As I write this, I am in the process of leaving a job I have loved for some 28 years: Mainstream Secondary Teaching. I have taught English from KS3 to A level, been a form tutor every year, held co-ordinator roles, led whole school literacy, and even managed a department for a short while. I have taught outside my subject, been on field trips and residentials, organised charity events, mentored trainees and delivered CPD. It has been a blast.

Teaching is a profession that has been good to me, but it is now time for me to pass the baton on to you.

When I joined the profession in 1995, things were quite different:

• The world wide web was in its infancy
• Mobile phones could only make calls or texts
• There was no email system in schools – we communicated via memos in pigeon-holes
• We wrote with chalk on blackboards and then with pen on whiteboards
• If you wanted to watch something in class, you had to book the TV trolley a week in advance
• All reports were laboriously written in pen and ink
• Parents could walk onto the school site and stand at your classroom door demanding to speak to you (true story)

Despite the changes over the last 30 years, there are still some things that never change.

You join a profession which is sometimes slow to grasp new tech and slower still to utilise its full functionality. Be patient with older staff – they do not always get it and they do not always have the headspace for it. It is up to you to lead the way on this as you build the profession that you want to work in. Trust me, when an oldie sees you doing something awesome, they will want to learn from you.

Be aware, that many of the senior teachers in schools are relatively young themselves and have less than 10 years under their belt. They sound very certain of themselves as they talk about cognitive science and pedagogy as if it is something new and shiny (it’s not – it's just repackaged). A lot of what they tell you is founded in good research – but some of it is bunkum. You will see soon enough that today’s miracle teaching theory is tomorrow’s snarky comment on Twitter. You are intelligent, educated and qualified: do not be afraid to evaluate what you are told and ask questions or challenge the pseudoscience when you see it.

You will meet kids in your classroom who will display challenging behaviour. Do not take it personally. For this new generation, the world doesn’t feel like a safe place a lot of the time and they will test you out to see if you are ok. They want to know that you have their backs. They want to know that you are in charge. Listen carefully to what they are telling you; be fair; be consistent. And remember, even when they are shouting in your face, it is never, ever about you.

Teaching is a time-sink. It is a job which is never, ever done. In fact, it expands to fill any time you have. Draw your boundaries carefully and firmly. Ignore the Instagram posts of perfect classrooms and handmade gifts for each child – they are at best a distortion and at worst a damaging lie. Make sure to eat lunch with a colleague once a week. Ring-fence time for work and time for you. Do something that makes you smile every day. See your friends outside of work. Teaching is what you DO, not what you ARE, so don’t allow it to consume you and stop you from living.

Every teacher I know has felt overwhelmed at some point. We have all needed to turn to someone for help. Many of us have made us of coaching, mentoring and even counselling. Trust me on these two things:

1. Asking for help is not weak and it does not show your incapable. It shows you are self-aware, resilient and know how to look after your mental health.
2. If you do not ask for help and try to struggle on for fear of what others will think, you will burn out eventually, and that would be unfortunate.

Do not give in to Teacher Guilt. You cannot fix every kid. You cannot physically MAKE them work. There is a limit to what you can do in the time allotted. If you do a good job you will be rewarded by being given more to do, so learn to say, “No,” very firmly and mean it. ‘No’ is a whole sentence. Do not ever be someone’s willing work horse and do not berate yourself when you inevitably fall short of the impossible standards set for teachers. You are not now, nor ever will be a superhero.

When a non-teacher tells you how lucky you are to have those long holidays, great pay, short hours, and a golden pension scheme, do not argue with them. It’s a waste of breath. Instead, tell them how right they are. Tell them all the wonderful things about your fantastic job. Go to town on it. And then advise them to join the profession. I am going to make a bet with you now. They will say something like “Oh, no, I wouldn’t have the patience,” and you can shake your head sadly and say, “What a shame. We need people like you…” with a sad little smile.

Finally, we are in the midst of a recruitment and retention crisis. Good teachers are thinner on the ground than is comfortable. If your school is not looking after you or if you are not aligned to its ethos, find a different school. You did not come into the profession to survive, but to thrive.

As you plan for your first term and I plan the rest of my post-classroom life, I pass the baton on to you. Thank you for the work that you are going to do and the best of luck!

Kindest regards

The Old Guard.