Mr Khans ECT Survival Guide

The ECT Survival Guide

Honest, practical advice for your first two years in the classroom

Your first years of teaching are some of the hardest and most rewarding of your career. You'll have lessons that go brilliantly and lessons that fall flat, sometimes on the same day. You'll be tired. And you'll have hundreds of questions you're not always sure who to ask.

I'm a primary school teacher, and early career teachers ask me the same things again and again. How do I plan without staying up until midnight? How do I mark without drowning? What actually happens in an observation? How do I cope with the anxiety? So I put all the answers in one place.

The ECT Survival Guide is 71 pages of clear, practical advice, written by a teacher for teachers. No jargon and no fluff. Just the things that genuinely help.

What's inside

18 chapters covering:

• Understanding your induction: who your mentor, induction tutor and appropriate body are, your timetable reduction, assessment points and your entitlements

• Your first half-term: what to focus on, what to ignore and a week-by-week rhythm

• Planning lessons that work: a simple six-question routine, a one-page plan and a fully worked example

• Live marking and feedback: how to give feedback in the lesson and cut down on marking at home

• Behaviour and relationships: the routines that matter most, calm scripts and how to repair relationships after an incident

• Lesson observations: what to expect, how to prepare and how to turn feedback into progress

• Anxiety and wellbeing: practical strategies, a bad-day routine, help with Sunday-night worry and where to get support

• Managing your workload: a time audit, how to say "not yet" and realistic boundaries

• Meeting your school's expectations: both the written and the unwritten ones

• Asking questions: who to ask, how to ask and the questions worth asking in your first term

• Taking appropriate risks: how to try new ideas safely

• Using your initiative: being proactive without overloading yourself

• Storing worthwhile content: a simple folder system that saves you time next year

• Diaries and reflection: a five-minute daily habit that helps you grow and switch off

• Working with others: teaching assistants, SENDCos, parents and safeguarding

• When things go wrong: practical first steps for common problems

• Professional development: where to find good ideas and what to read

• Your year-one roadmap: what to expect, half-term by half-term

Plus six appendices:

• A glossary of every acronym you'll hear in your first week

• A phrase bank for tricky conversations with pupils, parents and colleagues

• 14 printable templates, including a daily log, weekly review, observation prep sheet, mentor meeting agenda, time audit, wellbeing plan and more

• Checklists for your first week, observations and the end of term

• Ten things nobody tells you

• Helpful contacts and support services

Who it's for

• Early career teachers in their first or second year

• Trainee teachers getting ready for their first post

• Mentors looking for a resource to share with their ECTs

The guide is written for teachers in England. Most of the practical advice works anywhere, but the induction details follow the English system.

What you get

• An instant download of a 71-page PDF, ready to read or print

• An editable Word file, so you can adapt the templates and add your own notes

Why this guide?

Because it's written by someone who's in the classroom, not someone who left it years ago. Everything in it is about working smarter, asking sooner and being kinder to yourself. Nothing in here tells you to work harder.

You don't have to be perfect. You just have to keep going and keep learning.

Less than the cost of a coffee and a sandwich, for a guide you'll come back to all year.

Please note: this guide is general advice and doesn't replace your school's policies, official Department for Education guidance or professional medical advice. It's for personal use by the buyer only. Please don't share or resell it.