Mumsnet Talk

I would like to career change and become a primary teacher, but part-time for the next few years at least. I have been told School direct/SCITT are only full time and I have rang some School direct schools and they won't consider this. OU and my local universities don't do part-time PGCEs. What else could I try anyone? I think I am an ideal cadidate - 1st from a great university, PhD, experience of working outside education, and very committed to starting teaching career.

I've only ever heard of teacher training full time, sorry (although that's not to say it's not possible to do it PT). Once you do the training year though I imagine it would be relatively easy to get PT work. I did my NQT year spread over a couple of years as I was PT and there was no issue with that, but I had to do training in one year. Is there any way you could spend that year FT?

I am going to be blunt, please don't take it the wrong way!
We currently have far too many primary teachers and it is really difficult to get a job unless you are happy to work in central London.
"1st from a great university, PhD, experience of working outside education" means absolutely nothing in teaching. What matters is being able to explain difficult concepts in a way that children can relate to. People who have struggled at school themselves are often better at this than those who have always achieved academic success. MY SIL is an absolutely amazing primary teacher, one of the very best, but she is not academic. I think you need to think really carefully about why you want to teach and what you have to offer a school. Experience of working outside education isn't necessarily a bonus. I have worked with too may student teachers who had senior jobs before teacher training and still acted like they were in charge when they were very much the bottom of the pecking order.
What subject are your degree and PhD? You may be better off in secondary where academic rigour is more important and depending on your subject, MUCH easier to get a job.
If ypou feel I have been harsh then sorry but believe me, you have to REALLY want to teach to get through teacher training and NQT year.

I agree with mn, OP. That said, I did my PGCE part-time at Bath Spa University over two years. Did my NQT year full-time, after taking 18 months to get a job, and have been looking for part-time teaching posts for two years since then, with no luck.

Thanks for your replies, I appreciate your bluntness. I agree with what you say but I don't think being academic means you can't be a good primary teacher. I am also considering secondary as it's easier to train and teach PT, but wanted to see if primary is also an option. My subject is chemistry.

MN speaks alot of sense. My take on it is slightly different as I'm a secondary teacher. RL experience in the industry of my subject is a very big positive for me in my subject and my specialism means there aren't a huge amount of people in this subject to compete for jobs (although jobs in my area come up infrequently where I live), it's possibly not as important for a primary teacher (apologies if that's a generalisation and not the case)

OP if you have any questions about teacher training through the GTP route let me know as I did this about 6 years ago. My subject is Food Technology FWIW.

The OU do do part-time PGCEs but the actual teaching practice weeks are full-time.

OU only do secondary

If you do go for secondary, be aware that part time doesn't necessarily mean you'll get full days off. I'm secondary maths and am contracted for 3 days equivalent but due to the timetable I'm actually in school and teaching all 5 days, I just get chunks of time off here and there. In primary they tend to do job shares.

You say you're an ideal candidate but haven't listed any experience working with children? Primary training courses are highly competitive so you need to get into schools now and get some experience.

The TES forums are excellent for advice and have a prospective student teacher forum which would probably be helpful to you.

a friend of mine is currently doing a part time PGCE, it is one day per week, but it is for teaching 16 plus. Lots of those doing it are actually teaching at the college who run it, and it is assumed she is teaching in some way as she has to teach certain number of hours for each section of the course.

I've got an interview next month for a part time flexible Primary PGCE. Its through Edge Hill (nr Liverpool) which is about 40 miles away and very well renowned for its teacher training. The commitment is 8 days in house (though have been told some are Saturdays) with most assignments done via distance learning. It can be completed between 2 - 6 terms depending on personal experiences and situation. I currently work as a TA so already have substantial in school experience but am aware there will need to be flexibility on my employers part while I undertake my placement obligations. Quitting my job to do a full time PGCE is not an option thanks to bills and Childcare constraints so really hope I get accepted.

The only part time teachers I know are fulltime teachers who went part time / negotiated a job share after maternity leave. To be honest, even part time teachers aren't truly part time. Many choose to do a 3 day week because in reality that will give them their weekends free (3 days at school, 2 days planning and marking and paperwork at home whereas working 5 days means 1 day of the weekend lost working at home).

