The problem: I have just started at a lovely school, but I am having trouble with my Year 8 and 9s (S1 and 2s). Despite outlining my rules at the start of term, and later when pupils were ignoring them, these classes are still causing me trouble. There are so many pupils talking that it’s difficult to pick out who the culprits are. I’ve tried waiting for silence, speaking to pupils after the lesson, keeping pupils behind – with no joy. I feel as if I’m not a real teacher but a fraud