Commingled to teaching late

[Blessingsdragon1]

Anyone turned to teaching later in life ? Thinking of career change and wondering if teaching is viable - don't need a huge wage and the holidays would work well with my life style. I do like and connect with children and have home edded two of my children with additional needs.

[JRMisOdious]

Good luck, incredibly selfless and worthwhile thing to do if you don’t need to earn vast amounts and have boundless energy.
(Would sort out your spelling first though. Sorry, couldn’t resist, it’s been a long day )

[Blessingsdragon1]

Lol My spelling is terrible when tired - I do have a diagnosis of dyslexia so was hoping to be able to use a laptop. I have loads of energy but have reservations about the amount of paper work.

[ArmchairTraveller]

There’s a lot of paperwork, and some of it you won’t be able to do on a laptop. Have you thought of being a TA first to test the waters?

[RippleEffects]

What about becoming a SEN TA? Well qualified and experienced SEN staff are so hard to find. These are skills you've learned the hard way and coukd be put to amazing use . Probably less paperwork, same holidays and with qualifications the pay can be not to bad (you mention money level isn't a major issue).

[JRMisOdious]

Of course, I subsequently googled commingled to see if it was a word and I had in fact made the usual idiot of myself.
I think it could be an incredibly worthwhile and rewarding thing to do, if you really think you could commit. A senior Times journalist, I think she’s called Lucy Kelloway? did exactly this and has set up a charity to help
and advise people just like you. Worth a look. She recorded the whole process for a Radio 4 series which is probably available on iPlayer, may give you some insight.

[Blessingsdragon1]

I've volunteered in a SEN school and in all honesty TA's were treated as if they were a bit dim. It really put me off to be honest.

[Blessingsdragon1]

Thank you will look at the charity

[grumpypug]

If TAs were treated like that then I would suggest visiting / volunteering in other schools. Our TAs are respected and valued - I couldn't do my job without them!

[TheletterZ]

I was 40 when I trained as a teacher. I’m now in my NQT year and loving it. A lot depends on your school and the support and atmosphere it provides.
I work in a boarding school, which means 6 days a week then Sunday is used for preparation and marking, but there are other payoffs.
Be prepared for it to be hard exhausting work, know when to ask for help and find the right job/school/situation for you.

[Holidayshopping]

As a teacher, people still talk down to you-especially some SLT, parents, the government and the press!

The paperwork is mainly on paper-marking, assessing, feedback etc so watch that one. Reports can generally be done on a laptop though.

I wouldn’t recommend teaching to my worst enemy at the moment. The hours are shit, the pay is stationary (no scope to go up the pay scale in my schools as the budget is in deficit and we simply can’t afford it!, you’re only ever as good as your last observation and it simply takes over your every waking hour.

I leave for work at 7.15 every morning and and don’t leave till 5.30/6 and I will often mark and plan in the evening and Sunday afternoons. I’ve been teaching for years and have a good bank of ideas-newer teachers will probably take much longer. How old are your children with additional needs-would they still ‘need’ your time a lot? If they’ve left home, ignore that!

[CarrieBlue]

Do you have any recent experience of schools? Whilst homeschooling may have given you great curriculum knowledge, it’s very different with 30 pupils and a rigid set of learning outcomes that you have to achieve. Get some school observation experience.

[astuz]

If you're happy enough in your job now, then I wouldn't recommend it for the reasons that @Holidayshopping mentions.

The two things that really get me down are the workloads and the lack of status. I never thought the latter would bother me but it does. I have a Ph.D. and worked as a research scientist for 10 years, on very similar money to a teacher on UPS3, but as a research scientist I was treated with reverence, like I was some kind of genius, saving the world, curing cancer etc., but as a teacher, I'm treated like the shit on the bottom of someone's shoe. In fact, I'd say there are many insecure SLT around who revel in wanting to take people down a peg or two. I'm currently working in a lovely school where the SLT are not like that at all, but that's unusual.

[Blessingsdragon1]

Astuz thank you - My acccademic background is now where near as impressive as your own but I'm am used to a certain amount of respect. I think it will bother me 😂
I've been in two SEN schools plus know a lot of TA's -

[LadyLance]

Are you aware that you'd have to pass literacy and numeracy tests before starting training? There are adjustments for additional needs, but some people with dyslexia do really struggle with them. It might be worth looking at the practice tests to see what would be expected of you.

I'm a PGCE student in secondary and I would say about 80% of the time I can work on a computer- I do have to mark books by hand and sometimes it is quicker/easier to write on the board rather than trying to prep everything on powerpoint in advance. I'm expected to spot literacy errors in pupil work too.

I would say that training is very time consuming and stressful- if you follow a PGCE route, you can often be placed an hour or more away from uni, giving you a hellish commute- for placement 1 I was leaving the house at 6.30 and sometimes not getting home until 6-7 in the evening. It takes a lot of your mental energy too- which may not be ideal if you need it for other things.

There are part time options, which might be worth looking into if you can afford to take longer than a year to train.

Also, in some schools the lack of support given to SEN students or weaker students can be very depressing.

I do love the teaching and it does have lots of rewards BUT the PGCE in itself needs a bit of a redesign IMO!

[Holidayshopping]

I do love the teaching and it does have lots of rewards BUT the PGCE in itself needs a bit of a redesign IMO!

My pgce was a killer, but I have to say, the NQT year was harder, and the first year post NQT was even harder!!

It got a bit easier after that, until things got properly shite a few years ago.

How would you redesign the PGCE@ladylance?

[Blessingsdragon1]

I would struggle with spelling on a hand written test - maths would not be an issue. I would be looking to teach in a subject I understand has shortages but I do wonder if as you say the initial couple of years may just be too much for me with having teenagers still at home. I've been offered tutoring work at a local private school : this might be a better route for me. Thank you so much everyone.

[Jackshouse]

Why did you home educate? As a home educator you may find the system draconian and at odds with your educational philosophy. I’ve left teaching for a number of reasons (work load, horrible SLT and status mainly) but I was finding myself increasingly losing belief in the system.

[HopeClearwater]

A senior Times journalist, I think she’s called Lucy Kelloway? did exactly this and has set up a charity to help

And yet Lucy Kellaway doesn’t teach any more... go figure

[HopeClearwater]

^
Sorry. Just checked. She does teach, but only 3 days a week, saying that full time teaching was ‘unendurably hard’.

[Blessingsdragon1]

I'm tutoring a small group at the moment and am lined up for some work over Easter in what I think used to be called a crammer 😂 - I've though a lot about it and think while I live the kids and the subject the 'system' and I would always be at odds.