Help! Primary School Teacher or Nurse?

[Happygolucky1994]

Sorry wasn't sure where to post.

But which career should I choose?

I am 23 yr old with a 2 year old daughter. I'm on benefits in a council home (nothing wrong with that) but I desperately want to give my little one a better life i.e. more holidays, opportunities, owning our own home etc..

In September I have the option of either begininng a Primary Education PGCE course which will take one year... or an Adult Nursing course which will take 3 years..

I have listed the pros and cons of each career but it's still not really helped.
I know if you want to be either of those career choices you must be passionate for that one thing but I really am passionate about both! I want a job that's rewarding. I love the idea of caring for others in there time of need but I also adore helping children learn new concepts etc.

I understand that teachers have to work evenings and weekends at home and nurses have to work all kinds of shifts. My biggest worry is not being able to spend much time with my daughter. Childcare is not an issue but i'm with her everyday at the moment so the thought of barely being with her is tough.

I just want to hear what others think of each career. Or if you work in these fields please can you offer some insight to the reality of the jobs. I can't sleep wondering which path to take :/.

Thanks in advance

Well I work overseas now so my kids go to a private British International school. That is awesome! Lot's of single parents come overseas actually as they can afford to have a nice lifestyle and have good travel opportunities. You could too after teaching in the UK for two years.

In the UK, you need to live in the catchment area of a school in order for your kids to go there too. It is lovely working at the same school as your children. Even to get a glimpse of them throughout the day is brilliant.

I just wanted to mention workload for a second. My flatmate (when I was younger)used to bring a stack of teaching stuff home to work on at home. She wasn't very good at managing her time and always had tons to do at weekends. If you are good at keeping yourself organised then you can stay on top of it.

Nursing.

There are so many avenues to pursue once you've qualified. You get used to the shifts.

I'm a teacher who rarely brings work home (I don't stop for a second when I'm at school and try to keep it all there) but I wouldn't recommend it for another reason. There are no career paths for me to take other than aiming up for a headship which I don't want to do (the government got rid of all the subject consultant type jobs). I'm getting so bored of it now and looking for a complete career change.

You could also teach within nursing. I teach postgraduate nurses too sometimes (in a classroom).

I don't miss sports days, school nativity inset days either as I can choose not to work those days. As a teacher I missed them.

I would go for nursing, all of my family are teachers, yes my parents were at home during holidays, but so much of it was spent working, they actively discouraged us from becoming teachers

My best friend who has been teachi g for 10 years and has her chartered teaching qualification earns just under 43000. So on the basis of future earnings and annual leave I would go for teaching.

I have never even heard of a chartered teaching qualification!

In teaching, there is the main pay spine (which starts at about £22k, I believe) going from M1 up to M6. You can have to 'cross the threshold' to get into the upper pay scales which is hard and often depends on the Goodwill and budget of your head.

I qualified in 1998 and am finally on ups3. It took ages because my head hated part timers and refused to let me cross the threshold. The union got involved eventually and it was awarded. There is very little scope for me to go anywhere else now. I earn £38k and am pretty much stuck unless I become a deputy or a head.

The teachers in my school who are on MPs were all refused a scale point this year as there is no money in the budget.

I don't think you can say the scope for teachers to get a better salary in future is definite-I don't think it is.

I'm a teacher and on an average term time day I work 8am to 4.30pm at school then pick my kids up, do tea, bed etc then work 8pm - 12am/1am. On weekends I generally have Saturday off and work Sunday morning 7am - 1pm and evening 7pm - 1am At busy times I'll work more at weekends.
During holidays I generally only do a few days or several evenings as I need the break and have the kids to look after.

Teaching is my second career and although the pay is crap in comparison to what I was earning and the hours in term time are way longer, I love the fact that I am never bored and feel like I'm doing something really worthwhile. I also love having the holidays with my kids which many of my friends don't get.

My mum was a nurse and worked shifts, holidays etc I grew up thinking nursing was a terrible career - she was overworked, undervalued, poorly paid etc and now I'm in a similar boat as a teacher!! At least I don't have to work on Christmas Day though!

If I were you I'd choose teaching ☺️

I'd say teaching is more compatible with having children.

