Teach Primary Issue 18.2

Q A & 1 What is your idea of perfect happiness in your job? Planning and resourcing exciting learning experiences that myself and my class can enjoy together. Enabling children to take small steps that build to clear progress, allowing then to grow and succeed. 2 What is your greatest fear at work? Not being prepared! As well as being planned and prepped, I aim to be in school at least an hour before the children start to arrive. That way, I have plenty of time to deal with any last-minute developments whilst remaining calm. 3 What is your current state of mind? My current state of mind is positive, proud and ambitious. During our recent inspection, we were able to demonstrate that we are performing as a ‘Good’ school. This is the result of a lot of hard work and dedication by our whole team. We are now in a position where we can build on this success and strive to provide even better opportunities for our children. 4 What do you consider the most overrated teacher virtue? Working at the expense of a life of your own won’t help you to help your children, colleagues or anybody else. There are a number of teacher virtues that can be effective depending on 7 What do you consider your greatest teaching achievement? I am proud to be in my 24th year of teaching. It feels quite an achievement. I hope that I continue to achieve by listening, learning and growing as a teacher so that I can continue to improve my practice and provide the best possible support to the children and families of our school community. 8 What is your most treasured teaching possession? Books, books and more books. I love to share stories, extracts, poetry and non-fiction texts with children; for enjoyment, practise, performance, inspiration, and of course for knowledge. Nothing quite has the same power. My favourite picture book is Some Dogs Do by Jez Alborough. It’s an uplifting tale for anyone who has ever believed that miracles really do happen. The key message for children is to believe in themselves and that if they do, they are capable of anything. TP their implementation, but the key to good teaching is relationships and consistency. 5 On what occasion do you lie to your class? A tall tale or a little embroidery can help add humour and inspire thoughts or ideas that can make a learning experience more enjoyable and in turn, more memorable! I share a surname with one of my favourite story characters, Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch , and my birthday is at Halloween, so I lead my class to believe that I am part witch. The spellbook on my desk helps too! I’ve hooked lots of children into reading Jill Murphy books with this little white lie. 6 Which words or phrases do you most overuse with your class? “Thank you” to the children who listen, do as asked and demonstrate our school values. It is my utmost reward and encourages others to follow suit. We take the famous Proust questionnaire and pose eight of its questions to a fellow educator. Take a peek into the deepest depths of a teacher’s soul... NAME: Catherine Hubball ROLE: Year 2 teacher and KS1 Lead at Ditton Primary School, Widnes, part of Warrington Primary Academy Trust. EXTRA INFO: I’ve written my own story for young children and would love to publish it one day. 82 | www.teachwire.net F EATURE S BACK PAGE