There are lots of ways to update your skills and build your confidence before you return to teaching.
We have also produced a series of fact-sheets to help you update your information and communications technology (ICT), maths and science skills.
Join the Returning to Teach programme
Even if you do not want to do a returners course, you can still register with us. After joining, you will receive a Return to Teaching magazine each term. This includes features on teachers who have returned, as well as useful tips on topics such as interview techniques and achieving a work/life balance.
Read some past issues of the Return to Teaching magazine
The Teacher Training Resource Bank (TTRB)
The TTRB is an information-rich, editorially independent website. It includes a glossary of educational terms, information about educational bodies, and updates on educational issues.
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TTRB is good for those considering a return to teaching because |
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Subject associations
Subject associations represent all professionals involved in teaching a specific discipline or other area of common interest. They provide a forum for discussing issues of common concern, identifying areas of common practice and sharing information on topics of mutual interest.
Find information on the different subject associations.
Teachernet
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) website Teachernet, holds a variety of information on teaching, from breaking educational news to professional development opportunities for teachers.
The teaching and learning section of the website will help you develop your teaching strategy, offering you teaching and learning tips and providing you with further links to useful resources.
Teachers TV
Teachers TV takes viewers inside classrooms and schools across the country, showing good teachers bringing the curriculum to life and improving schools.
As you contemplate a possible return to school, Teachers TV gives a fly on-the-wall look at what’s happening in the profession.
Information and communications technology (ICT)
ICT is the learning and teaching tool of the 21st century. By teaching pupils using ICT, you're not only helping them learn better, you're preparing them for a workplace already dominated by the computer.
As a returning teacher you will need to adapt your teaching skills to incorporate the use of technology in your lessons. This may seem daunting at first but, teachers have responded positively to the use of ICT in schools. According to the 2003 ICT in School survey, the majority of Government-funded schools report that ICT helps reduce teacher workload in terms of lesson preparation, planning and assessment.
Schools will help to bring you up to speed with these changes on your return to teaching. However, you may also find the following links useful in developing your skills:
- e-learning centre: using interactive whiteboards
- The National Whiteboard Network
- Smart Technologies Training Centre
