AIBU to leave my teaching career to earn minimum wage in a nursery?

[Purplepinkred]

I hate teaching. I can’t cope with constant challenging behaviour . Our school has cut TAs to a minimum and we can’t provide real support for children who desperately need it . We are papering over cracks and ignoring the real issues. COVID has magnified the attainment gap but we ignore it. Head teacher demands to know why Billu can’t do multiplication yet the truth is he can’t even count !
And we all know the truth but the teacher is held accountable .

Some children in Ks2 can’t read !!! But HT just cares about manipulating data. ‘ Put Mason in the corner he is never going to make it - focus on the good ones !’ It’s awful!

I arrive at 7.30am and leave at 5pm . Then go home and lesson planning take at least 3 hours of my eve and at least a whole Saturday if I’m lucky - sat and Sunday if I’m not lucky!

Anyway , I am. Senior leader . I warn £37k which after student loan, pension and tax is £1.900 a month . ( £475 a week)

I’m on maternity and I don’t want to go back to teaching as it is soul destroying . Once I have paid £300 nursery - I would have an income of £125 a week for working an extremely stressful job and not seeing my son .

I have had an interview at a local nursery . The salary is £22k a year - £1,500 a month - £375 a week .
However with discount - the nursery fees would only be £160 a week for baby . Meaning I’d be making £215 a week. So more than as a teacher when I’d only have (£125 a week left)

I realise pension is much better as a teacher and of course you get holidays but I’m thinking that If I worked in a nursery I would be less stressed and have more money and get to know my baby was safe as he would be at the same nursery . I would have no evening or weekend work to do either ! I would be much happier I believe.

Am I crazy to leave my career to work in a nursery ?

I absolutely hate teaching and don’t believe I can cope doing it with a baby !

Once DS is at school and we have no nursery fees, so I can look at other jobs - or I may work my way up at the nursery and love it and become a manager .

Will I be bored in a nursery ?

AIBU to walk away from a ‘career ‘ to basically a minimum wage job !?

Look into condensed hours jobs op

I feel you, I’m a teacher and dropped my days because the pressure and stress was too much for me. Working long days then nights and at least one day at the weekend just took over my life.
I’ve worked in nurseries and have also been the nursery teacher in my school (we have a big nursery within our school and lots of teachers jump at the opportunity to move into nursery) I was given the job due to previous experience.
I loved my time in nursery, it felt so rewarding and felt like I was really making a difference. It was pre covid times so a little different to now but I felt like I knew the whole family and the family interactions with parents worked well for me.
However as a nursery key worker and as the nursery teacher I still felt the pressure of workload. It was long days on my feet and constantly going. It’s not the same as a classroom where you can set them to task for a few minutes. In my nursery there was a lot of paper work that then moved to learning journals. Even though it was all online it was still a big amount of paperwork. I did feel exhausted at the end of the day. My manager did not ask for staff to complete work at home but there was just not enough time during the working hours so I used to go in early and stay later meaning the day felt as long as it does now teaching.

I think you need to do what is right for you. Working on education in any role is stressful but can be rewarding.
How much time do you have before returning to work? Could you swap roles in school? I swapped to covering teachers time out and become more of a support role.
I earn the same money but the workload is so much easier to handle since I’m not fully class committed. Means I have also dropped doing reports and parents nogjts!

Financially you're better off and you'll be with your child when it matters - preschool too. What's not to like about this option?

You're not saying you will sign out of teaching completely, you'll still have your quals etc. In a few years time with nursery quals, you may find you can set up your own nursery if you like it or go back into teaching in another way. Lots of my ex-colleagues in our Learning and Development team came from teaching backgrounds.

The world, as they say, is your oyster. Do what suits you now, it doesn't mean you have to do that forever.

Good luck.

Teaching....er...no thanks!

@Purplepinkred

I’d just be a nursery assistant . Not teacher . I know it’s 40 hours a week but then not work in evening and weekends and crowd control of 30 children and pressure to show progress for each child !!!!

The fact is the nursery discount at 50 % makes it a viable option . I couldn’t just get a job warning £22k a year . It only works a as I’d be saving over £600 a month on nursery fees .

Be careful that they don't ask you to do more than they are paying you for .They will know from your CV that you are a teacher. It may start off okay and slowly creep towards " ooo x could you look after the whole of 4 year old room. " " could you plan next terms topics as you are qualified "

Use the interview to find out more about the workload and the routine. Ask if you can come in for a few hours to shadow before the interview if possible. Ask about observations - should only be wow moments now and only for your family group. Swot up on the new eyfs - twinkl have some good summary sheets. Planning can still take a while as you have to plan for group times and the tables ensuring all 7 areas are included. It's much much nicer than KS2 (I've taught both). You get to know the children really well and have a lot more contact with parents. Check if they use tapestry/seesaw too. I find it a better work life balance than KS1/2. Good luck!