I know a couple of people who completed part time PGCEs but only for financial reasons (working whilst studying). Again the part time aspect only really applies to the amount of time spent at uni.
When you are sent on placements, those will be fulltime placements (there are 3 placements of upto 9 weeks each as part of the part time PGCE locally). Then there is still the work to be completed in your own time - essays for the course plus planning and marking and assessments relating to each placement.

Teaching part time has to be one of the least part time jobs available simply because so much of the work is done in your 'own' time, cannot be delegated, cannot be scheduled for slower periods, cannot be spread out and has to be done on time and of course their is a very real obligation to make sure you don't fall behind and give it your full attention.

From the angle of a former school governor, I know the Head was inundated almost constantly with requests for part-time work. The part-time jobs went either to a very valued member of staff who had served their time, or to an experienced teacher. Trying to coordinate lots of part-timers (moderating their work, getting them up to speed on the children etc etc) was rather a nightmare and the chance of a NQT getting a part-time job I would say was practically nil, I'm afraid.

I looked into training in secondary teaching, and discovered what people above are saying: you can study - for example with the OU - part time, which will mean some placements need to be done full-time, but the study and some placements can be part time. Secondary science is less competitive for jobs, so there is a greater chance of getting PT work, though you will need somehow to make sure you get your NQT year completed in time, which might mean taking a FT job. Secondary maths is also less competitive (there is a dearth of qualified maths teachers in some areas), and - when I last looked - you didn't need a maths degree to train, just A-level plus a top-up course.

I have seen a number of mature people retrain into primary and secondary teaching. ALL the primary trainees have been FT for the PGCE and NQT (or equivalent), then some managed to remain on 80%.

I would echo that in-school experience (plus, if possible, other experience with children of the age you intend to teach) is essential, not just to get onto the competitive course, but also to reassure you that teaching - and that age group and subject - is a good choice for you. I did the "student associates scheme" (which I think no longer runs) and it showed me that the training, even PT with the OU, would not fit with my own family commitments.

I trained part-time a few years ago (and tbh my qualifications and previous field of expertise are almost identical to yours - 1st class Biochemistry degree, PhD, successful previous career).

I was lucky enough to live within 30 miles of a university offering a 'flexible PGCE' - basically a 2 year 'construct it yourself' PGCE, where every course has to be taken but when you do it is flexible within some constraints. I did all but my last placement part time as well.

However, I recently heard that the flexible course has closed. With the over-supply of primary teachers, there is no need for 'unconventional prospective teacher friendly' courses of this type in orderr to atract recruits. It's a shame, as I think some of the best teachers are those who have experience elsewhere and may be older and have 'other lives'.

I did get a part-time job as an NQT (as the 'other' part of a jobshare with soemone returning from maternity leave), but again, I would not like to imply that this is commonplace or easy to acquire. I now work full-time.

(Sorry, should have clarified - I trained to teach primary)

I'm spookily close to op and teacherwith2kids (down to the Biochem & Phd) and also looking into teaching part-time - but secondary. Looking into the OU course. I am concerned about the likelihood of remaining part-time.

As it happens, one of my daughter's teachers is part-time NQT primary and there are several PT staff at the school. No idea how common or rare that is - just commenting.

My options at the moment are PT PGCE with OU (secondary) or at Winchester University (primary). I understand that the school placements need to be FT and I think we would be ok with that. I have 2 children at FT school and one will start FT school in 2015. I would be happy to work at home during the days that I am not working, and my idea is that a PT job would allow me to have enough time with children. Getting a PT NQT and job I know will be difficult but I think if there are PT jobs I will have a good chance of getting them and they are occasionally advertised. I am 40 and I want to start something that I want to be going when I am 65, I can see myself in a primary then much more than a secondary and the primaries I have been to seem to have a great working atmosphere.

