Get me out of the classroom. Please.

[OhioOhioOhio]

I am sick of it.
The rules, the stress, the constant feeling of failure.
How can I transfer my primary teaching skills into something that might actually be rewarding?
I'm a single mum and do need the money. I could study if need be.

Please. As tomorrow looms and that sense of dread appears please helpe escape.

What sort of things do you think you would enjoy? There's plenty of transferrable skills from teaching, but it depends on the job market where you are, and what sort of job you want; eg office based, customer service based, and what sort of hours. I would start by having a look at some adverts and get an idea of hours, pay, and what experience you need so you can get an idea.

I was wondering about Educational Psychologist.

Thanks for replying.

I trained as an EP 10 years ago. The change in Government has changed the role but contact the DECP or AEP for more info.

I moved from an SEN classroom to a CAMHS service. I’m contracted part time but regularly work beyond my hours and here I am awake and worried.....

Trebla

Do you enjoy it?.
What is the challenging and frustrating part of being an EP?

myidentity

What are you worrying about?

Have a look at FE teaching with SEN. Hours and demands are FAR more reasonable with little out of hours work needed. Holidays are longer than schools. Less rigorous paperwork and requirements. Also really rewarding.

Most of our SEN teachers were PS previously. The skill set fits it well.

Pay is slightly less though. £34k top whack.

You don't necessarily need to find something amazing and fulfilling (do such jobs exist?!) just something you like more than teaching

Work in admin or as a secretary until you have figured it out. It's tough because teaching is very well paid so it might be hard to find something with a similar salary at first but you can't put a price on not feeling unhappy.

Instructional design for adult learning modules, like online work courses. It's where a lot of teachers end up! Office hours, but same set of skills.

Is working overseas an option? Teaching outside the UK can be very different.

Have you considered private tutoring? Depending on where you live and the demographics, it can be well paid. To me, it's the best parts of teaching without all the worst parts (behaviour management, difficult coworkers, endless reporting etc).

I feel the same way. Place marking for ideas.

Before you quit altogether you should try a different school. There’s different cultures in different schools and some management are far more supportive than others. Also you might just be feeling stressed out at the moment this term is really difficult, do you just need some time out and then you’ll be able to go back.
If you do wish to leave there’s lots of options. Training and managerial work links well. You have so many skills as a teacher.
Best of luck

My friend works in a sen primary classroom with 8 children per class. The impression i get is that it’s a lot less stressful and less hours than mainstream.

Have you looked online at websites and advice? I googled “primary teacher transferable skills”. Loads of info about how you would perhaps be good in roles negotiating, librarian, hr manager, corporate trainer etc.

Before you quit altogether you should try a different school. I think this is a good point. I really enjoy primary teaching and I think a lot of that is down to having a good SLT.

I think that there are fewer opportunities to live away from classroom teaching than there were a few years ago. LA Advisory teaching posts/ children's centre posts tend to have been cut. How about a museum/ charity education officer role? Or look into the requirements for prison education services.

I'm an EP. If you don't have a psychology degree, you'd need to do the conversion course, and the doctorate is very challenging. But I love my job. It was very hard in the last LA role, as there was a lot of statutory EHCP work and a lot of limitations on the role. I think the role depends very much on the service you work for. There are more opportunities for roles outside LA's now. I set up my own independent practice, working with a network of other EP's, and love my work now. It's been a long road.

Honestly OP before you throw the towel in, if you enjoy teaching, try another school!!
Not all schools have the stresses you describe. It very much depends on the culture and leadership!

Have you considered applying for secondary (English) roles? There's a demand for cross-phase literacy and primary pedagogy in secondary, particularly in special schools and alternative provision, but also in mainstream. It's not 'less' stressful, but it's very different and a change might be as good as a rest.

Don’t go to special just because people say it’s less stressful! It’s very different. Different stresses and different skills. You may well have them and be great at it, but doing it for less stress is not the right reason.
Another school, look at other sectors.

I work for the council in the sensory team, teaching kids with impairments, mostly in mainstream. It pays the same as my class teaching job (UPS3) but my biggest class is 3 children with another adult in the room, mostly it's 1:1, my planning is very loose, I tend to go with the flow depending on previous lessons etc. More paperwork but it all feels relevant so I don't mind doing it.

Definitely something to look into. We're still short of people.

There’s always a section in the tes for non-school based job. Worth a look.

I did a primary PGCE but ended up not enjoying teaching and worked as a Guide in a museum which was less stressful and quite interesting, also doing education workshops and the like. It was for the council and as they had other museums and the library it could involve doings stuff on other locations if they needed it. It was a bit less money though around 19K a year, but worth it for the stress.

The council webpages have school and council related vacancies, also could consider something with older people / disabilities in care settings?

Speech therapy also