To ask if anyone became a teacher for the holidays?

[DamnYeToHell]

Because I know two people who are planning on doing this. I've had to NC as my other posts make me identifiable and a lot of people know I use MN.

My MIL told me that SIL is planning on doing a PGCE as she has just had her first child and thinks becoming a teacher would solve future childcare issues. A friend of mine is planning on doing the same. Neither has much interest in their chosen subject nor any real desire to impart knowledge. They have admitted as much.

Yes I know it's none of my business. Am I being naive about the reasons people teach? My other SIL is a teacher and she loves it and works hard. She has said the holidays are a bonus now she is a mother but was not a reason in the first place.

I certainly remember a big difference between the teachers who genuinely wanted to be there and those who were, quite frankly, a bit shite.

I'm romanticising aren't I?

I'll get my own hard hat

No such thing as teaching for life any more - the academies weed out the useless buggers and sack them.

I can't decide whether to return to teaching or not. I really don't want to miss all the nativity/ sports day/ assemblies/ etc etc and none of the schools I've been in would have let me take leave for that reason.

I'd have to have childcare from 7.30 though and the childminders and after schools tend to start at 8am. Being off during holidays would be a definite plus.

"There is more holiday but no flexibility."

Yes, this is a really important thing to remember.

The time off is great, but you don't get to choose it and that means you miss out on stuff that other people take for granted.

TheFallenMadonna I think that's what I was reaching for. It's important. I understand that there's no requirement to be brimming with enthusiasm but I do sense that the importance or influence they may have is lost on them.

Lots of great points here though, I think I may have to steer the conversation next time I see them.

Hard choice pea.

Our school has no 'policy' on time for nativity plays, sports days etc but I know individuals have found it tough. For us, it seems to depend on how supportive your department is.

A couple of years ago we had a large number of staff whose children started P1 on the same day. The support of colleagues meant the head could allow them all to arrive to us a little late. Small sacrifice for happy staff.

I thought briefly about teaching as thought it would be easy and great holidays.

I spent one day in a secondary comp in a city centre on an outreach programme and decided then and there teachers are lunatics heroes. I went back to my nice relaxing job, albeit with fewer holidays.

damnyetohell a close member of my family joined the police cos they dropped out of uni, needed money and fancied the pay and pension!

Some years on, has done v well, loves aspects of job catching criminals, but is exhausted and works long hours, much stress etc.

Recently protested re pay and pension!

The flexibility thing is massive. I have lost count of the number of weddings and other things which I can't attend. It doesn't bother me 99.9% of the time but there is always that time when you feel frustrated. No cheap flights for us either!

pag I think people like your pil wouldn't last very long if they were starting their career today. 25 years ago you could get away with putting in minimal hours if you really wanted to (although a lot didn't). Nowadays you simply can't. Your pil probably have enough experience up their sleeves to be able to get away with it still, plus there are schools that won't touch very experienced members of staff that are under performing. It is changing though as schools have to justify any weak performance among staff to ofsted.

Yes I have other reasons for wanting to teach and I do consider it to be a vocation but I would be lying if I said the holidays were also not a factor. I feel no need to downplay the many positives of teaching , in fact we may get the best people into teaching if we admit that it isn't the hardest job in the world and there are a lot of perks to the job.

I'm not denying pay and pension were considerations but my main reasons were catching criminals and helping people.

I have colleagues who aren't as honourable

teaching is a job. it isn't particularly pleasant. people do their jobs for the money and for whatever benefits come with it - discount when you work at m+s and school holidays when you're a teacher (but remember, we who teach can't book a day off to go shopping, to a wedding, to the dentist...).

choosing a job, you weigh up what you can do, and what you'd like to do, and find a compromise. teaching 'works' for a lot of mums.

i started teaching because i needed to be able to pay my daughter's school fees. i stay with it to pay the mortgage. if i ever finish paying the mortgage, i don't know what will keep me in teaching. it is not easy and it is not fun and it doesn't make you any surplus money.

vocation my arse!
don't be ridiculous!
vocation!?!
the celibate priesthood is a vocation. teaching is a j o b.
get over yourselves. vocation indeed!

I couldn't do the job if I did not find it fun. I adore my job, that does not mean of course I cannot see th advantages of a good pension , reasonable pay, great holidays and security.

In fact I have colleagues who did it just for the blues and twos! But I digress...

Being a priest is just a job too lovebunny, there's nowt wrong with people feeling they were called to teaching.

I don't consider it a vocation for me, but it is something I'm drawn to. I'm also drawn to politics, but I've managed to resist the call of Westminster so far.

It is a job that can make you very miserable if you don't really want to do it. I've seen colleagues ground down by the relentlessness of the job. Those 33 year 9s in a room built for 30 don't show mercy if you are feeling a bit peaky or tired. You need to 'perform' six times a day, and that can be very hard if it isn't something you really wanted to do.

OP, let them find out the hard way.
They are unlikely to make it through training, let alone the first year.

lovebunnh that made me laugh.

I know someone who left the priesthood to become a teacher. How does that work?

Anyway, my point earlier is that is how I felt. I can't see what's wrong with that really. I still can't imagine myself doing anything else even when walking through a fun of teen boy farts

^fug

I always wanted to be a teacher and would line up my dolls on the toy box and 'teach' them for hours from a really young age.

I don't know - it just didn't occur to me to do anything else. I have had other jobs - au pair (hated it), working in a small supermarket ( totally loved it) - in the holidays, but I was just always drawn to teaching.

I am very bossy and extremely talkative which helps enormously.

I didn't think about holidays but do love them. I work in the Easter holidays on my reports and go in for about a week in the summer. But that's to make my life easier not because I can't stay away!

I also find teaching physically and emotionally draining in a way I didn't find other work. I loved it, but to teach and then come home to 2 children I'm not sure about yet. My husband also works away so I'm worried about children being sick etc etc.

I nearly retrained as a cog psych (I did the psych conversion but not the doctorate due to various reasons) which I would quite like to have done. I have friends who are occupational therapists and a lot more flexible with time, another job I would quite like to have pursued. When teaching goes well though I do love the job and the community and the making a difference to students lives.

the holiday pattern was a factor when i decided to train (qualify this summer). i am a lone parent with no family support and finding holiday childcare is tricky
Having said that, it is easily the most exciting job i've done and I hope to be doing it for many years yet.

They should look for other jobs term time if they just want the holidays, I wouldnt like to think a person responsible for teaching children only did it to gain the time off rather than for a love of teaching.

In a way its no different to other jobs though, how many childminders do so as to avoid having to leave their own child rather than a "calling".

I love teaching but by the end of each half term I'm on my knees and need the respite the holiday gives before coming back into the classroom again. I cannot imagine how hideous and soul destroying it would be if someone was doing it purely for the holidays.

I 'coasted' a bit at the start of this year as I was busy finishing my MEd - I put as much effort as usual into my classroom teaching, but I didn't keep on top of the paperwork and record keeping. It has caused me many hours of pain since trying to get back on target. Basically, I can't see how you can be an effective teacher just doing the absolute bare minimum all of the time. (...But I'd be willing to listen to any teachers who can enlighten me!)