I helped out in Reception yesterday and I still feel like I'm hungover

[GreyLampshade]

Oh my days. Teachers are marvellous. I don't know how they do it.

Nativity practice was eye opening

I’m a TA in reception, I love my job but yes, it’s exhausting and I need at least an hour of silence with a hot cup of tea when I get in!
On a serious note, I know of at least 2 TA’s at my school who won’t be able to afford to retire until 67. I’m 53 and will give it another couple of years before I quit. I can’t imagine being in my sixties and still having to work with 30+ 4 year olds.😮😢

It is wine not drugs that keeps me going!

Honestly though I love working with Reception and Nursery children. It is the bureaucracy that gives me a headache.

Yep a primary teacher here, most recently at a special needs school. Christmas plays are both brilliant and terrifying, the bonus is that you don't have to do planning, prep or marking for the lessons you spend on rehearsing, which probably saves teachers at least 2-3 hours of work! But yes teaching is exhausting, you sort of get used to it although I was always pretty much zombified by Friday afternoon. I'm currently on maternity leave with my newborn and loving the rest!

I had 6 months off HGV driving after witnessing too many accidents and getting the horrors. So I got a job as a literacy LSA at DD's primary. I did two days a week, and those 12 hours took more of me than 60 hours doing multidrops.

I have taught all ages from Reception to Post grad and I can honestly say that Reception is the most challenging. I used to call it ‘dancing with aliens’. I remember well one child weeping bitterly when asked to put his empty milk carton in the bin. He told me everyone else had a carton but his was a box (it was identical to the others).

I used to help in Reception once a week. Once, I was put in charge of the art table. The task was to get the kids to colour in predrawn popular book character by looking at picture books - Mr.Happy, the Gruffalo, Wally etc.

In the end, NONE of the characters looked like their original selves. I tried my best but it was just too much. Never again.

Exactly how I felt after the
First trip I went on op. My ears were ringing for days.

Moving as a group 😂😂 badly enough with one of child clinging.

It's the repeating that would get me

Totally agree with you OP. I volunteered for school trip once. Never again.

FeltCarrot two ‘older’ TA’s from our school left to work in Sainsbury’s. Same money and much quieter...

This is why I buy my kids teachers cards declaring my love and presents at every opportunity

The last TA I had (in a special school) is now cleaning offices. She wasn't even on the lowest rate for TAs, but she still earns a lot more by cleaning and without any of the stress. She can take her holidays whenever she wants, too.

I’m a secondary school teacher and could never work with primary! They have it tougher!

I suspect they survive by looking forward to all the holidays they have.

Yeah yeah Yetanotherwinter!

They bloody deserve those holidays, it’s nice to show our appreciation!

I used to help on the trips. I live in London and the school likes to use public transport. That's right - 30 5yr olds to get on and off the Tube. Fun. Oh so fun. And they don't seem to get any better as they get older.
Although I miss it really. My girl is at secondary now. Enjoy it whole you can and don't forget to have a supply of headache pills in your bag at all times. You will need them.

I suspect they survive by looking forward to all the holidays they have.
Well, if you'd like the holidays, why don't you be a teacher then @yetanotherwinter ?

We have to use public transport for all trips. Getting buses and trains with 30 5 year olds is so stressful! I swear each trip ages me 10 years.

I'm a secondary school teacher. As part for my training, I had to spend a week in primary. I loved Nursery, but when I looked at my watch to see if it was nearly lunchtime, it was 9:45 and I'd been there 45 minutes. The day felt about a week long.

Then I went on a Reception trip to Tesco. Forget herding cats, this was like herding turbo-charged cats with very short attention spans.

I like teenagers.

@Sewingbea I didn’t say I would like all the holidays, nor would I want to teach myself. My brother in law is a head in a primary and my sister in law also teaches primary. I know that’s how they get through the terms, by looking forward to all their holidays.

As an infant teacher it's nice to have a thread that's appreciative of what we have to do
You are heroines/heroes, the lot of you. I couldn't do it for a day - there would be carnage.

Still have fond memories of my own infant school teachers, and great admiration for the ones who wrangled my offspring.

I'm a lunchtime supervisor for KS1 and I love it but my god it's exhausting. How anyone can survive longer than an hour I have no idea!

I went on a school trip once when da was in reception. It nearly killed me. I had 4 children to look after; a friend who was an ex primary school teacher advised that we go together as 8:2 was a better ratio. She was right because she had 2 "runners" in her group who never stayed with us. I had 2 children who were scared of the dinosaurs in the museum. And then we kept being stopped by tourists asking to take photos of the children (state school but wore ties and full uniform in reception) and kept having to explain that wasn't appropriate.
It was one of the hardest days of my life.

I work in nursery. The constant questions, talking at me, touching me, climbing on me, shoving things in my face to show me, following me around and taking my hand to show me things is exhausting.
I need 30 mins silence when I get home.
Love it though, can't imagine doing anything else. I feel like a rock star with many small groupies 😁