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Has anybody retrained as a teacher from wildly different career?!

51 replies

crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 10:28

Has anyone retrained as a teacher from a completely different career path?!

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crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 10:30

I have the relevant GCSE / A levels and bachelor degree.

But I'm looking for advice from anyone who has taken the plunge.

I'm in a lucrative role but one that I have no passion for and am being drawn more and more to teaching.

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NoIDontWantToBuildASnowman · 31/10/2019 10:44

I’ve just started my PGCE after running my own business for ten years.
I’m 10 weeks in and i am loving the change. Having ‘real world’ experience means I’m miles ahead of my classmates in some things, like standing up in front of a room of kids and taking charge, which petrifies some of them!

Have you done some School observations? Going and spending a week in a school observing the lessons and chatting to real teachers will give you a lot of insight into the realities of teaching and all the accompanying work.

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crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 10:57

Thanks so much for your reply!
If it's not too outing I'd love to what about your pathway to securing the PGCE year- any funding etc / when you had to apply.
I have lots of close family and friends who teach so hopefully securing some observations won't be too hard but I am securing more information before I start committing to the idea.
Yes I do certainly think my consultancy/ sales head will help and I will have transferable skills!
I'm just worried about the finances to train and the NQT starting wage!

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NoIDontWantToBuildASnowman · 31/10/2019 15:52

No worries, so I applied in March, and one of my chosen courses was already full but my first choice had spaces. They got back to be within a week and called me for interview. I had to do a brief lesson plan outline, a language test (I’m secondary and languages are a part of my subject), and discuss an article with my fellow interviewees. Then the actual interview was things like what kind of school do I see myself teaching in, which set texts would I pick and why, why did I want to be a teacher, how would I deal with an instance of poor behaviour, and how are my time management skills (!). All fairly normal, and nothing really phased me.

Funding: I applied for the postgraduate loan, which covers my fees, and my subject is a shortage subject so I get a decent bursary to support living costs. I also receive help with childcare as I have two under 3s, which is very welcome. And Im also worried about the NQT salary!

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fedup21 · 31/10/2019 15:54

Go into the staff room board on here-there are plenty of people who have retrained.

What subject/phase are you thinking of?

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crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 16:58

Great feedback and tips everyone thank you!

I'm torn between English at secondary school or primary school teaching.

One of the reasons to get out of my corporate senior STEM role is to enjoy a greater work life balance now I have children. I envisage primary school (anecdotally from close family and friends) to fit in better with work life balance than a secondary school teacher. But I'd miss out on training bursary's potentially (but I need to think long term)

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MooseBeTimeForSummer · 31/10/2019 17:01

I know a Solicitor that did.

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moobar · 31/10/2019 17:03

I'm no longer a solicitor as of today but I am going for an interview for a post graduate teaching scheme tonight.....spooky!

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fedup21 · 31/10/2019 17:53

I envisage primary school (anecdotally from close family and friends) to fit in better with work life balance than a secondary school teacher.

Can I ask what specifically you’ve heard that makes you think that?

Perhaps that’s a question to ask (work life balance between primary/secondary) on the Staffroom board.

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HopeClearwater · 31/10/2019 17:58

I envisage primary school (anecdotally from close family and friends) to fit in better with work life balance than a secondary school teacher. But I'd miss out on training bursary's

  1. You’re just wrong about primary school work-life balance. You’ll do far less marking in secondary.
  2. The plural of bursary is bursaries. You WILL need to know this.
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BobbinThreadbare123 · 31/10/2019 18:00

Yeah I did. Went back to something related because teaching was appalling. Go in with your eyes open and unimpeachable spelling and grammar.

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KondoKonvert · 31/10/2019 19:43

I retrained as a primary teacher and there was no work-life balance. I have never worked so many hours in my life. I gave it up when I had kids and I dread going back.

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IsItChristmas · 31/10/2019 19:53

It's a very demanding job. I was teaching undergraduates in a university for two years and then accepted a slightly less well paid job that doesn't involve teaching (it later led to promotion so I'm not worse off in the end).

I feel like I have two lives instead of one now! Teaching is rewarding but utterly exhausting. There is no work-life balance in teaching, absolutely none!

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Pinkflipflop85 · 31/10/2019 21:02

If you end up in the wrong type of school then there is absolutely no work/life balance in primary school and it certainly doesn't fit around family life!

Thankfully I now work in an amazing school, but a few years ago I was in a different school that nearly ruined me. In at 7am, worked through my lunch break and left at 6pm. Saturday morning was catching up on more work. Kept sunday as a family day but I was always behind because of it.

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TitchyP · 31/10/2019 21:11

I envisage primary school (anecdotally from close family and friends) to fit in better with work life balance than a secondary school teacher.

Hahahahahaha.

Nope.

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crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 21:11

All of the teachers I know have a much better work life balance than I do now so I'm confident that it would be an improvement!

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crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 21:12

@TitchyP I know lots of teachers and the secondary school teachers tend to work much longer hours

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fedup21 · 31/10/2019 21:23

@TitchyP I know lots of teachers and the secondary school teachers tend to work much longer hours

Ok then!

Good luck to you.

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PelvicFloorTrauma · 31/10/2019 21:23

I was a City solicitor and then headhunter. Used to working very long hours, especially as a solicitor. I worked on deals and an 70 hour ++ week was not unusual. Retrained as a secondary English teacher last year. The PCGE year is tremendously hard. I also have 2 primary age children and a husband who works away all week. The holidays help but you are exhausted so you need a break. I find the job a lot more rewarding so I don’t mind working in the evenings and weekends. I think, however, that if you are expecting a decent work life balance you will be disappointed.

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MaybeDoctor · 31/10/2019 21:26

Yes, you are clearly right.

The teachers on this thread are wrong. Hmm
Hope that helps.

P.S. I taught primary for 10 years and left because the workload was frankly incompatible with any kind of life, let alone family life. My only regret is that I didn't leave a bit sooner!

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crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 21:27

@TitchyP @fedup21 is there a reason for sarcastic unhelpful comments? I'm explaining what I know from a select group of people I live with and speak to all of the time. Maybe my circle of friends are a unique case but your comments are childish and unhelpful

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crispycrisis · 31/10/2019 21:29

@PelvicFloorTrauma thanks for your honest and helpful comments

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Thethingswedoforlove · 31/10/2019 21:32

Have you heard of NowTeach? They take on a number of career changers each year and train them in a school setting. Very good. You have a cohort arojnd you going through the same thing to offer support. You are salaried. Might be worth looking at.

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seven201 · 31/10/2019 21:33

At secondary some subjects are more marking heavy than others. English teachers are drowning in marking where I work.

I worked in industry before doing a pgce. I did my training before dc. My training year and NQT year were so tough. With young dc it will be pretty much hell!

Yes the holidays are incredible childcare wise and saves me a small fortune for nursery fees. My dd starts reception next year and will have to be in breakfast club and after school club. I also won't ever be able to go to sports day, nativity plays etc. You can't switch off from teaching when you're home, there's always some homework to do.

I'm not saying teaching is the hardest job ever. Clearly it isn't, but it doesn't generally give a good work-life balance to parents. Some schools are awful, some are great, most are somewhere in between.

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MaybeDoctor · 31/10/2019 21:35

Results of the teacher workload survey:
Survey

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