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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To consider doing PGCE with two young DC?

95 replies

Friedeggsandwich · 15/03/2014 08:12

Would I be completely mad to do this? DC would be 6 and 3 at the time. Pretty good family support. No part time options near me unfortunately.

Has anyone done this and lived to tell the tale? Wink I've worked in schools and know how hard it is even for young single people so I am struggling to imagine what it'd be like with young Dc to consider....

I'm also thinking of doing training on the job in school (scitt) but not sure if this would be any more family friendly?

OP posts:
georgesdino · 15/03/2014 08:15

Im doing a full time masters with a 6 year old, 2 year old and a 2 week old in September. I think its still achieveable if you are quite organised.

Seasonsgreetings · 15/03/2014 08:15

Yes TOTALLY unreasonable! And that is for the sake of your sanity!

Seasonsgreetings · 15/03/2014 08:17

Find a different profession, if not for sake of your sanity then for the sake of your relationship with your children.

georgesdino · 15/03/2014 08:19

Dont let people put you off op. It will be fine your children are quite old now.

AnneWentworth · 15/03/2014 08:20

I think a PGCE and a Masters are a bit different time wise though aren't they (I might be wrong and the Masters with 3 DC will be tough but as you say doable).

I plan an MA with my three once my BA finishes and I started with the youngest at 8 months however I am doing a humanities subject that really requires reading and writing.

I think the thing you need to consider is the placement element as well as the academic stuff and that is what is tricky I think but if you have a good support network then it should be ok.

I wonder though how you would feel waiting one more year so your youngest is in full time school so less juggling?

knitknack · 15/03/2014 08:21

I did a post grad when they were 6 and 4 and then a PGCE when they were 7 and 5, as a single parent with little help (dad was alive then and would have them but wasn't able to do too much). It's fine as long as you're a fast worker - what I mean is that some teachers I know seem to take ages to mark a set of books or make a ppt. You just need to focus and use up every single min. Waiting for someone? Mark two books, make a quick resource etc etc.... If you've got the determination you can do it.

That said, I'm a secondary teacher - if not know how my primary colleagues do it!!

knitknack · 15/03/2014 08:22

Yes Anne's point about your youngest and school is a good one actually!

georgesdino · 15/03/2014 08:23

Its social work masters so five full days and thats 2 weeks after birth including 40 hour placement a week. I still think its doable.

knitknack · 15/03/2014 08:24

Oh, my post makes it sound as though it was easy - IT WASNT!! It was really hard work. It was worth it though :D

Silkyandmoonface · 15/03/2014 08:33

I mentor a lot of student teachers who are placed at our school. A few have been career changers with young children. Those who have passed the placement successfully (rather than scraped through) are those who had excellent childcare in place or a SAH partner.

While on placement, you will have regular meetings with your mentor/class teacher which will usually be after school. Y ou will be expected to attend all staff meetings. This means you don't even get started with the marking/sorting resources for the next day until gone 5:30. Weekends are for catching up with all the things you couldn't get through in the week because as a student they take longer.
If you have good childcare in place and accept that it is a really tough/time consuming year but you will end up doing a job you (may) love then it is worth the sacrifice.

I have been a primary school teacher for 12 years and even with all the changes, still love teaching. However, I am so glad I trained when single and child free!

tumbletumble · 15/03/2014 08:37

My friend did hers with 4 DC, the youngest was 3 and eldest 10 when she finished. It was tough though!

Seasonsgreetings · 15/03/2014 08:46

Just typed long reply explaining why and it disappeared. I'm going to try and explain in shorter chunks

teacher123 · 15/03/2014 08:46

Use every moment of your time at school wisely, no sitting around gossiping in the staff room. When I did my PGCE, in my first placement I only actually taught one or two lessons per day, leaving four frees to do planning etc. I hardly did any work at home. Second placement I had a slightly fuller timetable, but just got in early and worked right through lunch etc and made sure I kept on top of everything that way. My first mentor was brilliant, second mentor godawful! Your placement schools may be a bit of a journey away, and you don't get much notice for where they are either, so make sure someone else can take your children to school etc as you probably won't be able to! Mine were 20 miles away, in opposite directions to one another! Good luck!