I'm older still! Not drawn at all to primary - only secondary. I am very keen to remain part-time. It's like every other career move in the end - you have to commit to it and do the best you can. I will make a final decision after my work experience placement in April.

I am sorry to be negative but, as a teacher who chose this job when I was 21, I get a bit fed up of the army of Mums with children starting school who suddenly want to take up teaching. Don't get me wrong, some late starters are doing it for all the right reasons. Too many, however, are not. No one suddenly decides to be a Doctor, Dentist or Lawyer in their 40s and expects it to be possible. But teaching...hey, that's easy. Degree? Couple of children? No problem. Part time to suit the family?

Honestly, it is a wonderful, challenging, career, not a lifestyle choice.

Sorry OP, no doubt you are going to tell me different. Get lots and lots of experience first and then courses might look at you but Head Teachers will see you coming from a mile away and believe, as I outlined above, that you are in it for the wrong reasons.

Getting a PT NQT and job I know will be difficult but I think if there are PT jobs I will have a good chance of getting them

I don't mean to be rude, but what makes you think you have a good chance of getting them? Have you spoken to any heads?

I did my PGCE at 21 and taught full time for several years before having children and requesting a part time role. I now work 2 days a week in a Y1/2 jobshare and love it. I have been at my current school for fourteen years and the head has never taken on a part time teacher that hadn't already worked full time at the school. Heads may take you as part time if you have an excellent proven track record and lots of experience, but I feel it's rather unlikely as a newly qualified teacher.

I didn't say it would be easy. There are surely a lot of great teachers in the army of mums whose children have started school and they want a career change that fits in with having children. Teacher training takes 1 yr FT whereas training to be a doctor would take 5 so not really similar. There is nothing more important to me than my children's education and I understand the role a teacher plays on children's futures. I am not sure a NQT in their early 20s has the life experience to understand this.

I understand the role a teacher plays on children's futures. I am not sure a NQT in their early 20s has the life experience to understand this.

Often, teachers in their 20s are wonderfully enthusiastic and can be truly inspirational for the children. Please don't assume that you will automatically be better than a 21 year old just because you've been around the block! The drop-out rate on my PGCE was far higher amongst the mature students!

OP, please don't get disheartened by posters like roseformeplease. I am a teacher and it isn't a special club. Your reasons for wanting to teach are probably as good as anyone else's. Every student is different and it is essential that teaching staff are as varied and diverse as possible. Your background is important and I think most HT's would value your experience, however it was gained.
Good Luck, and I know that an NQT year can be completed over more than one year, if you needed to work part-time whilst getting it.

Actually I do know people who have retrained as doctors and lawyers. Not dentists though....

Not trying to dishearten but genuinely fed up with the idea that teaching is somehow an easy choice for a late career change. And if people do change to other professions in their 40s, it is rare, but teaching.....hundreds try each year. As a chemist, you might have a better chance in secondary but life experience counts for nothing in a room full of teenagers. They just want to know if you know something and can present it in an interesting way.

Not a special club, but also not an easy option for Mums.

Sadly, I failed to get a pt teaching post when i was applying with ten years primary teaching experience, in central London!

Will return to thread and add more later.

What makes you think you'll be a good teacher? Have you done any teaching? Do you know any teachers? 50% of teachers quit within 5 years so if it is a career change and you've got dependants, it's got to be something you go into with your eyes open.

'but life experience counts for nothing in a room full of teenagers.'

I have no particular opinion about this - but note that the teaching agency recruitment process makes it clear that they don't agree and this is bound to influence prospective mature career-changers (as it is meant to). (As it happens, I do have several years teaching experience in another capacity so I have no ax to grind either way - just interested).

Agree, life experience might get you a job, but it doesn't make you good at it. Having children doesn't guarantee you will make a good teacher, but not does it exclude that possibility.

I'd say personality and a thick skin counts for more than life experience in the classroom.

since it's primary you want, why not TA until your youngest starts school? this will give you valuabe experience together with a lighter work load. Then you could teacher train full time for a year and look out for NQT options that could be flexible (you'd only be in classroom 0.8 anyway). I have gone 3 days a week towards the end of my NQT it's certainly possible, but you may have to compromise eg decide to prioritise hours, type of school, location etc

yy to thick skin

I think that the issues around availability of pt teaching posts are:

Primary is female dominated, so when a part-time post is advertised every woman and her sister are after that job.

