#RSMFridayFastFive – Mrs Rayner

Why did you become a teacher? 

I was always that child pretending to be a teacher and unfortunately for my twin brother, he was often made to be one of my ‘children’ in my imaginary class! You can’t not smile when you’re working with children, the comments they come out with can be both hilarious and surprising and there is never a dull day! One of my favourite books growing up was Malory Towers and I was totally enchanted by the descriptions of boarding life! From the age of 9 my twin brother and I attended boarding school right through until the end of secondary school and I absolutely loved it.

Why Early Years? 

As an Early Years teacher, you never know what to expect! One minute you can be pretending to be a character from a story to help develop a role-play or leading a science investigation into which materials float or sink! I have always enjoyed the variation of each day and the flexibility that we have to make the most of every learning opportunity, often being guided by the children! In Early Years I feel like the children remind us of the smaller wonders that are often right in front of us. There isn’t a day that goes by when a child runs over with great enthusiasm to share their unique moment of awe and wonder or excitement for something they have made or seen!

Favourite Subjects at School? 

I always loved running from as young as I can remember, and I was probably the only child excited about cross-country! Sport has always been a huge part of my life and I grew up either watching sport at the weekend or participating in sport. By the time I went to secondary school I was competing regularly in triathlons and long-distance running events, and I remember getting such a buzz after a race!

Memorable teaching moment?

It is so hard to think of just one memorable moment! Young children live in the moment, in the here-and-now and we are often trying to think about how everyday moments can be transformed into extraordinary moments! What I have always found rewarding is visiting or seeing children who I have previously taught and it is always so lovely to hear how they are getting on and the memories they took with them from their small time with us as their teacher.

Something that stuck with me which was once shared during an inset was the role of the teacher in creating those memorable moments:

‘The teacher has to be the author of a play, someone who thinks ahead of time. Teachers also need to be the main actors in the play, the protagonists. The teacher must forget all the lines they knew before and invent the ones they didn’t remember. Teachers also have to take the role of the prompter, the one who gives the cues to the actors. Teachers need to be set designers who create the environment in which activities take place. At the same time, the teacher needs to be the audience who applauds!’ Loris Malaguzzi (1994)

Favourite Quote?

‘You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.’ C.S. Lewis