Difficulty in getting anywhere has characterised the first week as well getting used to working from home. Sorting out a working area at home and hours of work that suit both the placement’s requirements as well as my own personal strengths will be very important, lest I find myself never ‘off-duty’.

I’ve also been on the phone speaking to students and Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) about  the ATL offer and ensuring we are able to represent them by understanding the issues that concern them. Facebook and Twitter sites have also formed part of the approach to organising.

This coming week will see we two ATL Academy Organisers get inducted at the union head office and go out meeting people at student events, before meeting the whole organising team for a couple of days towards the end of the week. Let’s hope it thaws out a bit more by then.

Ben’s aspirations are to learn more about organising in a formal way and he is looking forward to learning as much as possible about organising in the education sector with ATL and gaining an invaluable experience during his Organising Academy year.