Anyone given up a job they love for a job in a school and regretted it?

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Currently I wfh - 4 hours a day. As long as I'm online a few hours during school time my boss is ok with me doing the other hours whenever I can. I love the work too, as the business is different to anything I've ever known.

It works well for our family as DH is a full time firedighter (4 on, 4 off shifts) and does on call too so can look after our toddler whilst being on call because I'm there working too (and can take time off if he gets a call). We have 3 children so in school hols we can do this too - my parents have the children for 4 hours on the days DH is in work.

Toddler is starting nursery 3 hours a day in September.

I've seen a job in a school that is 7 hours a day term time only, it's local (down the road from my son's school) and a 10 min drive from my house. It'd give us £5-600 extra a month which we could do with right now (we're stuggling since we're on a g&e fixed term rate which comes to an end this month and will double next month, going up even more in Oct)

Apart from the childcare issues (we may have to pay out some of the money for childcare but my parents have said they'd help out too) and me having to actually get up before 7 each day to be in work by 8am 😴, I'm torn over the flexibility aspect.

So, has anyone ever taken a school job and regretted it because you cannot take any time off during term time. In his job DH can't always get his main time off during school hols but would be able to stretch to 3.5 days if he takes time off call. Thinking too about emergencies/school trips/sports days/going to gigs (random I know but I follow a certain band and like to go to their gigs a lot).

Or any other downsides to working in a school?

@tiredanddangerous the person spec does say it's desirable not essential so that's a good start though.

Lack of flexibility is horrendous- yes 11 weeks of holiday but support staff need it as they will be run off their feet.
Breakfast club and after school clubs may be necessary and eat into your v poor wages!
Sports Days / Nativities / assemblies / class picnics / Star of the bloody Week prize givings - if you have to delegate these to grandparents then the guilt is huge

Your kids will be in primary school and nursery. There will be lots of requests for you to go to performances and sports days and catch ups, INSET days, school trips and the inevitable pickups for injury and illness.

Will your parents/DH be able to facilitate all of those? Will you mind missing out?

Could you take on some extra WFH instead?

I started as an invigilator. Once you get close to the office staff and build some relationships its easy to pounce when they advertise a role.

Down here, holiday let cleaning can be lucrative if you can offer a Friday or Saturday. Maybe, if there is an abundance of let's in your area, keep your normal job and do that one day a week?

@Shinyandnew1 the ad does say no working in school holidays apart from the 2 results days.

DH is a firefighter - his main station being 30 min drive away. But if he's on a shout there's no way he'd be able to leave and attend to the emergency.

In our Primary school, adults have to go with the children on trips, so if DH is working he couldn't go either. My mum would probably go ...but I've been to all of my other sons trips so would like to go on the ones with my youngest (last) child if possible.

With gigs, for this certain band, we like to travel around the country to see them, so stay overnight.

You have absolutely no chance of having days off to go and watch a band and stay overnight. Sorry.

Honestly, stick with the job you love and have the flexibility for.

@actiongirl1978 I actually registered with an agency just before the exams to be an exam invigilator. Once I'd signed up and done my DBS, I didn't hear from them again 😠

Overnighters for gigs and days off for school trips just wouldn’t happen in any school I’ve worked in. Possibly a day unpaid for a close family wedding, if you were very lucky!

Please put in an application, schools are struggling to find staff. Never before have we had so many support staff leave across our county and so few applicants.
Those who know what it is really like are leaving for home working, flexibility and better pay. COVID has also had a huge impact, with staff realising the risks that they worked under.
Don’t forget support staff jobs are not paid in the holidays.

@Kezzie200 I don't live in a holiday area unfortunately - there's only about 4 air bnbs in my area. Also due to DH getting his on call times less than a week before, I wouldn't be able to commit in advance.

@BarbarasStripedHands yeah I know that. If they won't let you go to your child's sports day/nativity, they aren't going to let you go on a jaunt around the country. I was asking if anyone regretted working in a school because of these reasons.

@Shinyandnew1 see my reply above to BarbarasStripedHands

I would recommend calling all your local schools. We do all our recruitment directly as we have to do all our own DBS checks.

Schools are generally desperate for capable appropriate people to invigilate.

