As Jaques said in As You Like It:

All the world's a stage.

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

Change that to each teacher and you have a fair assessment of the process of school placement and teaching in general.  The classroom is the teacher's stage and even though they may feel tired and distracted by events in an out of school, the teacher must put on the grease paint of their smile and perform, dancing and holding the attention of their bright and eager audience.  

In terms of training, whilst there may be 7 ages of Man, there are thankfully only 3 stages for the trainee teacher, which in turn matches their three separate placements.

Stage one sees the nervous newcomer, smiling and making friends, elated by small successes and the happy interaction with their pupils.

Stage 2 sees the struggling trainee, unlearning all they previously thought they knew, grappling with an increased timetable, and getting to know a new school and class.  

Stage 3 sees the confident teacher emerge as they take on more responsibility and follow practice and procedure as if they were second nature.

Each stage has its many hardships but its equal and superior rewards.  Each marks a change and growth that brings them to the end of the trainee show and the beginning of the professional performance as they move form the last of the placements to the beginning of their ECT year.

And now, as Stage 3 or Act 3 begins next week, we say 'hurrah' and applaud our players who have made it thus far.  It won't be long before the curtain comes down on your training year and rises on the start of your long and happy show.  Well done so far and good luck for the next 8 weeks!