To feel broken by teaching, and need to know how to get out?

[SachaStark]

Name changed for obvious reasons.

I haven't slept all night after coming to the realisation yesterday that I'm finished with teaching. My school is unsupportive in every way imaginable, so I can't ask a colleague for help with figuring out what to do (it would all be fed back along to SLT), so can I please ask here?

How do you leave secondary school teaching when you're not going into another teaching role? Could I leave before the end of the school year? At this point, I don't even care if I don't have another job lined up, I just can't bear the thought of work.

I worked with loads of ex-teachers in the civil service. It’s a good fit, though the money is rubbish I’m afraid.

I think someone may have already mentioned this:

www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk/helping-you/telephone-support-counselling

Also, do phone your union and ask for advice - and perhaps try reading through Workplace Dilemmas on TES forums.

I know how you are feeling - don't leave it too late (like I did).

YANBU
I’m sorry that someone who has gone into the profession with high hopes of a worthwhile career has been driven to feel as you do 💐
I retired after 38 years as an English teacher, responsible for whole school Inclusion and member of SLT. It felt as if I’d stepped of a huge hamster wheel!
Over the years the job has become impossible, Government demands, overstreatched budgets, poorly qualified Headteachers ( who can’t manage the school), badly behaved pupils, with rights and generally being the kicking board for everything else.

I certainly would not go into teaching now. I fear for my GCs, at the moment they have wonderful teachers, but in the future who knows.
Please, care for yourself, get GPs help, contact your Union and remember the year 11s will be doing revision lessons after Easter.
If you have to set work, make it past exam papers.
Good Luck.

Have you got a Drs appt, OP?

Teaching is utterly poisonous at the moment. I’ve been teaching for 20 years and the workload has always been unmanageable and the kids have always been teenagers, but it’s only in recent years this awful blame and bullying culture has really established itself. Colleagues who have always been judged to be outstanding are now suddenly being bullied out of their jobs due to being supposedly crap. The unions are toothless, and the new breed of SLT are appalling in their basic treatment of other human beings. It seems to be acceptable to destroy experienced teaching staff, wreck their mental and physical health, ruin hitherto successful careers and reduce fellow professionals to absolute rubble.

Truly appalling. Do other workplaces operate like this?!

OP, look after yourself. You are not alone.

Still trying to get through to the doctors surgery!

That's how I feel about my school, Armi. The SLT speak to everybody like dirt, even in front of whole classes of kids. And I may not have been in the profession for years and years, but I have always been judged as outstanding at every observation, etc, up until this year when they have decided they want the moon on a stick, but with no extra time or resources to do it.

And do you know what, OP? You could be the worst teacher ever, but you still wouldn't deserve to be spoken to like shit, still wouldn't deserve unrealistic deadlines and targets. You're not cannon fodder, don't let them treat you like it.

Could you go down to the surgery? Do they have emergency sit and wait appointments?

Agreed, Pengggwn.

Unfortunately the surgery is by appointment only, no local walk-in service. It would be fine if they had a queue on the phone system like they used to, but it's just a case of keep picking up every few mins and hope nobody else is already/still on the line!

You can self certify for the first week I think? So can just get a gp apt at some point this week. Ask for a phone call today if they can't see you.

So sorry your school are shit x

I completely echo what a pp said. I have seen superb, committed, experienced teachers leave the state sector and leave the profession. I hope parents realise this is happening in our state schools and that good people are being destroyed. I hope they will consider this next time they vote

Teaching is utterly poisonous at the moment. I’ve been teaching for 20 years and the workload has always been unmanageable and the kids have always been teenagers, but it’s only in recent years this awful blame and bullying culture has really established itself. Colleagues who have always been judged to be outstanding are now suddenly being bullied out of their jobs due to being supposedly crap. The unions are toothless, and the new breed of SLT are appalling in their basic treatment of other human beings. It seems to be acceptable to destroy experienced teaching staff, wreck their mental and physical health, ruin hitherto successful careers and reduce fellow professionals to absolute rubble

It makes me want to cry reading this - my sister is about to walk away after over 10 years in the job. She loves teaching, she loves working with the kids, but she can't do it any more. Her anxiety and depression is sky-high, and she just cannot cope any more. She's a fucking great teacher, but what will happen when all of the great teachers reach the point that you, she and others on this thread have got to? Something needs to change; it's criminal that it's got to this point.

Posted too soon. Hope you are ok OP, you must do what you have to do to look after yourself.

There is actually a new FE college advertising for part-time staff at the moment, maybe I will apply there in the first instance.

Definitely apply, you’ve nothing to lose! Part time is much better, I went part time for childcare reasons but won’t work full time again as a teacher, my sanity is more important. It’s worth asking schools advertising full time jobs if there would be any possibility of it being a part time post, I felt cheeky asking but that’s how I got my job! Worst thing they can say is no. Also, there are still some sane schools out there, I appreciate the SLT in my school so much more after I worked in one that had a really aggressive management style (and very high staff turnover - the question I now ask at the ‘meet the department’ opportunity at interview is how long they’ve been in post. Some people at my current school moan and I just think you have no idea how good you’ve got it here with an SLT that isn’t constantly trying to catch you out and is concerned about workload and stress levels!

OP I left primary for similar reasons- loved the children, they were fantastic. It was the workload and 'staff room' talk that I hated. People bitched the entire time they were in the staff room, about each other. It was like being in the playground- and these people were supposed to lead by example!

On the plus side, left the job, got one on minimum wage, and within 3 years was earning more than my teaching salary.

Go for it, you will not regret it!

Nothing happened op. I picked up my bag and went. I let the office know on my way out. I think the thing is we can't make the pupils behave so the managers Bully the staff so they can be seen to be taking action.

I'd love to teach. But I know it's not for me in the current climate. I teach my own kids!

I feel the same, headofthehive. I feel like if the working environment changed massively, I would return to teaching one day for definite, as I love it and I'm good at it. But the current workload/pressure/accoutabtility for progress is unattainable to me, and I don't want to give away my life to it anymore.

I love supply teaching. I get easy days and difficult days, same in any job. I only do primary, so I don't know what it would feel like in secondary. I sometimes take slightly longer term contracts. Sometimes I know in advance where I'm going, sometimes I wait by the phone from 7:00. I choose my working days. I genuinely get week-ends free. It's worth trying for a bit to see if you like it. It can also give you a bit of space to explore other things.

I completely burnt out in the Autumn term after 14 years in the profession. It’s such a shame, as I used to love my job.

It was a mixture of utterly toxic Department leadership and increasing workload. Too much of the work we were expected to do to ridiculous deadlines was totally unnecessary and pointless.

I am ‘lucky’ that I managed to get ill-health retirement and now have a modest pension to live on. I’m pretty unemployable now, and am currently not looking to do any paid work

Another experienced STEM teacher bites the dust...

This is appalling! What kind of pressure teachers must be under to burn out like this? I'm so sorry to all of you who are made to feel like this. This is not what education should be.