@ArnoldBee it is. It says £12,345* x 84% so have worked it out based on that

*not the actual amount, just an example

I did ta and hated it. Paid hours 9-12, 1230-3. Actually worked 830-1210, 1225-4. Five days a week you literally never get a break as you either have school kids or your kids. Can't attend your own childrens sports days, concerts etc. childcare costs before and after school. Plus the job was very hard and massively under paid for responsibility.

@actiongirl1978 thank you for the advice. I will do that.

How often do you work? Is it just winter/summer exam times, or do they do exams other times of the year?

Are you signed up to the DBS renewal service (can't remember it's official name). Does that make a difference?

If my DH didn’t have a flexible job where he could WFH (back before everyone was doing it!), and pick up the slack with school stuff, illness, snow days (when the kids were off, but my school open!) then yes, I probably would have hated it.

I think you'd have to weigh up the pros and cons. It was a godsend for school holidays when my children were in Primary school for the holidays but by the time they got to secondary school, I'd had enough.

I now actually work for a company which sounds pretty similar to yours - very flexible and relaxed and I wouldn't go back to working in a school for anything. On saying that, school admin is a really interesting job and is very varied...I was the SBM and genuinely loved my role. If you're happy to accept that you're literally tied to that job for 39 weeks of the year, then you'll be fine.

As someone else said, put in an application and take it from there.

Schools around our way are massively struggling to recruit support staff. Literally no applications or only a few mostly unsuitable applicants.

Term time only jobs used to be like gold dust with loads of applications, but since covid and more companies now offering wfh and flexible working, people just don't need term time only jobs with rubbish pay.

Reception, unlikely to be able to be flexible or able to take time off, but general admin it wouldn't be unheard off to be able to offer some kind of flexibility for sports days, assemblies, doctors apps etc. I work in an exams office and can take time off, make up the hours another day without any problem at all (except for exam season when its 10-12 hour days every day)

If they like you, negotiate the hours with them before you start. For a good candidate, they may have some wiggle room depending on what the exact role is.

I work in a support function that’s not admin or class based. I also work in a team that does it’s utmost to be flexible both way…. I work part time so depending on school needs I sometimes move my hours around to suit the team I support.

however I am unusual in that I always go home on time because I have to pick up my own kids…

the pay can be deceptive in the adverts so make sure you’ve understood correctly what they are offering! They quite often quote the full time salary for a part time pro rata’d job and what looks good can easily be a pittance.

It can be a fun supportive place, it can equally be toxic and it is all dependent on the management which can change on a regular basis……

im not saying don’t do it, just make sure you are going into it with your eyes open to the pitfalls.

Op have you checked the salary and that it is not pro rata-ed down? If you work 20 hours a week, every week, I’d be surprised if a school admin job would pay as much more as you say. Assuming you are currently on min wage, the school job would need to be FTE of about £21k+ to give you £500 pm uplift. That’s if my maths is correct.

thh it sounds to me as tho the flexibility of your current role is worth more than the extra money anyway. It’s unusual to get days off from a school role to go in school trips with your kids or go to gigs. Maybe a school might authorise the occasional wedding of close family or child’s graduation, but not much else tbh IME.

But if you are interested, volunteering in a school is a good place to start.

As others have said - are you sure you've worked out the wages right?
An extra £600 a month compared to your current role sounds as if it is pro rata?
Please double check (hope I am wrong!)

Agree with PP about the salary.

What did the salary actually say? I would imagine it was about 19/20K pro rata term time only. Possibly less. Unlikely to be more

You will be paid 1)The lowest end of the pay scale - so let's say £19,000 2) Like you said - a big chunk less than 19K. And pay rises will be non-existent.

You will not get 19K. You will be paid for c43.5 weeks of the year (39 weeks term plus 4 weeks holiday pay +3 days) - so 19,000/52*44.5 an actual salary of £15894, which will work out at £1,202.70 take home per month.

I think you’ve worked the pay out incorrectly as well!

The pay is worked out as average 37 hours per week, but you’ll only be contracted 32.5 as you aren’t paid for lunch.

Then you are paid 39 weeks plus 4 weeks holiday so that reduces the total

Then spread over 12 months.