People don't often tend to move on from the plum part time jobs. In my own school they were held by a teacher on the verge of retirement, one teacher without children who just did not want to work full time and two teachers with older school age children. So there was no suitable role for me, returning from maternity leave...

Teaching is more stressful than you might anticipate, so sometimes even people without children want to work part-time for other reasons.

I was a teacher for 10 years. Almost all part timers that I have come across were full timers to start with who got well established in their jobs and then were allowed to return part time after a maternity leave. I have never come across a part time trainee or a part time NQT. In my opinion you would probably have to commit to at least 2 years full time and then when you are fully qualified look for a part time job. They are like gold dust though.

I did my PGCE when my dds were 3 and 1, FT for an academic year. Then I got a PT teaching post and did my NQT year over 18 months. I love my job but am beginning to think about going FT now so I can really sink my teeth into it. Job sharing can be difficult, it's not without complications.

As others have said, I think that the issue will not necessarily be training (though don't underestimate the 'full timeness' of the placements - remember that you will have a LOT of paperwork and much more detailed planning than you will ever do again, so think about whether 8 weeks of c. 6 day weeks and c. 12 hour days is doable for you. My DH was unemployed while I did my final placement, and tbh we wouldn't have managed otherwise, even though I can manage a FT teaching job OK).

The issue will be getting a 'balanced' first job to complete your NQT year (many advertised PT posts are either a) advertised 'because they have to be' although there are internal candidates for them or b) PPA cover, maybe teaching 1 or 2 subjects to several classes), especially if you then want to make a 'proper' career out of teaching - as faced with a candidate who has done a limited subject, part time NQT year vs someone who has done FT, many schools will take the latter. Also, though flexibility is now coming in, teachers' pay goes up with years post qualification, not with 'actual years taught' - so a teacher wanting to go FT after 3 years of teaching 2 days a week will cost as much as a teacher who has been teaching FT all that time, despite their much more limited experience.

On the other hand, in some jobs - but not all by any means - your previous experience can be helpful. From my previous career, for example, I have particular skills in data handling and website development, and the school I worked at PT could use those. That gave me experiences that someone of my years in teaching would not normally have, and in turn I could 'sell' those on my cv when it came to getting a full-time job. However, those skills alone would not have got me the FT job - it is that I could show that I had applied them in a school setting that was useful.

The key issue that makes me hesitate about doing a PGCE is whether I could get a part-time job afterwards. For several reasons, FT is not an option. PT going in every day could work (I know a lot of PT secondary jobs are that type) depending on the actual timetable.

It's quite a gamble - could FT work for you OP?

FT would be ok in about 10 years, and maybe for short periods, eg maternity cover. But I do want to be around for my children as well whilst they are young. There is also supply teaching as an option. I don't need to work for financial reasons but SAHM novelty has worn off and I am getting very bored. I have done some regular volunteering at school as a parent and as a govenor I have experience of school life. My personality is fairly introvert and I feel at ease amongst children and find them fascinating. I have a very bright child who loves learning and a child with severe learning difficulties so I have experienced the joys of a wide range of children learning.

Well, as long as you are prepared to probably have to train f/t and then more than likely do the NQT year f/t, plus organise childcare before/after school and accept that the chances of p/t work are highly competitive and usually filled by those who were previously f/t then you're going into it with your eyes open. Supply teaching has also dried up completely in a lot of areas due to HLTAs covering courses/absence as they are cheaper and known to the children.

