to plan to be pregnant while pursuing a pgce in primary education

[giggles123]

Hi, does anybody know of anyone out there who has attempted a pgce programme while pregnant. Plan is to deliver in the summer so conveniently after the baby is born. Please kindly respond.

[LDNmummy]

Oh and giggles, we can lament together, I thought my DP's NQT year would be easier but according to the post's that will not be the case

Thank goodness I can take the year off to be a domestic goddess

[Pippaandpolly]

On my PGCE as a 22 year old with not a responsibility in the world I was so tired that I used to get home at 4ish, mark and plan until 7 then go to bed till 7 in the morning. Pretty much without fail, all throughout the placements. And sometimes I was so knackered I went to bed at 6 (on one memorable occasion, in front of the TV during the Simpsons, which my boyfriend (long suffering but now DH) found still on at 11!). I honestly can't imagine having done it while pregnant - but then maybe as I went from a 5 hour a week (English ) degree straight into it it was more of a shock and if I'd had a different job in between I'd have been used to working so hard? I don't know...it was absolutely exhausting though, emotionally as well as physically and, surprisingly, intellectually. Mine was Secondary and I was amazed at how much I didn't know that I had to learn in order to teach the kids, that despite having a good degree. (I was the generation that was never taught grammar!)

On the bright side, your PGCE year is by far the hardest. In fact, despite more responsibility each year, it's got much easier each year too!

[boredwithfoodprob]

I fell pregnant while doing my primary pgce. The pregnancy was planned but we naively didn't think we would conceive so quickly (first time!) I had to give up studying in the April (DC was born in August) as it was far too stressful and the workload was so much. I wouldn't have had time for NCT, yoga or to generally enjoy being pregnant. I went back and completed it when DC was 13 months old and my mum helped us pay for childcare but it was a struggle having to complete the course while having a 1 year old to care for. My DH had to do most of the care while I studied. It wasn't a great time! But i'm glad I did it. I'm a SAHM at the moment and expecting another baby now but I guess in hindsight it would have been more sensible to complete the course and get my NQT year out the way while I was child free but I don't regret it, i'll be a teacher one day! Good luck with whatever you decide

[Lara2]

You're completely mad if you do this PGCE especially in the last months of pregnancy. You are going to be so stressed and tired that you won't know where to put yourself - and that's without being pregnant!!!!

Just don't do it!!!!!

[cupofteaplease]

I fell pregnant during my PGCE year, and had 3 and 1 year old dc at home already. Uni was a 1.5 hour commute each way, lectures went on until 6pm, and placements were unbelievably demanding. The exhaustion was a killer. Quite literally, actually, as I ended up having a miscarriage, and couldn't even take the appropriate time off to recover physically, never mind mentally.

There is no pressure quite like having your EVERY MOVE scrutinised and commented on, I absolutely hated the PGCE! I'm teaching now, and love my job, it is so incredibly different from the PGCE I can't begin to explain.

[meala]

I did my PGDE whilst pregnant with my first. It was absolutely fine, no problems at all (apart from the nausea at the stench coming from the boys toilets .

Things worked out much as you were planning it. I finished the PGDE in June and gave birth at start of August. It was amusing when (mostly male) teachers on placements didn't even realise that I was 7 months pregnant!!

It can be done if you're determined and organised and keep on top of coursework.

[Newbabynewmum]

Someone's probably said this - but you have to do a certain amount of teaching quite soon after your PGCE year to get qualified teacher status. Id look into this as it might mean your maternity leave will have to be cut short.

Also, I might be wrong but I don't know how seriously you'll be taken on your PGCE and finding a job afterwards may prove difficult. I presume you wouldn't apply when pregnant so the year after there will be a fresh batch of NQT's to be faced with.

And not to go on but I was a cover teacher when pregnant and that was sheer hell, the thought of all the extra work and being pregnant, no way!

Saying all this I'm starting my secondary mathematics PGCE in september and my daughter will be 1 and I'm a lone parent. Luckily I have a massive support network around me and the university is great and understanding.

Good luck whatever you do x

[golemmings]

At 14 weeks pregnant I'm finding watching my husband do his PGCE exhausting... He is working his socks off - to the point that he has moved into the spare room to save disturbing me when he crawls into bed in the early hours and gets up again at 5 to finish off...

He does however take Saturdays off and spends sat am with dd and we spend saturday pm as a family. It's a HUGE commitment. With a baby due 3 weeks into his NQT year I'm not expecting to feel human again for another year and a bit...

Personally I'm very much in the camp of you'd be mad to try it. However women can and do achieve utterly amazing things. My question could be whether you could do it without compromising your child, your health or you potential to be a good teacher. If you think you can, then go for it!

[Ariesgirl]

I know nothing of pregnancy yet, but I do know that a PGCE was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It's unrelenting. Having morning sickness and being knackered through it, I just couldn't have coped with at all.

[theluckiest]

I'm another supporter of the 'NO! don't do it!! Sheer madness...' I know it can be done, but why set yourself up for such a burden of stress and exhaustion?

Am currently doing my full-time primary PGCE with a nearly 4 year old and a 20 month yr old. It's very hard but I aim to be super organised. I really have to push myself to get work done though, particularly in the evenings. This is the only time I have to do assignments once kids are in bed. It's very tough to keep up the motivation sometimes.

I cannot imagine being PG at the same time. PG completely wiped me out in the first few months and I could barely keep my eyes open let alone do any work in the evenings.

I just about manage now thanks to a fabulous support network of DH and family. But I feel like I barely see the kids. And I can only work because my boys are in a great routine and will be in bed by 7.30pm. Having a very little baby when you start your NQT year would be tough - you might have a very demanding little one (aren't they all?!) and you mustn't underestimate just how shit you feel on no sleep.

