: [email protected]

Please DM if this is yours so I can credit you.

I had the pleasure of being part of the University of York’s Employability Advisory Group today in the beautiful Heslington Hall (pictured)

University staff and employers from education, social work and healthcare came together to discuss three issues that trainees in those sectors face and trends we have noticed.

Interestingly the question of professionalism came up across all three themes that were presented on.

So, what does professionalism look like in a BT’s training year? How do subject mentors model professionalism?

Let me know in the comments 👇

Today’s Tip Top Tuesday is a simple one

💚 Give. Yourself. Grace.

Teaching is hard. I had a conversation with a beginning teacher today who is juggling an increase in timetabled lessons with a busy home life. I simply told him to give himself grace.

“You can do anything but you can’t do everything.”

And when things feel too much remember: one thought at a time, one task at a time, one day at a time.

Struggling with overwhelm during your PGCE? I can help.

📧 Get in touch: [email protected]