To wish I’d gone for a different age range?

[Wishiddoneprimary]

When I was 21, I signed up for a secondary PGCE and regretted it and wished I’d done primary.

I couldn’t really apply for primary teaching roles as no experience or training and I’d have been competing against others with the training (when I qualified there was actually a surplus of primary teachers!)

It’s a small regret but really think I’d have been so much happier … waiting for MN primary teachers to tell me I’m UR!

How long have you been teaching?

Ages, nearly 20 years

Try to get a job at a prep school - you’ll usually teach years 5-8!

Having year 8 all day every day is seriously the stuff of nightmares for me.

Can you get involved with y6 transition? From there you might be able to do some outreach work with your school's feeder primaries and would then have experience to apply for y5/y6 class teacher roles

You can just switch. Almost certainly you’d get supply KS2 and I know several primary teachers who trained secondary. The issue will be if you are UPS and can’t get pay portability.

Do you? I’ve always heard it’s near enough impossible to get in to primary schools as a secondary teacher.

However I can’t really do supply - childcare costs.

Now is a good time to switch because of the shortage. I'd apply for a KS2 job and go from there. They would have your arm off where I live. I was in a two form entry yesterday in year one and there wasn't a teacher who actually worked in the school in the whole key stage because they can't get anyone.

I trained to teach secondary over twenty years ago. Had time off when I had my own DC then started doing SATs interventions in Y6 then primary supply. I'm now a TA in primary and I love it. Don't think I'd have any problems getting a teaching job in primary if I wanted to. It's definitely possible to switch if you really want to.

Some primary schools really value secondary experience. They assume you'll have very good subject knowledge and understanding of progression for pupils.

I'm a primary teacher, married to a secondary teacher. I couldn't do secondary - couldn't deal with the teenagers. I think primary is more fun in the class but more workload overall as there is little time out of class during the week. I spend more time working at evenings and weekends than DH. Also, if you are very interested in your subject I think it can be tiresome teaching it at a very basic level.

We’ve just appointed a secondary trained teacher to a primary post and she is fabulous.

Asking seriously….

Why would anyone choose to teach pupils of secondary school age, which all the challenges that must involve, over the option of teaching much cuter and sweeter 4-10 year old children?

I honestly don’t understand why secondary school age would be someone’s preference?

Love of the subject, teaching at a higher level, not having to teach the whole curriculum?

20 years, wow! If you still wonder what might’ve been, worth looking into your options for a change!

When I clicked on your Op I thought this would be about online dating age ranges and that you might be getting too many old or young dudes propositioning you!

@PaddingLikeADuck because teenagers are amazing people and getting to help them navigate an intensely difficult time in their times and understand how wonderful they are and how much potential they have is an absolute privelege.

Relationships you build are great, you get to teach the subject you love all the time, and there's no snotty noses to deal with.

*privilege, sorry, long week!

@PaddlingLikeADuck a lot of secondary teachers have a real passion for their subject, whereas in primary you have to teach pretty much everything, so that’s one reason. Secondary tends to have higher pay when it comes to leadership positions and teenagers, though sometimes challenging, can be really funny and fun.

Having said that, when I was a secondary teacher I also used to sometimes consider switching to primary! Did a few days in primary as a supply teacher once and loved it.

I chose secondary as I just wanted to focus on my subject rather than having to do a bit of everything. Workload is more flexible in secondary as well. In primary there's an expectation of marking every day ready for the next lesson. In secondary you might have a day or 2 or even a week before you see a class again depending on subject. Also easier to get them to mark their own work and just give feedback.

@PaddlingLikeADuck

Asking seriously….

Why would anyone choose to teach pupils of secondary school age, which all the challenges that must involve, over the option of teaching much cuter and sweeter 4-10 year old children?

I honestly don’t understand why secondary school age would be someone’s preference?

Parents. I much rather mainly deal with teenagers, and parents are much less involved in the day to day.

I know a secondary school teacher who because a primary school teacher and is now head of a primary.

*became

I enjoy secondary tbf @PaddlingLikeADuck

For me the pluses are

If I have a difficult class I have them for an hour, not five + a day.

I don’t have to deal with awkward parents as much

I do love the drive towards exams, university places, college and sixth form places

I like the humour - it’s easier to have a joke with them. (Even though I am often the joke )

I'm secondary trained, I've done some primary supply (I had honestly not a clue what I was doing, but I was busy every single day because everyone else would only do secondary). Secondary is soooo much easier! EYFS was hardest, then KS1, then KS2.

With my secondary subject I only have to "hold" a class for 8 minutes or so at a time, then they do 10-12 mins work, rinse and repeat for an hour. I find it easy to keep the pace up and keep everyone working purposefully for an hour at a time.

With primary, I was ALWAYS actively holding the whole class. They never seemed to just get on with some work for 5 minutes. Maybe this was partly because the days were poorly planned. I found it beyond exhausting.

To answer another PP, I love teaching teenagers, in fact I love spending all day with teenagers! The 7s are super cute, and earnest, and so eager to please. The 9s are full of attitude, but quite idealistic with it- I love playing devil's advocate and winding them up a bit, but equally they genuinely challenge me, and constantly make me reevaluate my own thoughts. Helping year 11 navigate exams is one of the most challenging parts of the job, but having honed this skill over many years it's actually one of my biggest strengths now, which is quite rewarding. And by 6th form we're into some proper academic work, which I love.

What subject? That's going to be the issue I would have thought.

I know someone who is trained secondary in Physics. Really does not mean they can teach Maths and English to primary aged kids.

I teach English.

I’m not actually convinced I could teach English to primary age children, strange as that may sound!