Hello, I am the reverse, working as a nursery nurse but doing my teacher training in Sept! I totally understand the struggles with schools, but things in Nurseries are tough too - all our SEN children are not getting the 1-1 they need due to funding, staffing levels are constantly low. We have 45 in our class from 8-6, and next to no planning time, so am looking forward to having 30 from 9-3.30 even with all the planning work, at least I think there will be some autonomy.
Your head teacher sounds awful! Maybe you will love nursery life - they are all very different, I suppose its the same with schools?

It sounds like you’re being sensible looking for an alternative but as pp said, nurseries aren’t without their issues. My sister works in early years and is constantly in a state of frustration and despair due to the lack of support for children and them being moved up to school when they’re nowhere near ready, and there’s a lot of staff absence and low morale everywhere she has worked. The grass isn’t always greener and I would just bear that in mind. But, with less hours etc the trade off might be worth it for you.

@Dippydinosaurus

Use the interview to find out more about the workload and the routine. Ask if you can come in for a few hours to shadow before the interview if possible. Ask about observations - should only be wow moments now and only for your family group. Swot up on the new eyfs - twinkl have some good summary sheets. Planning can still take a while as you have to plan for group times and the tables ensuring all 7 areas are included. It's much much nicer than KS2 (I've taught both). You get to know the children really well and have a lot more contact with parents. Check if they use tapestry/seesaw too. I find it a better work life balance than KS1/2. Good luck!

Planning and observations is all specific to individual settings though - some will do no forward planning or wow moments at all.

if you can make the numbers work, then do it. It sounds to me as though you are not in a good place as a teacher (which is completely understandable. Teaching was a struggle pre-covid. Post covid it must be drowning)

One thing to bear in mind might be your mat pay. I worked for the NHS and they wanted my mat pay (above statutory) back if I didn’t go back. I worked full time till DD went to school, and it was horrible for us both. Which is not to say its a bad choice, but it was terrible for us. After a long commute I was working for even less than you, and I didn’t get the holidays. It was utterly soul destroying, and I should have left long before I did.

HNRTT but unless you want the contact with nursery-age children then have you thought of using your experience in another setting? If not OFSTED then DfE and ALBs who regularly had lots of experienced teachers inputting to policy on more money for different/less stress.

Good luck.

Yes, you will need to go back for a term probably to avoid repaying mat pay.

Also keep in mind that you won't be in the same room in a day nursery as your own child.

Have you considered doing supply? You can keep your hand in without the school politics and overtime. I never want to step back into a school again but I will have to soon.

@Purplepinkred

I hate teaching. I can’t cope with constant challenging behaviour . Our school has cut TAs to a minimum and we can’t provide real support for children who desperately need it . We are papering over cracks and ignoring the real issues. COVID has magnified the attainment gap but we ignore it. Head teacher demands to know why Billu can’t do multiplication yet the truth is he can’t even count ! And we all know the truth but the teacher is held accountable .

Some children in Ks2 can’t read !!! But HT just cares about manipulating data. ‘ Put Mason in the corner he is never going to make it - focus on the good ones !’ It’s awful!

I arrive at 7.30am and leave at 5pm . Then go home and lesson planning take at least 3 hours of my eve and at least a whole Saturday if I’m lucky - sat and Sunday if I’m not lucky!

Anyway , I am. Senior leader . I warn £37k which after student loan, pension and tax is £1.900 a month . ( £475 a week)

I’m on maternity and I don’t want to go back to teaching as it is soul destroying . Once I have paid £300 nursery - I would have an income of £125 a week for working an extremely stressful job and not seeing my son .

I have had an interview at a local nursery . The salary is £22k a year - £1,500 a month - £375 a week .
However with discount - the nursery fees would only be £160 a week for baby . Meaning I’d be making £215 a week. So more than as a teacher when I’d only have (£125 a week left)

I realise pension is much better as a teacher and of course you get holidays but I’m thinking that If I worked in a nursery I would be less stressed and have more money and get to know my baby was safe as he would be at the same nursery . I would have no evening or weekend work to do either ! I would be much happier I believe.

Am I crazy to leave my career to work in a nursery ?

I absolutely hate teaching and don’t believe I can cope doing it with a baby !

Once DS is at school and we have no nursery fees, so I can look at other jobs - or I may work my way up at the nursery and love it and become a manager .

Will I be bored in a nursery ?

AIBU to walk away from a ‘career ‘ to basically a minimum wage job !?

I think anybody who spends a third or more of their life doing something they hate is the crazy one.

@FishFingerSandwiches4Tea

Would this be as a nursery teacher? I'm not sure the hours would be much less given that most nurseries are open 7.30-6? And I presume you will still need to plan activities and keep detailed assessment records? I've never worked in a nursery but to me it looks like very hard work with long days and statutory minimum holidays. I wouldn't expect it to be any less tiring than teaching but obviously this is just my opinion.

You can do those things at the kids' naptime. I work in a nursery sometimes and there's plenty of downtime to do other things because there are enough staff to watch the children. I was hired at £10 an hour to basically play with kids all day but it was extremely boring.

The day was 8 - 5 and I would feel like falling asleep if there was nothing to do. I did all the cleaning while another girl sat there with a child on her lap the whole time (different ones, whichever ones she could grab at clean up time) but even that didn't give me enough to do.

I was only a ratio makeup so you'll have more to do if you're a practitioner but it didn't look as though they took any work home.

@MadameDragon

Only work in a nursery if you actually want to work in a nursery. Otherwise, there must be other employment options out there.

True, just change careers completely. If you're willing to take 22K you could do entry level using transferable skills.

@Purplepinkred

I’d just be a nursery assistant . Not teacher . I know it’s 40 hours a week but then not work in evening and weekends and crowd control of 30 children and pressure to show progress for each child !!!!

The fact is the nursery discount at 50 % makes it a viable option . I couldn’t just get a job warning £22k a year . It only works a as I’d be saving over £600 a month on nursery fees .

What about setting up something where you teach online? There are so many of us educating at home now that we often seek activities and classes, tutors for our children. Mine is doing French online and I'm going to be looking at bringing in a mathematics tutor in the future.

You could then do this around caring for your child at home instead of using childcare?

If you don’t like your job now is the perfect time to try something else. I didn’t go back after maternity and set up my own business, which I never would have done at any other point as I’d have too much to loose.

The only thing I would point out is that you will get 20 days holidays plus 8 bank holidays - some nurseries have shut down at Christmas and insist some of those 20 days are taken then - this is very different to teachers who (despite going in occasionally in the school holiday particularly late August) have significantly more days off per year though stipulated of course and paid training days on top.

Just have your eyes wide open and remember the grass isn't always greener. Everyone I know who has worked for nurseries have left whereas I know many career teachers including 2 heads who love their jobs.

Do look into private schools and long term supply as potential options whilst your little one is tiny

@Justjoinedforthis

Hello, I am the reverse, working as a nursery nurse but doing my teacher training in Sept! I totally understand the struggles with schools, but things in Nurseries are tough too - all our SEN children are not getting the 1-1 they need due to funding, staffing levels are constantly low. We have 45 in our class from 8-6, and next to no planning time, so am looking forward to having 30 from 9-3.30 even with all the planning work, at least I think there will be some autonomy. Your head teacher sounds awful! Maybe you will love nursery life - they are all very different, I suppose its the same with schools?

There is nothing 9-3.30 about teaching. It's 7 -11pm.

What about supply teaching?
No lesson planning. Come in 8am do your job leave by 4pm. Better pay than Nursery assistants. Holidays, use a term time nursery so no fees 13 weeks of the year.

I would do what makes you happy. Life is very very short.

Do it. If you hate it, just plough through til ds starts school then look for PT teaching or tutoring etc.

am told several times a month to ‘f off’ by parents . Parents ring daily to demand why their child has been told off. The children’s behaviour is so challenging

This bit stood out to me - one of the things that always strikes me on MN is how much less respect people have for nursery staff, and how much more they expect (because they pay so much), compared to school.

There is nothing 9-3.30 about teaching. It's 7 -11pm.

Oh, give over with the hyperbole. It can be, but it doesn't have to be.

I teach secondary English (off with Covid atm).

I arrive at work at 7.30am, spend an hour setting my lessons up, tweaking things etc. I teach 6 x 55minute lessons plus two form tutor periods. I have 4 free periods per week. I usually work through break but always take a thirty minute lunch with colleages as my classroom is in use by another group. On the days when I need to leave at 3.30pm to collect my children, I do so. Maybe once a fortnight i'll stay behind until around 6pm to get through a load of marking. On average I leave at around 4.30pm. I sometimes do an hour at home in the evenings, or a couple of hours over a weekend, but good enough is good enough, and I refuse to work myself into oblivion for things that have no benefit to my students.