IN the ever-changing world of teaching, Huntington School deputy head Alex Quigley has published a book all about providing the confidence needed to make it in the profession.

Mr Quigley is an English teacher of nearly14 years experience and director of learning and research at the York secondary school and this is not his first foray into writing, having previously published a book for new English teachers. This time though he says he's tackling an issue which doesn't get enough attention: developing teachers’ confidence and skill in the classroom.

Mr Quigley said: “School structures won't help teachers improve if they don't have the time, tools and confidence to become better teachers. We must demand a better deal for teachers and recognise our own power to make positive changes in our classrooms and schools.

“We must focus on the positive powers teachers possess to undertake self-improvement and become more confident, regardless of the political debates that stir outside of the classroom.

“One truth I have realised in my time as a school leader is that the most important decisions that influence school improvement are near invisible. They are undertaken by teachers, and students, every day within our classrooms. This book is about helping teachers to make those decisions that little bit more successfully.”

Mr Quigley said that the pace of change in the profession is the fastest it has ever been with Government policies like forced academisation, and subsequent political climb downs, seizing the headlines. All the while, he says, these debates are distracting those in the profession from what will truly improve schools.

He said: "The book is a shock of optimism showing teachers what they can achieve individually. It's a plan to help manage yourself emotionally and psychologically. Every debate seems to be about academisation or tests but not about teachers themselves. This is about giving them something useful and about giving them tools."

The book looks at how better organisation, using body language effectively, combatting stress and developing confident students, teachers can develop the habits and characteristics that will enable them to do the best job possible, whatever policy makers throw at them.

Mr Quigley is 35 and lives in Strensall with his partner and two children.

The Confident Teacher by Alex Quigley, published by Routledge is available in paperback at: https://www.routledge.com or from Amazon priced £14.99.