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Do you embrace unread emails or does it make you scream? This and other findings...

12 October 2021

Notice anything different about this week’s blog? We’ll give you three guesses!

Jump to section:

1. Emails

Does the idea of an inbox full of unread emails make you shudder? Or is it something that you’re all too familiar with?

71% of you have at least one unread email in your inbox, and over 10% have over 100 unread emails 🤯. If it’s important they’ll probably send a follow-up, right?

29% have achieved Inbox Zero. The idea of Inbox Zero, whereby someone has zero unread emails in their inbox, can be easier said than done. However, one-in-three classroom teachers have achieved this coveted state. Although it appears harder to achieve for headteachers, with only 16% having no unread emails.

To be fair to you headteachers, Inbox Zero is probably harder to achieve because you get many more emails in a day than others…

82% of classroom teachers get fewer than 20 emails per day (11% get less than 5!), whereas only 9% of headteachers have the same luxury! In fact, 44% of headteachers receive over 50 emails every day!

When are these emails sent and received? Well, for 86% of you, it’s any time of the day or night! However, 15% of you work in a school with a policy of not sending email on evenings, weekends, or both.

2. Sharing predicted grades

In 2019, 41% of you said that you shared predicted grades with students from Year 7. Over the past two years, sharing those predicted grades with Year 7s has dropped by 23 percentage points to 18%. Now, in 2021 it appears to start much later, with 39% sharing at the start of year 10 (up from 24% in 2019).

There’s a small increase in the percentage who never inform students of predicted grades. From 7% in 2019 to 11% now, although it remains a popular practice among teachers.

3. Have you spotted tears at work?

Crying at work may be more common than you realise! Our questions on crying this week prompted the question on Twitter: How does this compare to other professions? Although we couldn’t find an exact replica, a US survey completed in 2018 found that at some point or another, 45% of people have cried at work.

So, how’s it going this term so far? Well, one-in-three of you reported that you’ve cried already this year.

Whether tears of joy or otherwise, primary teachers are the more likely to sob than secondary teachers. Female teachers are also more likely to sob than male teachers. 45% of female primary teachers have cried so far this term, compared to just 14% of male primary teachers. The pattern continues for secondary female teachers too, where 35% have cried, compared to 9% of male secondary teachers.

If a colleague came to you who is upset, it appears you are a practical bunch… 80% of you would try and find a solution to their problem, and 79% would ask questions and spend time listening to them 🤗

However, you should make a beeline for younger colleagues if you’re cheered up by either a joke or food. 38% of teachers in their 20s will make a joke and over 50% will get you a drink or some food.

4. On booklets

Do you use booklets with pupils? In our tips this week, we shared two differing viewpoints on teachers who do and do not use booklets with their class. The Great Booklet Debate of 2021 has caused quite a stir on social media!

The booklet practice is far more common among secondary schools than primary. 26% of primary school teachers say they use booklets with their classes, compared to 55% of secondary school teachers!

They are most popular with English teachers, where only 32% say they don’t use booklets. Maths teachers are least in favour of booklets, where 60% say they don’t use booklets at all!

5. A bit about us!

We have lots of exciting plans for Teacher Tapp over the next few months. For one, you may have already noticed some new logos creeping around 👀. There’ll be a few other changes coming but we’re keeping those under wraps for now!

Answering three questions every day is the bread and butter of Teacher Tapp and 32% of you say that it’s your favourite thing about it! We also like sharing with you all the exciting results we’re finding, and 42% of you say that the daily results are your favourite thing!

We’re so grateful for the contribution you make that the short tips are a little snippet of CPD to digest. These daily tips are a favourite for 10% of teachers with over 20 years experience, with a further 4% citing this very weekly results analysis as their favourite thing! 🤭

Finally… we know you love the daily read, so here are the ones from last week

The most read tip this week was: Why I avoid using booklets

And here are the rest for your reference: