Any other teachers crippled with exhaustion every holiday?

[Bobblebasket]

It’s half term, I’m a primary teacher with various areas of subject leadership. Im absolutely exhausted, so much so I feel I’m wasting my time feeling like a zombie. Met a colleague in passing today who assured me it’s totally normal to feel so tired at half term and it’ll be fine because we will all be fresh ready to return next week.

I guess my question is, in other full time roles, do you get to every period of annual leave and feel floored with exhaustion? This definitely isn’t a ‘my job is harder’ type thread, I enjoy teaching, I don’t want to leave the profession but I would like some energy! I have two children myself, both at junior school. I have been a teacher for many years and have always felt bone tired by the time holidays come around, I would like it to change!

I’m exhausted after one day’s annual leave looking after my own children, could not imagine the exhaustion after teaching a class of 30 odd children all term!!

Yes we are floored when we take holiday but self employed farmers so lucky if we get two weeks off away from the farm a year. If we’re at home we work every day.

Wouldn’t swap it for being a teacher for all the tea in china though - all credit to you for what you do

Lawyer. Private sector. Absolutely utterly exhausted all year long. Long days. Lots of stress and only take one full week off per year as rest of A/L goes on random days to cover childcare or trying to make up the odd long weekend here and there with the kids. I can’t remember feeling not tired or lacking energy tbh.

DH is primary teacher. He’s also tired by the end of term but it’s probably the same as me, except he is able to work with end in sight so copes better mentally with it (eg only 6 weeks till I get another week off).

It definitely is in a category all of its own for grinding you into exhaustion in your holidays. Husband was a secondary school teacher. I was a clinical nurse. He now works in FE sector. He took a big pay cut so he could actually survive. It’s brutal quite honestly and anyone who says it’s no harder than other professions doesn’t know what the fuck they are talking about.

@Bunnycat101
I always get sick on holiday, it’s become a running joke with my family, I often wonder if it’s even worth going away!
I looked it up and found out it was a condition called ‘vacation sickness’ it’s to do with the drop in cortisol & adrenaline (stress hormones) when you take time off and relax.
I imagine a job like teaching involves high levels of these hormones so could explain the OPs problem

I’m not a teacher I work in the nhs. Everytime I have annual (mostly in half terms for my children) I’m ill 🤦🏼‍♀️

it’s like my body knows, relaxes and I’m hit with a bug. This time it’s been 💩🤢

absolutely sick of it, just want to enjoy my time off and be with my little ones😭😭

Teachers do moan. They get very generous holidays and spend lots of time convincing everyone a) how it gets eroded by work demands and b) how much they need it because only they work uniquely hard.

Fortunately not all Teachers are like this. I've got plenty of friends who are secure enough in what they do to own the fact that they have benefits others don't get and downsides like any job.

I've got a team at work who've been pulling all nighters and working 7 days a week since Christmas. Their upside is better pay than teaching but it's not stellar and experienced SLT Teachers will be on the same (about £60k). They will get less holidays than Teachers and they will take it when they want. The work is spreadsheet and detail financial and legal report writing. I wonder which Teachers would want to swap with them.

I am public sector, I make decisions that can lead to big liability claims and have a lot of deadlines. I definitely don't think it's exhausting as teaching (or Frontline healthcare) but come my planned annual leave I am knackered. I generally get long periods because of the stress.

I never take the odd day here and there for annual leave (unless necessary for childcare) as i just come back to more work. I take a minimum of a week as cover can be organized.

So the holidays are a benefit, but do remember that the 'extra' is unpaid, yet work is often expected to be done during them. I don't think op wanted to compare to other jobs, she was just trying to find others in a similar role who would understand how she feels.

Personally, I do find it wrong that due to the number of hours it takes to get the job done, some teachers have given up and realised they will earn more per hour at the local Tesco or similar. I do think we need to value those who teach our children a bit more.

They don’t get paid for their ‘generous’ holidays though.

Bet you get paid for yours……

Yep, totally beaten here. 54yo ft secondary teacher. I am sure being a full-time HCP is exhausting too, as are lots of other jobs without the long holidays we get. What exhausts me is the huge amount of work we need to do outside of the teaching day, every week and during the holidays. And the fact that however much you work, you never ever feel on top of things.

I'm currently in Spain for a few days visiting dd, but I'm too tired to enjoy it and am constantly thinking of all the work I need to do when I get back, before term starts again.

Absolutely shattered … however I’m not sure that is just teaching or being 47, in the throws of menopausal insomnia, middle age and having teenage DCs - one autistic.

DH is also a teacher but the tiredness doesn’t hit him as much but he teaches a less marking intensive subject and runs marathons so very fit!

I combat the exhaustion by going on holiday every holiday. We all had an Inset Friday so we are away for a short break. It’s raining but it’s a change of scenery and stops us - even the kids - lounging around all day. I recommend getting away. The holidays are the perk of teaching - use them wisely!

I am not a teacher but in a related area.

The pay and benefits are good - especially the pension scheme. And there is job security that is absent in the private sector (though that has been reducing). BUT it is physically, mentally and emotionally demanding.

Workload is an huge issue - I hope that AI will help with aspects of this in due course. Especially marking. But I also feel like some kind of clinical de-briefing might help. I don’t mean general counselling - more normalising regular support sessions. Say twice a month.

Genuine question. Why do we all get so tired these days?

Various older relatives have been teachers and never talked about feeling like this. My Dad milked twice a day getting up at 4.30am for 40 years and never grumbled. He thinks I have an easy life! What’s changed?!

Omg what utter nonsense
Doctors and Nurses are literally making life/ death decisions
Sick to death of teachers moaning

More and more teachers are being employed on temporary yearly contracts, so not as much job security as there used to be.

How do you know? Have you worked in a school? Why not try it, there is a teacher shortage at the moment. (I wonder why?).

I think it’s posts like this that make us lose empathy for teachers. We really do get it that it’s an incredibly tough job. But there are others out there and different stresses that you have no idea about. Caring for very sick people for many of us carries huge stress and responsibility- I have a difficult and stressful job now but it is nothing like the emotional and physical toll of health care. Posts that completely fail to acknowledge teaching may not be the only very tough gig out there really do you as a professional no favours.

Come and shadow me for a day at school. You will be extremely relieved to go back to writing reports/spreadsheets (which, by the way, we do too!).

My friend is a teacher and is always utterly exhausted and often off ill with stress. I ask her why she doesn't find another job. Her answer..much better pension, holidays , sick pay than the private sector. Everything is a trade off.

Agreed. This has been the case in university and FE teaching for 20+ years. I am afraid it’s another case of what the gap between the services the public want and what they are willing to pay for in taxes.

But I am de-railing the thread.

In short, I don’t think it’s uncommon OP. There is a focus on juggling a profession with the demands of young children. I have found the GCSE/A Level years most demanding on the home front. I force myself to get out of bed as I find a slob day makes me feel worse - so it’s a case of what works for you. I also make sure I have a long weekend every couple of months to keep me topped-up. So Thursday and Friday off when kids are at school. But appreciate that’s impossible with teaching. When the kids were younger I did take myself to a hotel for a couple of nights while DH took care of stuff - usually London. Totally by myself sightseeing and nice food (buying-in stuff to eat in the room). I understood early in my career I needed alone time to keep body and soul together - so saved for this 2-3 times a year and have a DH who was totally supportive of it too.

My long weekends away were during school holidays. And no - I didn’t have a nano second of guilt.

Ex-teacher here.
When you action in all the hours you work at home, you aren’t far off working for the minimum wage.

There is always the dread too that your job will just go - that you will have an observation that doesn't go well (usually down to a child!), you will say the wrong thing in a meeting, a parent will make a complaint against you ... and bang, you're on a support plan and gone

Yes, this is what worries me, especially as I am older and more expensive. I've seen many colleagues bundled unceremoniously out of teaching, and it's brutal. You spend decades in a job you love with people telling you you're great at it, then there's a budget meeting and suddenly actually you can't really teach at all and you are pushed out. Not made redundant, but absolutely destroyed as a professional and as an individual because it's the quickest way they can push you out. I have told my Head if that time comes for me, I want her to tell me and I'll just resign, rather than being utterly wrecked by the process.

Anyway. Back to the OP. Yes - I am always exhausted when we get to the holidays. I have gone down with my traditional half term virus, which at least compels me to rest. But I think teaching is like many other jobs, with regards to stress and workload, it's just condensed into 39 weeks, rather than spread across 48 (allowing for 4 weeks of annual leave), which is why it sometimes feels a bit much. The holidays are bloody great, though. Beats me why more people don't want to be teachers.

I think teaching has the triple whammy of being mentally, physically and emotionally demanding (some other are the same of course) and I’m not surprised you’re knackered op. I really don’t know how teachers do it.