Teaching in a village school when you live in a town/city

[necklaceandrubies]

Can I ask what it is like to teach in a village primary school, when you live and always have lived in a town/city? Do most staff at village schools live rurally. Do cultural differences between parents occur at all?

I am asking because I'm considering applying for a job in a rural village school.

If it's one-firm entry, having multiple year groups in one class can be tricky, particularly if you have a SATs year. You often don't have anyone to plan with (you might prefer it that way!) and you'd have responsibility for several different subjects, not just one. Often the head and/or deputy are teaching some of the time and one of them will usually be the SENCo. I love the village feel of smaller, rural schools (and I loved being local, although it's not for everyone), but there can be different pressure and stresses than if you're in a larger, more anonymous school.

It's a hard one to know how you feel about until you've actually taught in one!

I think if you love the teacher persona and are comfortable with being 'in character' in all public situations, then you will enjoy it. I prefer to keep some distance between my professional and private life and this is easier if you can do your shopping, go to the pub, socialise etc in a different location. Hard to do in a rural area.

I work in a small ‘village school’. I have always lived in a much larger urban settings. My school is situated on the outskirts of a small city. I can’t say I’ve ever even considered that there may be cultural differences?? What do you envision they might be? Do you mean differences in ethnicity and faith??
Truly rural (purely farming?) communities are fairly rare nowadays. The days of villages being made up of 6 generations of the same 5 families are pretty much gone. Our village school has families from all across the world and from many different socio-economic backgrounds.
I also can’t really understand why it would matter that you come from a different background to the parents? It only matters if your a decent teacher and fit in with the ethos of the school.

I absolutely love where I work by the way.
Small village schools all the way as far as I’m concerned.
All jobs come with positives and negatives. I love that I know all the children, siblings and families. We are a small, close knit staff. Staff turnover is very low. There are different pressures but I love it.

I personally would say it is normal for TAs to live in their catchment area. As a teacher it is a bit more difficult e.g. bumping into a judgemental parent when buying a bottle of wine. Also it can result in you being in teacher mode constantly and being unable to relax. I would recommend living in the village 1 over from the one you teach in, ideally outside the catchment area.

Only 1 member of our staff lives in the village and she’s a TA and has been there for decades.

I've worked in city schools and rural schools. I currently do supply in fairly rural secondaries and some teaching in rural village primaries. In village schools everyone knows everyone. I taught my own dc in our village school, the TA is the woman we bought our house from, and I know various parents socially. The children I teach know where my house is, my dog's name etc. There's not much separation between home life and school life! I like it, but it's not for everyone.

At the secondaries there is a mix of kids ranging from proper rural farming families to village dwellers and kids from small towns.

My children go to a village school. All the teacher's and TAs have been there a very long time, i think this must mean they like teaching there!

Go for it! I am a city girl who worked for years in a tiny rural school and loved it. It didn't matter a jot that we were in a village. Kids are kids wherever they live and are mostly fun to be around. Unfortunately you get pushy parents everywhere!