Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Nearly half of teachers plan to quit in the next 5 years

848 replies

freebritknee · 11/04/2022 14:04

I saw this from a survey carried out by an education union.

Unmanageable workload is a significant factor.

This is madness how have the unions allowed the state of teachers employment to get this far where nearly half of them want out?!

OP posts:
Piggywaspushed · 14/04/2022 19:16

@JenniferAlisonPhilipaSue

I lost sympathy for teachers when one on strike on tv complained she "only" got £36,000 a year. That was several years ago so what's she on now? And I know they apparently don't get paid during summer but it's still a v good salary

Not every teacher is in a union or the same union

The survey will be worded in a way that gives the responses the union want

I say that as a former union rep

Teachers' strike?? When ?!
Piggywaspushed · 14/04/2022 19:17

The question was worded

'Do you think you will still be teaching in 5 years time?'

No weasel words.

CheesecakeAddict · 14/04/2022 19:28

@JenniferAlisonPhilipaSue the only ones commenting on teacher's pay are the non-teachers. If you bothered to rtft you'd actually see teachers don't think it's badly paid, but the pay and the holidays are enough to keep them in the job or entice enough new entrants.

Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 19:30

Great, about time they got some new staff in

Piggywaspushed · 14/04/2022 19:33

Where are they coming from then hippo?

noblegiraffe · 14/04/2022 19:41

So, so many people coming on with this as if it's some sort of 'gotcha' to teachers instead of merely the poster displaying complete ignorance of the crisis.

FrippEnos · 14/04/2022 20:14

@Hippoevens

Great, about time they got some new staff in
Will you be joining us?

Or are you just going to post drivel?

Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 20:16

FrippEnos - joining you in what?

FrippEnos · 14/04/2022 20:19

Hippoevens

Maybe you should rtft before you post

Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 20:22

@FrippEnos

Hippoevens

Maybe you should rtft before you post

So you’re not going to answer the question then? Of course I’m not going to read 33 pages of drivel
Pumperthepumper · 14/04/2022 20:27

Hippo, Fripp is a teacher, as is noble, as am I. Fripp is asking you to train as a teacher.

Honestly, the bickering on this thread is really pathetic.

Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 20:28

@Pumperthepumper

Hippo, Fripp is a teacher, as is noble, as am I. Fripp is asking you to train as a teacher.

Honestly, the bickering on this thread is really pathetic.

Oh I see, why on earth would I want to train as a teacher? No thanks 😂

I agree the bickering is pathetic

Pumperthepumper · 14/04/2022 20:30

Why not? You think the money is good and we need more teachers.

Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 20:32

@Pumperthepumper

Why not? You think the money is good and we need more teachers.
Is that question addressed to me? I do not think the money is good, having worked in a school environment for the last twenty years I agree we need more teachers
Pumperthepumper · 14/04/2022 20:32

So why not?

Piggywaspushed · 14/04/2022 20:36

33 pages of drivel

Ad yet you comment inserting your own drivel, having apparently read none of it.

Not sure what bickering you mean pumper?? At least since hippo posted anyway!

Pumperthepumper · 14/04/2022 20:39

There’s loads - people have been writing ‘oh, tell me why I’m such a shit teacher’ or ‘teachers get a cheaper mortgage’. It’s so frustrating not being able to have a decent conversation about the profession without wading through all the spitting.

Piggywaspushed · 14/04/2022 20:39

I agree we need more teachers

But you just seem to think people should leave! That doesn't produce more teachers.

Piggywaspushed · 14/04/2022 20:41

@Pumperthepumper

There’s loads - people have been writing ‘oh, tell me why I’m such a shit teacher’ or ‘teachers get a cheaper mortgage’. It’s so frustrating not being able to have a decent conversation about the profession without wading through all the spitting.
hmmm...it was a non sequitur where you put it but hey ho.
GuyFawkesDay · 14/04/2022 20:43

It's pretty simple really.

Tea hers actually are fine with the pay. Yes, it's not kept up with inflation since the early noughties but we know it's the same everywhere. It is a perfectly decent salary.

Which then begs the question why, with said decent salary, holiday etc 50% of teachers want to quit.

It needs an actual serious discussion. This is a HUGE problem brewing for the country.

Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 20:43

@Pumperthepumper

So why not?
Are you asking me why I don’t want to train as a teacher? Because I am middle aged. Because I already have a job which is well paid and I enjoy. Because I have worked with many teachers over the last 25 years and don’t come across many who are particularly happy. This is unsurprising as it’s a thankless job with many extra hours outside of the classroom. It’s a profession that needs some newbies out of uni who are fresh faced and enthusiastic and not dragged down with the stupid politics and red tape that gets in the way. If you are a teacher (regardless of your age) and enjoy your job, that’s great, but in my experience there aren’t too many of them about, in which case I think it would be good for them to leave and do something different with their lives.
Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 20:45

@Piggywaspushed

33 pages of drivel

Ad yet you comment inserting your own drivel, having apparently read none of it.

Not sure what bickering you mean pumper?? At least since hippo posted anyway!

I thought my comment was the opposite of drivel
Pumperthepumper · 14/04/2022 20:46

But do you not think there’s a common factor there that needs addressed - if you know very few happy teachers, and you don’t want to train, how are we going to get new staff in? And keep them?

Sarah13xx · 14/04/2022 20:54

Another one about to leave 🙋🏼‍♀️ Couldn’t care less about the pay really, it’s ‘fine’ but it wasn’t until I started up my own business that I realised how much money you can actually make when self-employed! It has nothing to do with the money though for me. It’s the behaviour, the lack of support with the behaviour, the fact absolutely every single thing is your fault and then having to face parents to kid on you think everything is great when it literally couldn’t be any worse 🙃 They complain their child has been physically assaulted and yet you have to spout off some nonsense about restorative practice when the fact of the matter is, their child will get hit again by these children tomorrow and nothing will get done then either. It’s horrendous! I left my old school because my shins were black and blue. I ended up in tears to the head teacher and I’m not a crier. I spent my entire day trying to act as a human shield to stop very young children being hurt while no one from management did anything to help. I ‘taught’ very little while in that classroom because it was purely crowd control. My new school started off well but really isn’t much better than this now either, it’s a huge problem everywhere 🤦🏼‍♀️

Hippoevens · 14/04/2022 21:00

@Pumperthepumper

But do you not think there’s a common factor there that needs addressed - if you know very few happy teachers, and you don’t want to train, how are we going to get new staff in? And keep them?
I have known few happy over the years, however returning to school environments more recently (since before lockdown in 2020) there seems to be a lot more younger (recently qualified) teachers.

This is good as it means there are still people entering the teaching profession. I think most are probably aware of the demands of the job and are hopefully going into this with positivity, embracing the challenges that face them.

I don’t think there is a common factor that needs to be addressed, I think people need to be more realistic about their expectations when going into the job so they are not disappointed/ burnt out after a few years.

I’m not really sure many people who train to be teachers think it’s going to be easy do they? Maybe some are that naïve?

I hope the ridiculous academic year of three terms which include six weeks off in the summer will be changed to semesters. This should make life more manageable for teachers.