Primary education

Primary schools provide initial compulsory education and include infant schools for 5 to 7-year-olds, junior schools for 7 to 11-year-olds, or combined junior and infant schools for all under 11s. In addition, many primary schools run a foundation class for pupils in the year before they begin compulsory education. Some parts of England operate a slightly different system in which five to eight-year-olds attend a first school then progress to a middle school for eight to twelve-year-olds, before attending an upper school.

Teachers are responsible for the delivery of all subjects within the framework of the national curriculum, with particular emphasis on the core subjects of literacy, numeracy and science. Teachers are also accountable for testing that takes place at the end of key stages 1 and 2. Class sizes can vary enormously (from 20–40 depending on the size and structure of the school). If a class is relatively large, it may be split into a number of separate groups for different subjects so that the whole class is rarely taught together.

Recent developments in primary education

Within the last few years, the government and trade unions have worked together to redress the work/life balance by increasing the number of support staff in schools, which has reduced the number of administrative tasks a teacher has to perform. Planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time has also been introduced for ten per cent of the working week to ease teachers’ workloads.

Performance management reviews are now the responsibility of the teacher’s line manager and a recommendation on an individual’s pay progression will result from this. The introduction of a new structure of professional standards for teachers allows a teacher to identify what is required for their next steps in both career and professional development.

A school’s powers to discipline children and to encourage the cooperation of parents have been strengthened by the 2007 Education Act. The Act has also placed responsibilities on schools to organise the education of any excluded pupils.

It's extremely rewarding to see how far a child has developed in the year you've been teaching them.

Skills needed to teach in primary schools

To teach at primary level you will need to have qualified teacher status (QTS). Classroom teachers need broad subject knowledge and many primary teachers take three- or four-year bachelor of education (BEd) courses that give them the skills to prepare for the classroom. Alternatively, graduates can follow the postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE) or graduate teacher programme (GTP) routes.

The ability to multitask is vital for being an effective primary teacher. Even if you’re speaking to one child, you still need to be aware of what’s going on in the rest of the classroom to anticipate and avoid potential problems. A good sense of humour can also be a bonus.

Rewards at the end of each year

It’s extremely rewarding to see how far a child has developed in the year you’ve been teaching them – it’s great being able to help individuals achieve things they didn’t know they could. The downsides are the paperwork, planning and other bureaucracy that come with the job.

We would like to thank Philip Parkin, the general secretary of Voice: the union for education professionals for his help with this article.