Teaching really isn't the best job if you want to be around for young children, especially when you are training.

plain just to give you a head up for teaching. It's a truly great and rewarding career if it's something you are truly passionate about and have a vocation for, but be aware as you have 2dc and can't do this FT for a while (as I can't) it is ALOT more work than the hours you actually work, it's one of those jobs where you can never do enough, there's always more to do. You have meetings/lesson planning/marking/paperwork coming out of your ears all the time. I work 2 days a week officially but I'm in school early (sometimes over 2 hours before I start teaching) and take work home. I also have to go in on my day off for parents evenings/week end events/INSET for no extra money. My DHs brother is a primary HT and he has told us he actively prefers employing PT teachers as he gets more for his money with a couple of PTers than one FT as they do comparatively more for the pay they get than FTers. I truly feel like it may be a 2 day a week job but I do so much more than that. It is fun and rewarding and a great career but it's also so hard and work life balance is very difficult. I don't regret going into teaching one little bit but I am also shocked at how much work I do. I'm not trying to put you off at all, but I am trying to give you a clear showing - teachers don't just turn up when school starts and go home at 3:30, despite what people think!

I did a full time secondary PGCE which nearly -killed-- me. I got a job at a placement school. 3 days spaced out over 4. I still work crazy hours for a pittance but do get to see my kids, who are pretty young, much more. I went in to teaching because I love my subject and want to share it with young people. They are not so enthralled . I certainly didn't do it for a cushy life. I went in with my eyes open. Chances of promotion are zero as a PT and because our head thinks anyone over 30 is as good as dead but he is git my DDs' school has quite a few PTers but they used to be full time.

Part time teaching fitting round the kids. ha ha!!
I taught primary for 9 years and got a p-t job after relocating with small dcs. I was job (and class) sharing with the HT in a small village primary. My p-t role paid me for 3 days worked over 5. The HT took the school for assembly and PE and I did everything else. To all intents I was the full-time class teacher and was therefore responsible for all the planning, curriculum areas, playground duties, report writing, parents meetings, Christmas plays and all the never-ending paperwork.

My dcs ended up long hours in childcare and every weekend I had to leave them with dh while I locked myself away to do my week's planning and prep.

If you want a job that fits round the dcs I would not ever choose teaching, even part time.

You do need to think very carefully about your motivation for teaching IMHO.

If you are desperate to teach, dream of having your own classroom, can't visit a school without thinking about what you would do if you worked there, love spending time with children, feel passionate about education, bore your friends rigid by talking about it ALL the time....then you're probably part of the way there. You will still find it hard, frustrating, overwhelming and exhausting, but your desire to teach and belief in education will carry you through.

If you are thinking it is a nice, convenient job that you could easily fit round children and that you think you could probably walk into - then it's probably not for you.

I second the advice above to apply for TA jobs for the moment (though tbh almost all TA jobs in my area are being taken up by qualified teachers who can't find jobs or who want to work in school but can't or don't want to do the hours of preparation and paperwork and meetings). It will give you a slightly more realistic view of what teaching involves (though even so you won't see the hours worked at home), has much more child-friendly hours, and will stand you in good stead if you wish to apply for a PGCE later. I would say that 80% plus of the people on my PGCE course - and this was just pre-recession and before the current teacher glut - had worked in school in some capacity (TA, support assistant, playleader, cover supervisor, sports coach, 1 to 1 tutor etc) before applying.

I have just looked on our LA authority website which publishes monthly jobs for teachers and there are 5 PT primary jobs advertised, which surprises me but gives me hope. I am not after an easy life, I want a rewarding, challanging career that I can enjoy and be passionate about, and I am very happy to work 2 or 3 days and spend the other days whilst the children are at school working to prevent evening/weekend/holiday work, after all I wouldn't have anything else to do! I am sure this can be done. When the children are older I can go FT and go for extra responsibilities/promotion etc if that is what I want.

See, this is where you are confused :

There are surely a lot of great teachers in the army of mums whose children have started school and they want a career change that fits in with having children

Primary teaching does not fit in with having small children.
Don't get me wrong - it's a great job in so many respects, but it is not a job to go in to if you want to be at any of your childrens "important moments".

However, I agree with everyone esle that all PT teacher I now are people who were already working at the school and had built up their reputation and then requested PT.