I would echo previous posters - decide which one is your priority for now and focus on that. PGCE can wait until your baby is a bit older....you could even look at doing it part-time? I would definitely advise enjoying your baby as much as you can....a PGCE would impact massively on that.

Also, I don't know but would you be eligible for any maternity leave at all if you've just finished studying? I doubt you would be eligible for statutory maternity leave (as you wouldn't have technically been 'employed') and I have a feeling you may not get Maternity Allowance (but don't quote me on that). Worth looking into though.

Good luck

[BikeRunSki]

Have you ever been pregnant?

I am 9 weeks into my 2nd pg, and have had such severe all day sickness (hyperemisis) in both pgs that I have been in hospital and off work.

Having said that my mum took her Bar Finals 8 months pg with DC4.

[tiptoptally]

DO NOT PLAN THIS!!! PGCE on its own is an absolute killer - and that comes from someone with an undergraduate degree, professional qualifications and used to an hour long commute through central London every day!!! My flatmate when doing the PGCE accidentally fell pregnant at the beginning of the course and even she (fit, healthy, extremely motivated) had to postpone her final placement and finish the course the next year. She found it very difficult to be on placement with morning sickness - the schools made her stay off for 48 hours after every bout of sickness, when she got more heavily pregnant she couldn't bend properly to see to the younger kids, she was constantly worried about picking up bugs from the kids....the list goes on.

Nice idea but utter madness!!

[Ariesgirl]

Do you still want to do teacher training?

[penguin73]

I think the massive workload issue has been covered but the other thing that is hard is the massive emotional pressure - until you start you have no idea what your placement schools will be like or the support you will receive in school. Regardless of how lovely your school or how supportive your mentors it can be really hard coping with the frequent observations and feedback which will always include something that needs to be worked on/improved. Whilst this is meant to be constructive when you are already tired and stressed it can soon feel like very personal criticism - and that is without pregnancy hormones to contend with!

[Ariesgirl]

Penguin yes, that's a massive issue. If you get a horrible teacher or tutor they can destroy your confidence. I remember lying on the bed weeping with despair at what Bitch Tutor had said to me - for some reason she took against me, and told me that no one in the school liked me and none of the students liked me and it boded very ill for my professional life etc. Seems funny now, and clearly and issue of hers, but at the time I was devastated (as she wanted me to be). The point is, you lay yourself bare on a PGCE and are completely vulnerable and you have to be in the best of health to cope with it.

[knitonepernilleone]

Ariesgirl. I had a teacher hide the medium term plans from me because she didn't want a student teacher. She'd also suddenly announce 'there's been a change of plan' at the last minute and I had to teach something utterly different without any preparation at all.

Add a challenging class and I was a gibbering wreck. Contrast with my NQT year when I was in a school where I felt completely at home. You just never know what you'll get.

[Ariesgirl]

These stories makes me bloody angry (sorry OP for drifting off the point, but I think you may have gauged general opinion by now!)

There are bad students and there are good students but all teachers were students once, and those which indulge in that sort of behaviour, knitone, are just out of order. My DP had a teacher who refused to speak to him at all. And he was in there five weeks! Luckily DP is a very resilient and confident person, but that sort of thing would have destroyed many a good student and promising teacher.

Oh and the NQT year is even harder than the PGCE

[candleshoe]

I cannoy reiterate enough how much I think you should NOT DO THIS AT ALL - YOU ARE MAD TO EVEN THINK OF IT!

My PGCE was 80-90 hours a week!

[candleshoe]

cannot

[Catnao]

PGCE is really hard, and if you are lucky enough to get a job in this climate, NQT with a baby very hard too!

My partner and I both did PGCE when our son was three. It was REALLY hard, and we had lots of family support.

Think carefully (although, we are both happy and successful teachers 7 1/2 years on - maybe wait a couple of years?)

[babylann]

I always thought I could handle university and pregnancy at the same time, but my mum talked me out of it. I'm really glad she did, as I got SPD and pre-eclampsia, and really couldn't cope with normal every day tasks all that well from about 5 months... They let me defer for a year instead, which was much better in the long run, as if I had gone as I intended to, I would have had a really disrupted first year and would have had to take a gap year from one February to the next one, which just wouldn't have been ideal.

Lots of people manage with pregnancy and studies or full time jobs though, there's just a chance you might get unlucky. And unless you've been pregnant before, there's no way of even guessing how your body might react to it.

[oldbatteryhen]

I also found the pgce the toughest year of my life. It's a constant juggle of course work, planning for placements, delivering scrutinised lessons, evaluations, lectures, dissertations......

Saying that, my ds was 3 when I did mine, and had been in the same nursery for 2 years, so his life didn't really change much. His bedtime was fairly early, so I could work in the evenings.

The nqt year was gruelling and gruesome. I was with a bunch of very unhelpful and 'established' teachers who wouldn't even deign to show me where the paper was kept on my first day! The biggest problem was my lack of class management skills. Class management, I quickly found, was needed before the teaching could even begin.... these vital skills weren't given the necessary precedence on the course. (GTP students, I feel, are getting a far more realistic training and experience, as they do so much more class teaching.) So that first year was a massive learning curve and a bit of a confidence knock....... but I'm sure it made me a stronger person!!

I love the job now, 16 years down the line. It is still hard work, but the children keep me smiling though!

[FellatioNelson]

Wow - some of you have had a really crap time doing this! My friend had really helpful supportive teachers at her placement. I can't imagine why they'd want to make it harder for you than it already is - mean cows!

[candleshoe]

I was on anti-depressants during part of my PGCE as I was being bullied by my 'mentoring' class teacher!