To not want to teach

You called? 😂

Joking aside, I understand that you feel like you're trapped, but you're not. There's always a way out. It isn't always easy, but the sooner you start investigating other roles and applying for other jobs, the quicker you'll be out of the classroom.

Same boat 👋 can I join your whinge?

Definitely harder working part time as you still need to stay on top of all the developments and staff meetings while only expected to attend half of them. You are expected to have 100% of the knowledge in 50% of the time.

And there's no wriggle room for "oh I'll just do this task after school tomorrow..." because you're not working tomorrow (or whichever day) so you stay late to get everything done in less days.

And then there's the handover if you are part of a job share. So time consuming, especially if you don't have any cross over time and it's all done by email or notes.

And don't even get me started on sharing a classroom with another teacher as a job share. So awful when you arrive to start your day and find you have to scurryfunge the room, clear the desk of old papers and junk accumulated and antibac everything because your colleague is a messy person who would lose a cow amongst a small field of sheep with the amount of junk piled up "just in case".

And not forgetting the assumptions from colleagues that you are having leisure days on your days off. No no, I'm a SAHP those days. I'm run ragged by mine own small humans on those days. And they don't sleep through either.

Full time is definitely the easier option than part time & SAHP.

What's your subject? I was a languages teacher and quite easily moved into industry to use my languages.

@goodluckbinbin well that will be half the children in the country then at least. The kids don’t need Mr Tumble they just need good teachers who do their job well. I can definitely be professional and do a good job even though I don’t want to be there.I can plaster on a smile and get on with it, like many others do every day. I’m sure the same applies to workers in many other professions too, not just teaching, but it doesn’t mean they’re not doing a good job.

Side step into learning & development in a medium-large business, then take another side step out of L&D into another department elsewhere in the business.

For me, things like

-total micromanagement and lack of autonomy-it’s less about teaching children what you know they need and more about making sure you deliver the correct ‘script’ at exactly the same time as all of the other teachers in your year group whilst people who seem to do less work than you, walk round with a clipboard to check. Everything has a scheme and there is no joy left any more.

-ofsted. When your workload is so massive, it’s impossible to keep on top of everything (especially in a small school where you have subject responsibilities coming out of your ears) and they can always find something you haven’t done.

-feeling like because you are top of the pay scale, you are perpetually at risk of a capability plan because your school budget is so tight, your head would rather have two ECTs than one you.

-high levels of pupils with extremely complex SEND in a class of 30+ with no funding or TA and still being expected to meet everyone’s needs at all times.

-55/60 hour weeks and a complete inflexibility during term time.

I left teaching and now train adults in the private sector. Pays not great, 43k, but work from home 75% of the time, arrange my own diary, no marking or planning, as we do lessons plans as a team.

@idontwanttoteach there are lots of other part time/flexible jobs with good progression and that pay better than teaching. They are also less stressful. If it were me, I would be exploring some other options. You have many transferrable skills from teaching, no need to start at square one. I'm sure there would be employers ready to snap you up if you presented yourself right.

In that case you'll really have to assess whether that's a reasonable trade off for you given that you're miserable. Perhaps at some stage the scales will tip. Only you can know that.

MyOtherCarisAVauxhallZafira

I don't know why it's so controversial to say look for something else

Its not but its not always feasible.

It's not snarky to say have a look around.

No-one said that it was.

Try a private school (unless you already are?). I’ve just moved into private and it’s a lot better for me

Yanbu.

I was in your exact position, getting paid just enough that I couldn't justify the pay cut in starting somewhere new, but not enough to afford retraining in something else. I also found it hard to transfer over skills; unless you have extensive leadership experience, you'll end up in entry level jobs with a massive salary drop which isn't feasible either. My only solution was to move country and teach somewhere else, I'm now earning more for a FT position with fewer hours than my PT position last year, in a more relaxed school with far better behaviour. I do actually have joy in my job now but I don't know what I would have done if I'd stayed as I was really hitting rock bottom with no way out. I'm sorry I can't give better advice but totally understand why you need to whinge!

I could only cope by dropping to part time...is that an option?

I hear you loud and clear OP and I’m with you. It’s just a rubbish position to be in.

Mortgage. Bills. You know.... Food, drinks, a general life? Plus once you're a UPS3 it's incredibly difficult to get anything to match your salary elsewhere.

Sorry to hear it op. It sucks feeling trapped in a job you hate.

Would another school be any better? Are you primary or secondary?

What is it that makes you not want to teach? This might help people to make suggestions.

I don't know why it's so controversial to say look for something else. There are compromises to all jobs, you work part time and have long holidays but find the work demanding and stressful, you might find something that's not as stressful but it will likely come with other compromises like hours or pay, but until you know what other options are out there how can you weigh them up?
I work in a really demanding public sector role, I have colleagues who complain incessantly but do nothing to change their circumstances. That doesn't benefit anyone. There are downsides to my job but on a balance I can deal with them and the more rewarding side of it (and the pension) are worth it.
It's not snarky to say have a look around.

I completely get it. The FB group videos and suggestions are all about finding your bottom line and then income streams to meet that, but tend to focus almost completely on either supply or tutoring-neither of which I want to do! I don’t want to teach at all-private/mainstream/special, but that seems to mean starting completely from scratch in a minimum wage role which isn’t viable financially.

I wish there was a sideways sort of step, but there doesn’t seem to be. I definitely can’t do this until retirement though-it’s become a horrible job.

My friend was a teacher. She now has a very successful dog walking business. With all due respect (and I mean that because teachers are worth their weight on gold with all the shit they have to deal with), I don't understand why you can't do something else. Maybe I am being stupid, but why do you have to teach?

Definitely, PT is not a a good deal in teaching. Where I was, they gave us the same load for all the ‘extras’, of which there are many, as the FT staff. Not to mention cramming two classes into one to make it fit. And guess what, workload wasn’t allocated per student, so same amount of marking as FT.

Life's too short to do something you hate. If you can't leave now, make a plan to at the earliest opportunity.