I did a part time distance learning PGCE with Liverpool Hope a few years back, although the teaching practice sections were full time. Not sure if they still do it but it's worth a look.

Well, no, not really (on the 'avoiding evening work' idea). If you have Maths each day (which you will) then the books have to be marked on Mon for Tues, Tues for Weds, and marked to be left on Weds eve at school to be used by the other part of the jobshare team. Same with English books, and any other subjects that you split between you or teach more than once a week.

Equally, you may plan your lessons on Thursday for the following week BUT the first lesson may not go as planned - you may need to add more material, go back to revise, ump ahead - so you re-write your plans and resources and interactive whiteboard stuff on Monday night for Tuesday and Wednesday's lessons. Same will probably happen on Tuesday evening, especially if you do joint planning with your jobshare partner, as you will need to work out how to adapt their part of the week to achieve what you planned given that your first part of the week will have changed things.

One of those evenings will have a staff meeting. On at least one other you will meet a parent or a colleague after school, or have a meeting (SEN / CAF / behavioural issues / training) etc so you will have to do your marking and prep at home because by the time the parent / colleague has left you have to pick your children up from childcare.

You will also need to put up displays (or prepare material for displays which a TA may put up, depending on school custom and practice). That can't be done at home, and you can't have access to the classroom while your jobshare partner is teaching in it. So you do it after school on one of 'your' days, again meaning that marking and prep gets done at home.

Teaching just isn't one of those jobs that you can structure 'work / non work' time as you describe. Some stuff just has to be done before the pupils walk in the next day, even if that means that you have to work at night rather than saying 'ah, no, I can't look at that until my next day at home'....

Five jobs advertised also does not mean a good chance of getting one by any means! They are popular jobs - there will be dozens and dozens of applicants for each post (there is some regional variation but generally there is a glut of qualified teachers and lots of them, both in work and out of work, want part time).

Some H/T's now do knock out style interview days. First the application forms and personal statements are whittled down to leave 10 -12 possibles. Most people are out of the running at this stage.
The finalists are invited to the school where the morning is spent watching each candidate teach a lesson that they've been asked to plan in advance. At lunchtime half of all the interviwees are sent home.
The remaining 5 -7 candidates are then interviewed by a panel well into the afternoon and generally a job offer is made that evening or the next morning.

Teaching as career that enables you to be around for your own children is one that's best established before you ever have children! Otherwise, by the time you complete the manic training and NQT years then establish yourself enough of a track record and reputation to enable you to get part time positions or job shares, your own children will be too old to benefit from having you around more anyway.

Don't get me wrong - I love my job, and if you take an 'annual average' I don't work more hours per day than I used to in industry. However, it is essentially 'compressed hours' - in term time, I work all the hours God sends, and in the holidays, I work many fewer. When I worked part time, I still worked many evenings, because the demands are not 'tidy and predictable' - they are by their very nature lumpy and unplannable for.

I would say, on average, that there have been 70-100 applicants for every primary teaching job advertised in the schools I have worked in - more for PT.

I'm one of the "army of mums" hoping to train to teach, for me it's secondary English after years working ft as a journalist. I come from a family of teachers, grew up with it, my sister is an exhausted primary school teacher.

You know, other jobs also require substantial commitment - in my previous work I could be asked to fly to Europe at w/e, had 5 weeks off a year, long, long hours.

I don't think teaching is a cosy, easy ride, I fully intend to be wiring full time and have experience of a tough industry to back me up us current horrendous nightshift experience to get me through the exhaustion.

Frankly if I am being looked down on fir being a mature student and parent then it does make you wonder about teachers - but they can't be worse than journalists

Ubik, I retrained as a mature student. I had a 5 year old and a 7 year old when I trained. If the OP wants to go into teaching for all the right reasons then she absolutely should. As I have had other jobs, I know well that other jobs require commitment, and I have frequently said on MN that on average teachers' workload is very similar to other professional jobs.

However, I want the OP to go into this with her eyes open - to know that PT is not really part time, that jobs are hard to come by, that evening work is inevitable, that there will be times when she doesn't see her children very much. If all this just makes her more determined to do it, then i say go for it - as I did and as other successful teachers I know have done.

