NQT help

I am an NQT in a large primary school. I feel extremely unhappy in the school I am in. There is a huge lack of support from other teachers, I am having OFSTED rammed down my throat every 5 minutes and there is a huge amount of pressure on everyone.
I know that NQT year is very hard but I feel as though because there is the threat of OFSTED looming, I am not allowed to make mistakes and when I do, I am reprimanded for them. Not major mistakes either, just typical things which I would say are part of learning on the job. This is not good enough for my school. There is no praise at all and I feel worn down completely only one half term in. I am reduced to tears every single day. I feel as though I enjoy the teaching aspect of the job but I am basically being told that I am not very good at everything else. For me, I think this is normal for an NQT when you do not do all the other aspects of the job in training! The school however, expect me to be outstanding already where as I think that it is normal to be trying my best and getting by each day with small successes.

I really don't know what to do. I am afraid that if I stick it out in this school I won't be able to leave it until at least April. Everyone at school keeps saying that I need to grow a thicker skin but that really isn't me. I don't know if I can feel like rubbish for months on end and afraid to do anything for fear of bringing the school down in front of OFSTED! I don't know whether to bank a term and see what other jobs come up for April and leave at Christmas or whether to stick it out until the end of the year. My confidence is literally at rock bottom. I left my last placement graded as an outstanding trainee and at the moment I feel worthless. I am constantly compared to the other two NQT's in school and am left feeling inadequate when I felt much more positive in August. I was left humiliated and embarrassed in front of my team last week when I received negative feedback in front of everyone.

Is this normal? Has anyone else been in this position? I feel shattered by negative feedback and feel as though the school continue to change the goal posts so I am left being unable to improve. Is every school like this? Am I crazy to want to throw in the towel at this school so early on?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated because I feel broken already.

This sounds rubbish, and no, not every school is like this. A supportive school will understand that not everything will be outstanding (or even good) in your NQT year. They will want to see that pupils are learning, that behaviour is being tackled and that things are improving over time.

I did my NQT year last year and in my observations I got "Good", "Requires Improvement with Good Features" and "Good with Outstanding Features". I was never made to feel that the RI observation meant I was a bad teacher and the feedback mentioned lots of positives - it was just seen as normal that some aspects would be RI as I'm an NQT but that I would respond to feedback and show improvement in future observations. I know other people from my PGCE who were constantly scrutinised and criticised and as a result have got worse as teachers because their confidence is shot.

I would suggest that you continue doing your best in your current role whilst looking around for jobs in other schools which hopefully behave in a better way towards their staff. Is there anyone in your current school who you can talk to about how you're feeling and who could help you fight your corner?

The way your school is treating you is no doubt due to Ofsted looming, so when you're applying for jobs your safest bet is probably somewhere that has had Ofsted in the past year and got "Good". That way they'll be in a position to help you develop whilst not breathing down your neck all the time.

There is also an NQT thread (in the sticky posts at the top of this forum) where you can chat to other NQTs and get some support.

I was told by SMT that achieving a satisfactory at the end of the year was completely unsatisfactory at the school.