​As a recruitment agency , we hear from teachers every day and we are very aware of how hard it may feel to balance your work load. Fitting everything into one day might feel impossible some days, but we have figured out a few time saving tips to ensure that you aren't over doing yourself, and to help you find that extra time to breathe in the day.

Plan In Chunks-

If we could give one tip to every teacher, it would be to stop planning your lessons one by one every evening. We know how much easier it feels to want to leave your lesson planning until the night before, but these last minute panics can be replaced with having your evenings to yourself. If you have a free day at the start of the term, try and pre plan as many lessons as your brain allows you too so that it's out of the way! This will also help your lessons link more naturally and you will feel much more in control of your days.

Whole Class Feedback-

Writing the same comment in every book you mark isn't the only way to give students valuable feedback. Giving your feedback to the whole class protects teacher workload without lowering standards. This can be done by reading through a set of work, identifying patterns, recording strengths and weaknesses, sharing it with the class and then giving your students some time to respond and improve. It still has the same effect; it just frees up your time and also aligns with current thinking around having meaningful feedback as opposed to performative marking.

Delegate Tasks To Students-

Students can really help you out day to day. You can choose some student helpers that you can rely on to hand out papers and tidy up the classroom, and you'll be surprised to see how many of your pupils will enjoy doing this. There could even be a reward system for the students that help the most. This will not only save you so much time on smaller tasks, but it's also a fun system to introduce to your classroom routine!

Timers For Activities-

A fun way to ensure that you are keeping on time with all your activities in the classroom is by putting up a countdown timer on the board to encourage your students to pick up the pace! Not only will this help you stick to your schedule, but it will also encourage your students to get their brains working and locked in. On a smaller scale, you could even just set a timer on your phone to count down the time you are spending on each task. This will keep you on track and help you fit more into your lessons.

Let Us Help You!-

Here at Aspire People, we completely understand how stressful end of terms can be. Whether it’s an end of year class party, or trying to find something fun to do over the Christmas period, we know that this can feel like a full job in itself. But we are here to take those stresses off you. We offer free silent discos, virtual Santa's Grotto events over December, popcorn events and we can even help host your sports days. This is all free of charge, as a thank you from us for using our services 💜 So leave the event planning to us and contact us to book your slots in soon before the rush!

Overall, we’ve learned that a little extra preparation when you can makes a big difference. It helps slow down your brain and gives you those extra moments to relax. This will give you more space to really focus on what matters most: your students. Remember, it’s perfectly okay to ask for help with your workload. We’re also here to support you with any last-minute recruitment challenges, as we know firsthand how time consuming that can be.

By finding the right balance, you’ll be amazed at how much time you can win back.