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AIBU?

to give up my aspiration to become a primary school teacher?

61 replies

bollywoodfan · 20/01/2013 12:27

I already have a degree so need to do the PGCE primary course. I first need to do some work experience in order to apply for the course. Then I will have to pay around £9000 for the course and once completed find a job - which I've been told is not easy because there aren't alot of posts available.
I have got a DS already at school and a 1 year old DD. I was intending to wait to start my course when she is 3 so that we get a bit of help with childcare costs. I am being made redundant from current job and money is going to be very tight. I would probably have to take a loan to help with childcare costs & living expenses while doing the course.
So after all the time it will take me to actually get a job, obviously I am worried whether it actually be worth it. I currently work in the financial sector and know that performance related pay is an excuse to withold pay rises. They make the targets so high that you can't reach them - yes this is what they actually do. I feel that I will be stuck on a low salary after spending so much time, money and effort.
Obviously I don't want to go into teaching for the 'good' pay - I do actually want to do it. It has been my long term plan since ds was small, but I knew I wanted another dc so wanted to start when I could do it with full commitment and not take another break for dc iykwim.
I am nearly in tears writing this because I feel that

OP posts:

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99problems · 02/04/2013 23:43

Oh god these posts make for depressing reading! I have got onto a Primary PGCE starting Sep and have a 4 y/o ds, so am really concerned about handling it. I'm lucky in that I live at home with parents still. I'm getting a 9K bursary that will fund it (got a 1st in my degree so get the full lot paid luckily) but I'm pretty sure graduates with 2:1 get 5k?

I know 3 people who have done Primary PGCE and all got full-time job offers before the end of their PGCEs though...

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bluer · 03/04/2013 06:47

I second the come to Scotland and teach! ! We seem to be better paid, work better hours and don't have sats etc!
However I've been flamed on another thread for claiming that anyone who says they work 90 hours a week is lying so maybe ignore me!

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SuffolkNWhat · 03/04/2013 07:38

This reply has been deleted

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StuffezLaBouche · 03/04/2013 07:44

Yes

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TheNebulousBoojum · 03/04/2013 07:57

So she's obviously decided that she doesn't want to be a teacher.

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99problems · 03/04/2013 09:59

This may seem like a stupid question bluer but does a pgce from and English university allow you to teach in Scotland?

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mumandboys123 · 03/04/2013 10:07

am doing a PGCE at the moment but in secondary. Already have a job secured for September although I count myself lucky as very, very few have been advertised up to now. I am a career changer - 20 years doing something else. It is very different and very frustrating most of the time but overall I enjoy it. I am also a single parent and am managing. It is a question of organisation which I am learning...slowly!

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IJustWoreMyTrenchcoat · 03/04/2013 11:32

I could have wrote this OP, I too am being made redundant (at the end of the year), but by then I will have a new born baby and it seems unlikely I will have the time to commit to a PGCE. I have heard the course is very full on, and on top of that I need experience in a school before I even apply.

I have always had teaching in my mind, but fell in to a job straight out of uni to pay the bills. I fear I will always just have to take a job that has nothing to do with my ambitions and goals just to get by.

99problems Do you really get a £9000 bursary for getting a first? I thought something like that might not apply to primary and only senior teaching. I have a First.... Will have to look into it. I thought I might get help if I did a PGCE in the future and had a dependent child.

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Bramshott · 03/04/2013 11:46

If you are moving from the financial sector, have you considered secondary maths teaching? Might well be easier to find a job?

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SuffolkNWhat · 03/04/2013 11:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

99problems · 03/04/2013 15:58

Ijust yes definitely get 9000 for primary PGCE if you have a first- 11,000 if you specialise in maths at primary. The TA website gives more info:

www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/funding/postgraduate-funding

On top of that can apply for a student loan and grant, so luckily, financially I should be fine