Your plan to work on e.g. Thursday and Friday at home to avoid weekend/evening work if you taught Monday-Wednesday just won't work. As teacher said, marking is ongoing and can't really be saved up for a time of your convenience as it informs your planning for the next lesson. But also, if you are in a primary job share, you can't plan for Monday until you know where your job partner has got up to on Friday, which means you would have to work at the weekend. I know a primary teacher who works exactly that pattern and her job share emails her on Friday night so she can start her work.
While you will be able to do some work on your days off, evening and weekend work is really unavoidable.

I retrained as a primary teacher in my late 30s. I got a part time (3days/week) job straight away, so there are heads who will employ part time NQTs. However, I had a couple of years experience in early years before I did my PGCE and offered a few extra skills in curriculum areas they wanted to develop.

There is no point in thinking -'oh look a nice school that will provide a lovely working atmosphere and fit around my life'
To stand any chance against the other 100 people who have applied for the same post, you have to be able to 'bring something' to the school. Why will you make the school a better place? Start thinking about areas that you could develop to differentiate yourself from the pack.

Part time teacher= full time hours. You will need to work in the evenings. Once you have completed your NQT year it is likely that you will have to start supporting PGCE students yourself - with the associated meetings, frequent evening phone calls and emails...

We are expecting OFSTED; I am working 8-midnight most evenings; and last weekend I put in 20 hours (I just stayed in my pyjamas in my office and DP threw food at me every few hours).
I do not have children - I have no idea how anyone would manage a PGCE or a full time teaching job with a young family. (I know many do and I have huge respect for them.)

Thing is Jayne - you can't avoid the evening/ weekend/ holiday work by working extra on your days off because you don't choose what evenings the meetings happen. One evening a week will be staff meeting, another evening may be a Key stage or year or curriculum planning meeting or meeting about a particular child or behaviour incident. Even if it's not your 'working' day you will need to attend most of these because you wont be able to do your job without.

Add onto this the non obligatory but unwritten expectations of attendance on trip days, school fetes, evening performances and the inevitable half term or last week of the holidays spent doing displays or trying to catch up with all the jobs that you should have done in term.

It is not a job where you count your hours. You keep doing it until its done, whetehr or not your children are still at the childminders waiting for you.

And, I have missed many of my children's school plays, concerts etc because they are during the school day and Ai do not have the option of taking a day off or holiday to attend; other people's children come first. On the other hand, they will both soon be at my school so I will be there for everything, during the teenaged years when they can't get far enough away from me! I am lucky, my husband works part time, and flexibly, but schools are often the least understanding workplaces when it comes to time off for sick children, dentist, school plays. However, where I work is amazing, the children are wonderful and I wouldn't do another job for twice the pay.

As I said, you have to really want it for the job itself, not because of the holidays, fitting in round children.

Speaking as a career changer into teaching, I don't think mature students/trainees are 'looked down on' but non-teaching experience is mostly seen as completely irrelevant (even if it isn't).

OP, my tip would be to consider carefully the character and working hours of your DP/DH before pursuing this. I couldn't have got through teacher training without my DH's support. He did all the shopping and cooking in term time, helped me practise teaching difficult topics and when our DD goes to nursery (which will coincide with my return from mat. leave), will take time off in case there is a problem.

Yes DH will need to shape up, he is far too used to me doing everything, and this makes me even more determined to follow what I want to do, I am too nice, always making everyone happy so it's time to do something for me! He will be fine, I can honestly say he will do what I ask to keep me happy, he works from home and is very flexible, and all the children's schools/nurseries have 8-6pm care available if necessary.

I have applied for a TA position to get some experience, and I think I will apply to do the PT PGCE course at Winchester, starts March 2014, applications from September. It will be interesting to see if I get the TA position, they may think I am very over qualified and not take me seriously. Interviews on thursday!

Good luck with the interview next week. It is quite common for TAs to be graduates and / or fully qualified teachers already - I'm not sure PhDs are quite so common but, if they have asked you for interview, you must have the kind of skills they are looking for. I hope it goes well.