I'd say teaching is more compatible with having children

I know plenty of teachers-as I am one-but also 3 nurses very well. All three worked nights when their children were younger and their DH was home whilst the children were sleeping which saved ££ on childcare (though they had to sleep during the day!). My teacher friends had to pay out a lot in childcare.

I would imagine as a single parent-finding childcare to cover shifts would be hard though.

Neither is a walk in the park-I honestly wouldn't want my own children to do either job at the moment.

I love the fact that I am never bored

You must have a higher threshold for boredom than me. I found teaching really boring after the first few years.

Increasinglymiddleaged - I don't think it has anything to do with my boredom threshold! I think it depends more on the kids that you teach and the people you work with. I teach secondary and enjoy the banter I have with the kids, particularly the older ones.

A bit of banter doesn't stop a job being dull. But horses for courses as they say.

Op I really think you should have a bit more experience with nursing before making the decision, as you say you've only done 6 weeks in a care home.
Could you work as a care assistant in a hospital for a few months, just to get a proper idea about what it's like working in a hospital?
Good luck with whatever you decide- you should be really proud of yourself! Having a young child and studying will be hard but you're going for it.

I've never heard teaching being described as "boring". I don't think you can be doing it right, if you find it boring

I was a teacher and am married to one and now work in nursing (not as s nurse though potential to do apprenticeship) .i much prefer health care . Teaching can feel a bit acting as you always have a certain part to play - e.g. You can't be matey with the kids and constantly have to think about behaviour management , motivating kids etc whereas in nursing you are more yourself . Term time work seems really family friendly but it means there is NO flexibility in the term and you feel awful taking time off with illness etc . You do feel like your chance of career progression. In teaching isn't great when you're part time. Also I really don't know how teachers don't take work home - all the teachers I know do a very long day at school 730-530 and work in the evenings and Sundays
Nursing lots of variety and career progression Lots of support as well and in the community family friendly hours and lots part time .

I am really surprised at the people saying that nurses don't take work home. I was often taking things home to finish, sorting out paperwork, off duty etc.

Also, never finished on time either.

I tried doing nights when dh at home, it meant that after school/nursery drop off and pick up, I had about four hours sleep. You are also paying for childcare during the day still if not in school.

I have a friend who just qualified as a nurse and is now a community nurse with fixed shifts that work with childcare. She will have to work Christmas at times etc though. I think there are more options for nurses.

I would never be able to encourage someone into state teaching as I know too many people who have ended up with mental health issues directly linked to the job.

Teaching definitely can be boring. It's like ground hog day. You teach the same subjects year in year out, marking the same stuff for hours on end with only government interference changing anything. The only option is to be promoted, there is nothing at all you can do sideways other than the job that you are doing. It's not a joke, its my own experience. Thankfully I managed to escape and get a different job.

www.gov.scot/Publications/2002/12/15851/14178

This is a chartered teaching qualification I think.

Was that secondary school Increasingly?
My experience was in Primary and that could never be described as boring.

Both teaching and nursing are very stressful. I am a nurse and I am trying to get out of the profession due to stress levels. However I would still rather do nursing than teaching. I have worked in schools and have teacher friends and they work loads of hours from home in the evenings and weekends. At least with nursing it all generally is kept at work not home and if we have to stay on we do get extra pay for it.

I think if a band 5 nurse worked the same number of hours that a teacher actually does the nurse would be earning considerably more money.

Yep I'm on about secondary. It took me about 7 years to get there it is worth mentioning but I did.

Teaching will fit in with kids a lot better than nursing. I speak as a child of a nurse who worked lots of weekends and pretty much any holiday and Christmas. 12 hour night shifts also means you need childcare for the following day while you sleep. While others looked forward to their family time I found it depressing as we couldn't plan around weekends like others do.

Increasingly - after working in finance I can definitely say teaching is not boring in comparison! There is an element of teaching the same topics but there are always different methods/resources and the kids are very different each time. I'm sure there are far more interesting jobs but working in a classroom doing something different every hour compared to sitting at a desk in an office all day or sat in a dull meeting is far preferable for me. Hope you're doing something very exciting now?