Seasonsgreetings · 15/03/2014 08:50

I am educated to PhD level pre doc's which was easy least compared to trying do do anything with dc's in tow.

I finished PGCE 2 years ago and teach full time in an outstanding school. I have 3 primary school dc's and a partner and I'm leaving at the end of this academic year not because I'm not enjoying the job but because the work life balance is so heavily skewed to work that MY family and MY children lose out.

IHeartKingThistle · 15/03/2014 08:52

Hmmm. Nice to see some positive responses but I wouldn't do it - mine was hard enough with no kids! You're all better women than me!

Original poster
Friedeggsandwich · 15/03/2014 08:52

Really useful replies, thank you. Lots of food for thought.
Am really interested in hearing more seasonsgreetings, when you get a chance.
I want to go into this (or not) with my eyes completely open, so it's helpful to hear all the downsides as well as positive stories, and I'm really interested in the practical nitty gritty of how people actually do it... Thank you!
It would be secondary btw, if that makes a difference.

OP posts:
Original poster
Friedeggsandwich · 15/03/2014 08:52

x post

OP posts:
WelshMoth · 15/03/2014 08:55

I did it.
DC were 5 and 3. It was tough, really tough, but you had to be super-organised, have a good support network, and be prepared to lose sleep. For months, I survived on 4-5 hours a night and every waking moment was spent marking, prep'ing and writing essays.

The benefits are the summer holidays - a truly long stretch to spend with family and boy, I make the most of them. Other holidays - be prepared to be in school, or doing lots (and I mean lots) of work at home. Teaching at the front of a class is but a small part of a teachers job.

I teach secondary and the kids I work with make it very, very rewarding - even the tough kids.

Think very seriously about it, it has its highs and lows. I'm glad I did it but it wasn't without its sacrifices.

TwittyMcTwitterson · 15/03/2014 08:57

My mum did a b(Ed) years ago when I was two with little support (not sure about her sanity Wink) and I have a friend who did a pgce with a baby and a friend who has just finished her second masters, who is a single mother of seven yr old twins. It's definitely possible but it's definitely hard work. It's also definitely worth it Grin

monkeysox · 15/03/2014 08:58

I did gtp pre dcs and would.not have been able to do it now.(4 and 2) I have just left a 0.6 position as was too much, my dh works shifts

I think.it would make a difference having a sahp or a teacher partner who.understands the pressures

pinkgirlythoughts · 15/03/2014 08:58

My mum did hers (primary) when I was 11 and my sisters were 8 and 4. She managed it because my grandparents were very close by (lived on the same street) and did a LOT of the childcare in that year. My dad worked shifts, so wasn't always able to help practically that much, but again, did a lot of the childcare/all of the housework when his shifts allowed.
It was obviously worth it in the end, and can't have scarred me too much as I'm now a teacher myself, but be prepared for a VERY tough year!

Seasonsgreetings · 15/03/2014 08:58

I work 12 hours a day every day, that's weekends and 50% of holidays. I'm not inefficient, all the other NQT's i know do too (maybe it's a science thing). It's not taking ages to do a ppt (pointless anyway as OFSTED don't care for more than 5 mins of teacher talk) or even the marking ( and OFSTED's new policy is really time consuming) it's all the other stuff that isn't teaching that goes with it. E.g.logging stuff on computer systems, data cycles . I could go on (but I've got work to do...)

Teaching is a magnificent job but all I ever say to my kids is a polite yet dressed up as something else 'can you go away, mummy's working' I want to know my children and have a good relationship with them so I'm voting with my feet. Sure this is just my experience but I would advise against.
Too many hours of hidden work.

WelshMoth · 15/03/2014 08:58

And feel free to ask any questions - I'll answer honestly.
SeasonsGreetings - I can totally understand. Work eats into home life and it can be to the detriment of our children.

EmmaBemma · 15/03/2014 09:01

My husband has just been offered a place at Edinburgh to do a 4 year primary teaching degree - he is 36, and our children are 6 and 3. I am following this thread with interest!

feelingdizzy · 15/03/2014 09:03

I did it as a single parent my kids were small,I found it hard work but doable .I suppose it depends what you are coming from I was having a change of career from social work.Child protection social work ,at least in teaching schools shut!