To career change to primary teaching?

I love teaching. It's the best job in the world.

It's also utterly soul destroying.

This is the question I was going to pose to you. Exactly what is it that draws you to the profession?

I'm over a decade in and it's only still workable as a parent because I work as a supply and have none of the crap associated with it aka all the bits that aren't teaching..

I've also recently retired (at 55) having been a primary teacher my whole career. I ended up as a deputy head/SENCo and whilst I loved my career, it was incredibly intense and it occupied my headspace 24/7 in term time.

Certainly there was joy to be found in every day, but I really grew to resent the workload and the impact that had on my family life. I would work all day, come home only to continue working! Fortunately I have an amazing husband who picked up the slack at home with cooking, cleaning etc but I missed out on so much of my children growing up. I don't regret going into teaching-I had a fulfilling and successful career but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone now, not if you value your evenings and weekends anyway.

I keep getting drawn back to teaching, again and again

Why-what appears to you about teaching? What do you envisage the working day/week looking like?

I cant face posting again but you might like this thread, basically i trained in law, hated it and am now a primary teacher, i love it but its not always easy https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5274234-to-retrain-as-a-teacher-at-just-turned-50

I teach in special education and love it. Left mainstream about a year ago as the stress was killing me. My days are probably harder now, the likelihood of being hurt is higher, but I’m much less stressed.

Have family who teach and they hate it. Everything is bad bow it was ok 10 years ago but bow it is way to hard. And the environment is awful.
A reason why I will be homeschooling. Schools are just jungles and teachers have no control.

I’m retired now, but my entire career was in teaching, ending as an assistant head. I don’t think, even with many years of experience, I’d do it now.

Teacher here. Qualified in 2012. Currently work part time as have young children.
For the most part I enjoy the teaching and working with the kids.
I am forever being pulled a thousand different ways. Constant and never ending admin tasks, Conversations to chase up, Phone calls to be made, deadlines, planning, prep, meetings. All this on top of needing to be stood in front of kids actually teaching 9-3:30.
This just never ends and once one task is ticked off the list, another is created!
I work most days at home and rarely switch off.
I buy most of my own resources so I am currently working loads of unpaid hours and paying for teaching resources too. All this is quite mad when I really think about it and my ok salary is probably closer to minimum wage in reality.
I want to do a good job for my students but I currently feel very burnt out!
Pros for me are school holidays off with my kids.. but other than that, the job is quite time strict. No flexibility in start/finish times, so can never do school runs. Can't book time off term time. This year my aunty died and I was a pallbearer, I was given the time off unpaid.
I don't recommended teaching right now!

But you are used to a high stress job!

Teacher here, dreaming of law ... considering a conversion course, yet again.

Look for a way to use your legal skills.

Teaching is extremely stressful. Your family members are right: stay away.

I'm an ex teacher. I taught for just over a decade in primary. I loved it even though it was hard but something changed after the lockdowns and it became so bad in schools. I miss it so much but could not go back until I start hearing that the pendulum is swinging back.

Pre-covid the issues were around work load so could sort of be managed with really good time management and understanding SLT. Post COVID the issues were with behaviour (entitled, arrogant children, unsupportive parents and fearful SLT). It became impossible to manage fairly low level behaviour. As an example, pre-covid I dealt with children with severe emotional difficulties throwing chairs, escaping from the school playground, climbing on tables, setting off fire alarms. These were often children who had awful home lives but all managed well in school with supportive slt. Vs post COVID children refusing to sit down in lessons led to parents asking to meet with me to discuss how firmly I spoke to their child (one parent said "he's only 9, what do you expect!"). Another parent called me a bitch, heard by children and my colleague who reported to the head. The head did nothing. Pathetic and after a couple of years and a change of schools I'd had enough. I'd love to return one day so I keep an eye on the staffroom board in hope that things improve in the next 10 years or so!

But in summary, no I'd not recommend it. Maybe take a week AL or unpaid I'd you can afford it and ask some local primaries if you could volunteer? It won't give you a good idea of a teacher's life but will maybe take the rose tint off

You’ll need to train in which ever way you’re able. It’s a hard and intense year to train. Then you have a couple of years as an ECT.

You haven’t said what age your children are, but teaching isn’t family friendly, particularly with young children. You’ll be working in the evening and at weekends, so child care might be an issue for you.

I don’t know whether you could volunteer or work in a support role in a school, to get experience and a flavour of what it’s like. Unfortunately support roles are really poorly paid and that might not be viable for you.