When I was a form tutor, we once adopted a pineapple that randomly appeared one registration period.

I felt as if it was symbolic of the relationship we had as a form class: these humans were welcoming enough to accept a pineapple into their tribe.

Sounds bonkers, right? But it wasn’t - at least, not for my form class. And it was things like this that made me love being a form tutor.

Those weird, shared experiences that no one else understands other than you and your form class are truly wonderful.

It’s clear why being a form tutor can be so beneficial for your job satisfaction, but how does this benefit your career?

I would say it is because being involved in the pastoral support in a school provides you with a different dimension you just don’t see as a classroom teacher.

If you’re thinking about going for a promotion, here is how your form tutor role should help you in your application and interview:

“It has given me a broadened perspective...”

As a form tutor, you are often asked to look into issues a student might have outside of your subject area. This means you are looking across a broader spectrum and looking at how to solve an issue that you otherwise might not see due to the subject you teach.

Why does that help?

This allows you to have a holistic overview of individual students as people, and it is really useful preparation for head of year. 

Pastoral leads will also be drawing on the skills they developed when they were a form tutor when spotting potential future problems in their year group.

When you’re a form tutor, you’ll be used to looking through your data to find any patterns or trends. When you’re leading a year group, this will need to scale up, and you’ll use those same analytical skills to look at all of your form groups to spot problems that might be on the horizon.

“I am skilled in communicating with parents and other staff...”

Because the relationship you build with parents as a form tutor is very different from the one you have as a subject teacher, it’s a really good stepping stone to a position of pastoral responsibility.

As a form tutor, you have a golden opportunity to gain support from the family and act as an impartial member in the students’ education.

Why does it help?

Your experience as a form tutor will come into play when you have to exercise what some might call “hostage negotiation skills”. I like to call it “winning the parents round”. 

But it doesn’t stop there. In your role as a form tutor, you will also develop skills in supporting and working with your colleagues when you liaise with them over the care of the students in your form. This is great preparation for when you’re managing a team of people.

“I am a skilled and competent presenter...”

It’s true that a form tutor doesn’t have the shared goal of learning a subject like a classroom teacher does.

So, instead, you have to learn how to talk to a group of people on totally different terms. You have to sell your vision for the form, and get people on board with your way of doing things. This is a skill in itself.

Why does it help?

When it comes to getting the pitch of your presentations right, see your form as a group of willing (mostly) guinea pigs.

My advice would be to lead discussions once a fortnight where you first address the students on a topic and then get them talking.

You’ll soon learn what topics ignite your students’ imagination, and learn some presenting tricks to grab and then maintain their attention. This is how you perfect an assembly.