To ask any teachers whether they’d advise their own dc against teaching?

[Polenta]

Dd is 20 - she’s done two years of uni and is currently on a year abroad in France before returning to complete her final year in the UK next year.

In terms of what she wants to do after uni, she’s torn between Teach First and the Civil Service Fast Stream (I know they’re both very competitive and she very possibly wouldn’t get in on her first application/maybe at all).

It just made me wonder - there are so many threads on here from teachers at the absolute end of their tether. Would you be happy if your own dc wanted to go into teaching?

(Fwiw, I’m a GP and I’m very glad none of my dc wanted to become GPs!)

Very few people will be a head in 7-10 years and many primary heads will earn no where near the 60 thousand you say.

I have probably appointed at least 300 primary heads- all over the uk. All at least l15-21 and many aged under 30. Almost all under 40 these days.

There is a desperate shortage of primary heads.

Tell her to move to Ireland. Great opportunities for Maths teachers, great holidays, 3 months in the summer to go and visit Mum and no Brexit.

Christ don’t let her join the Civil Service. When I left my investment banking career I joined the CS as I quite fancied the (relative to investment banking) easy life. Flexi time, long holidays, great pension. I left after 7 weeks to rejoin an investment bank. It’s the most frustrating, bureaucratic, non-commercial, paper pushing, place imaginable. Having gone from private to public (and rapidly back again), I can guarantee she will never get the satisfaction of ever getting anything done.

I am a third generation teacher, if any of my children really want to teach I’ll support them. I would try and steer them in other directions though. Most other professions have more fulfilling development at the moment. Hopefully that will change though.

I hated teaching when I was young. Now I have 3 small children and a mortgage I think it's good. I have 2 languages and have been in demand. I can work part time and term time only. It is stressful and ridiculous a lot of the time but on balance, it's a stable job which allows me the kind of family life I want.

Don't do it! I've just left teaching to retrain.....best decision ever!

I've been teaching for nearly 20 years. I would not recommend my child go into the profession as it is at the moment. It makes me very sad to say that. I'm a highly experienced teacher and am coping ok with the workload (just about), but I've seen too many younger, less experienced teachers buckle.

Schools are crying out for maths teachers and probably languages too if I’m honest. She would have the pick of jobs.
PGCE is only a yr- much better than teachfirst. But she needs volunteer/TA experience first so she really gets a feel for what teaching involves. Don’t believe all you see in the (stupid and boarderline desperado) teaching adverts.

I've been teaching 21 years. Her Dad 26. Both had enough. Our daughter knows our thoughts . I wouldn't recommend it to anyone long term.

If she wants to be a maths teacher then she should do a PGCE rather than Schools Direct - the bursary is better than the salaried route. There are also competitive scholarships available for outstanding candidates. She should also be aware that the majority of time on a PGCE is spent in schools working as a teacher, not in a lecture theatre.

I too am a third generation teacher. I have been teaching for almost 40 years. DD is planning to go into teaching when she graduates in two years. I told her how hard it is these days and how she could always do something else first. But she said it’s what she really wants to do and there are far worse jobs out there. I love my job, I appreciate it isn’t for everyone but that doesn’t mean it isn’t for anyone

But I would say that it is very important that she actively wants to teach as a job. If you are just looking for a profession that works with your existing degree and feel like teaching would be a reasonable one, it’s so much easier to get disillusioned with the whole thing and end up hating it. I genuinely love working with children and the challenges it brings, and if I didn’t feel this way I would’ve probably ended up hating the whole thing.

I have 2dc and 3 sdc all grew up with us. Dh was a lecturer and I was a teacher and I loved my job however, by the time I retired the job had changed. There was far more emphasis on admin, targets and form filling and less on actual teaching interesting, informative lessons. So I didn’t say teach or don’t teach to the kids but wouldn’t have pressed it.
Three of the 5 became teachers. Two are now HoD in very good schools. The third taught for 10 years then went into publishing where he has done very well.
One of the others is a chartered accountant and the fifth is a clinical psychologist.
My job was wonderful but I wouldn’t do it now and I would advise against secondary teaching though I believe primary is still rewarding.

I'd recommend it to mine with the strong suggestion that they get their PGCE, & the requisite few years experience under their belts, then teach internationally.

Better working conditions, nice tax free salary, accommodation provided, sundry perks, long holidays & you get to see the world. Jolly useful transferable qualifications & experience if you want subsequently to do something else, & always a great fallback if that something else doesn't work out - a qualified teacher with decent references can always get work.

Teaching in the UK? Never again for me...& I wouldn't want it for my kids.