...to consider teacher training once DCs are at school?

[GandTforme]

Is teaching (primary) really so stressful and unpleasant?

My DTs are 18mo now and I work part time in local government (social work assistant within an adult team). My job is ok but the only way to progress would be to go full time in a few years when dc start school and train in social work - I'm not sure that I enjoy my job enough to do that.

I have always just had 'jobs' rather than a 'career' but I would like to remedy this in the future. The only thing that has ever really appealed to me is teaching. My local city has a training federation offering the pgce and I was toying with the idea of applying for this when the dc are 4/5 and I will once again be able to work/study full time. But after looking into it there are so many horror stories about how dreadful the job is these days, how many people burn out, how much overtime is required. Now I'm used to stress, working in a social work team. But what I read about teaching makes it sound like it's on another level of awfulness compared to other local government professions.

What's the truth? Would I be mad to consider working towards it?

Not when the head openly admits that his own children "know not to expect to see me in the week" - his words.

I'm working to exhaustion to make damn sure I never utter those words.
I could easily stay at work until 7 every day-I'm lucky I have DH who finishes work at 4. I'd probably be able to 'have my evenings off' then. But it would mean seeing my kids for 30 minutes in the morning only 5 days a week. Just not going to happen.

You just get used to 5 hours sleep a night

@MrsRobertPeterWilliams

I'm both impressed and horrified! Not sure which emotion is coming out in top...

mummy I am just horrified. Ironically, ay my school, the perception (not entirely unfounded) is that the SLT work fewer hours than classroom teachers. Not true of all of them but definitely some of them do very little and are in at the same time as me every day and frequently out by 4.30. I actually see nothing wrong with this.

The head who can spout such nonsense of course probably earns somewhere in the region of £100k.

I find that macho attitude appalling. It seems to have leaked in from big business.

Don’t do it. Married to an ex teacher life’s too short was working .4 in the end. Left teaching, now works full time and does less hours than teaching .4.

I know some many destroyed ex teachers most of whom where fantastic. A real loss to the world of teaching but with current work levels and pressure life is too short to teach.

So many not some many.

There are 'professional martyrs' as they have been called on here. But there are also the crazy expectations on teachers to do all of the above and more
I have already said that I've been that person working crazy hours because that was the expectation.
Equally, there are professional martyrs who do fill lots of time doing things which feel lile work but aren't essential and theu still whine.
It's not difficult to get the difference.

In any other job if you said there were some people who fill time doing pointless things and whine people go 'yeah we hear you. There's always some'. Suggest it in teaching suddenly it's 'noooo nobody ever sits and does lots of time consuming non essential things ever' despite there being people who clearly do and Twinkl/teacher pagea on facebook being full of it.

MaisyPops oh I totally understand what you mean. I know many who waste their 'frees' in the staffroom-it makes my blood boil! In one of my teaching weeks, just 2 out of 45 hours are non-contact and there is one person who seems to seek me out to moan at me when I just want to get on! I am getting better at telling them to leave me to it. Or I plug my earphones in and refuse eye contact!

After 28 years at the chalk face, I agree with you MaisyPops, as with any other job, the most efficient people don't break a sweat and there are plenty who blame 'the job' for their own disorganisation. The examples you've given eg Twinkl & FB just serve to make lots of people feel worse about themselves, I see a lot of it as the blind leading the visually-impaired.

However, teaching in 2018 is not something I would want my adult DC to go into (two of them are senior SW), for the reasons PPs have stated

Very very demanding job and hard work with the targets and management etc.... I do 8-6 most days, marking at home and work at least half the holidays. It's not what it was that's for sure. Money is ok but only after a few years. I wouldn't have done it had I known