When I moved from a school with multiple-form entry to one with one-form entry, I was nervous about planning. I was worried I’d feel isolated without a year group team, that my workload would increase, and that I’d have fewer resources and reduced opportunities to share ideas with other teachers.
Two months on, however, and I couldn’t feel more different. There are difficulties, but I really feel that the advantages outweigh these. I feel empowered, fully responsive to my class and more confident than ever in my planning and expertise.
Working in a multiple-form entry school naturally led to a collaborative environment: we decided on our topics and weekly plans together as a team. Our teaching intentions were consistent across the year group, but this meant the plans didn’t always reflect the interests of individual classes and felt inflexible.
In one-form entry, my planning has become more responsive. At the start of the year, I created a yearly planner in the same way we did as a whole department in my previous school.
However, when my class developed an interest in construction vehicles, for example, I adjusted it to teach the topic immediately and planned a trip to a construction site. I am responsible for what we do and how we do it, so I have the luxury of moving at the pace of the children.
Initially, I feared changing what I had always done without guidance from others. To begin with, my planning looked very similar to the prior year. But as soon as I adjusted my first plan to adapt to my new class, my mindset changed. The freedom of applying my experience to create activities was exciting. A walk around the school turned into a search for treasure (as the children love pirates), for example.
The freedom to try ideas that I know may support my class is fantastic. As each initiative does not need to be cleared to be shared across a team, I have begun to refine my teaching to ensure that what I teach works and appeals to my class.
In a multiple-form entry, the same resources may be ordered for all classes and therefore generalised. However, the resources I now order for activities and continuous provision are completely tailored to my class’ interests.
I do miss the ability to speak and collaborate with other Reception teachers. To circumvent this, I continue to seek out CPD, especially opportunities that provide discussions with teachers from other schools. As all my resources must be ordered or handmade, I do miss the ability to pop into another teacher’s class to grab a resource quickly. Procuring all my resources is time-consuming but, as the years go on, I will have the resources in place.
Ultimately, although one-form entry has its setbacks, I have found moving to this model has been an empowering experience. It allows the opportunity to lead without being a leader; making my own decisions at every stage for my class, without guidance, shows me that I am very capable of this.
Jess Gosling is an international teacher and author of Becoming a Successful International Teacher
