Teaching like all jobs has its good parts and bad parts. I teach at what could be described as a tough school - the amount of students on free school meals is much higher than the national average, there was an Ofsted inspection last year where we got the worst grading possible mostly because of management and behaviour. The only reason I get up and do this everyday is because of the kids - I like interacting with them and making a difference to their lives, no matter how small. It is very difficult to maintain a positive attitude though, especially at the moment. The amount of observations have increased significantly - a senior manager might walk into your class at just the wrong moment and then it's your fault if kids are not on task. The amount of progress a child has to make is also being raised, I have a form group who are stuck in the middle of these changes and really feel for them. As one said to me the other day 'Miss, why do I have to do all these extra exams when my sister didn't have to?' The focus has completely shifted onto literacy, numeracy and learning facts. Yes, all these things are important but so is creativity and the chance to enjoy your childhood rather than feeling like a statistic with continuous targets from a young age. There is a lot of politics and restructuring since we turned into an academy, so the atmosphere is one of fear and uncertainty. People are scared to talk honestly unless somebody passes the comments onto senior management. People higher up in management are all scared because the Ofsted gradings were changed and if they are found to not be good enough they will be forced out, either directly or will be given such an unpleasant time that they eventually give in. Some academy bodies are increasingly turning to Teach First, take high flying grads into a school who are young with no family commitments. These workers will jump through all the hoops for a fixed period of time, then if/when they leave to pursue other careers the school can just replace them with another crop. Only do this if you are happy to have no life outside school for at least the first 3 years and are happy to suck up to people in senior management, whether you like/respect them or not.