Your family situation sounds ideal for the early years of training and teaching. Having DH at home and childcare lined up in advance will help greatly.

Good luck with the interview. Let us know how you get on .

Plainjayne, as phineyj says so accurately, non-teaching experience is not always valued very highly in TA / teacher recruitment.

So the main barrier to your recruitment as a TA may not be that you are 'over-qualified', but that you have insufficient in-school experience and skills.

I only mention it because it is easy to assume (if you are 'non standard' as an applicant) that the problem lies in the thing which makes you non-standard - in this case, your previous qualifications and work experience. I know that I have fallen into the same thought process in the past, to be put right by a wise and experienced HT.

In fact, the problem may simply be that you lack the things they may be looking for - previous experience as a TA, TA qualifications, extensive experience working with children, even in some cases knowledge of particular conditions (for 1 to 1 TA / support roles) or of particular interventions that the person who used to have that job delivered.

Recruitment in schools, as in other organisations, is very much based on 'what are we looking for' -type paperwork - the match between the role and the person's skills and competencies. If you have lots of other things in your past that don't fit on the tick sheet, that's not a problem as long as you also tick everything that they werre looking for. However, if you don't tick enough of the things that they are looking for, you won't get the job - not because the things that you have over and above the job description count against you, but because there are not enough things that count for you on the tick sheet IYSWIM?

TA interviews will usually involve an observed task with children, as well as an interview, btw.

Good luck with the interview, I hope it goes well.

The only thing I would say, is that everyone in teaching, 'begins at the beginning'. Primary children are not really interested in your previous work experience or life experience.

I was just leaving my first school, where I had been teaching for five years and I fell into conversation with the student teacher who was due to be an NQT that September. I wished her luck and gave her a couple of tips. She said that she wasn't too worried about the stress or workload as she had two children and had held down pressurised jobs in marketing. I kept my own counsel at this point and went on my way.

A year later I met her in the street and asked her how her first year had been. She looked happy enough, but said that she was exhausted and it had been far more testing than she anticipated.

Anyway, the best approach, in my opinion, is to go in with the attitude that you are ready to start at the beginning, learn from others and begin your journey as a teacher.

Agree v much with the previous post. Great that you have a phd, but unfortunately it's not relevant experience. You may find that they prefer someone with no A levels over you because they have been a MDA and run a Brownie pack or because they have a level 2 TA NVQ. They wouldn't be rejecting you because you were over qualified but because you are less qualified than others at working with children.

I teach PT, currently 2 days a week. I started after returning following a 3 year career break and returned to the last school I worked at. However, I have 14 years teaching experience under my belt. Job sharing is not easy anywhere but can be particularly tricky in teaching. As others have said, there is no easy division of school/ home tasks. When you have a staff meeting until 5.30 on your second day you still need to have the jitters marked for your job share partner the next morning. Also planning far in advance is really not manageable. You can have an idea in your head but it will very much depend on what the class have grasped in your absence.

I am contracted 15 hours a week. I do more than that simply in school. On top there are a lot of unpaid, extra tasks to do. I work around 25-30 hours most weeks. Parents can be very anti job share and as part of a job share you often have to do a lot of extra work just to get them on side.

I need a lesson plan for my interview. Anyone give me a good place to find resources and ideas!

The TES website has a very good resources section.

Not sure why you would need a lesson plan in an interview for a TA position though.

Any news?

Hi. They will contact us monday to say if we have the job or not. I think it went well. The activity with the children was enjoyable, they were engaged and hopefully learnt something. The interview questions I answered well apart from one maybe - where I said my reason for wanting the job was to get get some experience to do a pgce. However I went on to say that I would hope to carry on as a TA whilst doing a PT pgce. They are very flexible with hours. I did have experince of all areas they required I think through being a govenor, volunteer in school, having children at school and being a foster care of a child with special needs.

I went into secondary teaching following a phd in chemistry and did it for 7 years before returning to lecturing. PM me if you want to chat.