Primary school teacher.

[user77777777]

I have been thinking a lot lately of how unfulfilled I feel in my job, and am looking to take a different career route, I'm in an office based job, and have never known what I've wanted to do long term.

I would LOVE to become a primary school teacher, I think I would be really good at it and have so much dedication into showing kids care, nurture and passion. And would love to do this through teaching, I think growing up in an abusive household has made me this way.

I have googled but would like to find out how to get in to teaching , know I would have to go back to college/uni and it would take some years.

Can anyone help with any processes? I'm in Scotland.

Also, this makes me cringe with guilt to write, but when I was a teenager I was charged with assault, will this affect this is any way? (Just a big group of drunk teens fighting with each other and I have cut contact with all the toxic friends in my life a long time ago)

I am deeply ashamed and regret my actions, this was a time when I was drinking a lot and used to self harm, live with addicted abusive parents in poverty and is just not me anymore.

I'm not trying to make excuses and certainly don't want sympathy but just want to explain why I was so fucked up, my life instantly changed when my daughter was born and I'd never dream of harming another person.

Thanks for reading if you got down this far!

I'm a primary teacher but currently work in a support role (higher level teaching assistant) part time. I couldn't even cope with part time teaching with a family of my own due to long hours, workload and toxic environment.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

I’m a yr6 teacher. I love lots of parts of the job, but there are pieces that are less good.

Your starting point would need to be your qualifications (GCSEs in maths, English and science, then further qualifications that are needed).

However, there are other roles in schools which would need the desire to nurture and care for children- family support practitioners, support staff. Teaching involves these things, of course, but has a strong focus on the need to educate our children. Would you be interested in other roles?

Just one thing to think about- how old is your DD? It’s not a family friendly profession, especially at the start.

If you have any specific questions, I’m happy to try and answer them.

Not sure where you are in Scotland but I always see posts for teaching programmes at Aberdeen uni if it helps

The OP is in Scotland, so no GCSEs and we don’t have unqualified teachers.

OP do you have a degree already - you could then do the PGDE which is a one year post grad course, otherwise you’re looking at 4 years of a teaching degree. Qualification requirements will depend on the university but if I remember rightly you’ll need Higher English and Nat 5 maths as a minimum. Worth checking with local universities to see what entrance qualifications you need.

From speaking to teacher friends in England, the workload for primary teachers here isn’t quite the same in that we don’t have standardised tests and class sizes are generally smaller. Not necessarily easier bit just different. It would be worth getting some experience maybe as a TA just to get a feel for the job.

How mamy years since your charge? It's likely spent by now, even for enhanced disclosure purposes but you'll need to check (Google convictions higher disclosure scotland).

You can apply to have your charge removed by the court after so many years, there’s a cost involved and a possible court attendance but it would remove the charge from your PVG, maybe worth looking into.

I'm a primary school teacher. I've been teaching for 24 years now in EYFS and KS1. It's a fantastic profession, rewarding and the days go very quickly, it's never boring but it can be very frustrating sometimes. The paperwork and expectations from senior staff can be immense (and I work in a brilliant school) some schools struggle to support their staff and give them a decent work life balance.

We often have volunteers in our school just for a day or afternoon to give people a feel for school life. TA jobs are very scarce and very poorly paid in the U.K. (not sure about Scotland) so volunteering could give you an insight.

The money is ok (particularly for my area) and of course the holidays are good, but expect to work through a lot of them.