Is it best to work in a school when you have kids?

[Lovealazysunday]

I have 3 dc’s all under 6 I currently work within Human Resources I’m working 40+ hours a week. I’m missing out so much on my kids. I enjoy my job, but would rather see my kids more in all honesty. I’ve barely seem
them in this 6 weeks holiday.

My kids are in school now for the next 15 years and I want to be able to be there for them which I don’t feel like I am at the moment.

Is this is an unrealistic expectation? It seems like this is the only way I will ever be happy.

Dinner Ladies and Lynch Supervisors only work 11-2 or 12-1 though.

So many parents at DD's school used to volunteer and were given TA jobs but these days I assume you need qualifications?

Lunch**

I work in a school and started doing so a couple of years ago (DC are 16 and 11 now) and it's made so much difference to our lives. Pay is crap but knowing I have weekends and holidays with them, has been invaluable.

I imagine it’s great for school holidays but not great for things like going to sports days, Christmas plays, reading mornings, etc. depending on if you have the flexibility to go to those.

Depends where you work.

I'd say it's best to seek out a flexible employer. Some will allow an element of term time only working.
I have a certain amount of unpaid weeks to take across the school holidays and my pay is pro rata'd. I've had this working pattern for over ten years and am now senior leadership in my organisation - I genuinely think it has helped me progress by being able to fully focus on work and not have to stress about the long holidays. I don't have the full 6 weeks off but enough time to be able to juggle it without issue.

Most people need to earn more money than that though. In summer hols my kids do 3 weeks of holiday clubs, 1 week on family holiday all together, 1 week with me and 1 week with DH. They really enjoy the holiday clubs so don't feel too hard done by.

I think before I moved from one job to another, i would look at unpaid parental leave and seeing how amenable your company would be to you taking say an extra week each summer on top of your annual leave, or investigate flexible working ideas like 9 day fortnights or even just part time.

The problem with a lot of school jobs is a section of the holiday is unpaid and they are often part time too, with 25 hours or 30 hours being standard so you dont earn much as theres about 7 weeks unpaid plus the pro rata hours. Or you are a teacher with long hours and stress.

You don’t necessarilly need specific qualifications to be a TA, I teach at a special school where almost nobody we employ as a TA has related qualifications, we just would never be able to find enough staff if we insisted on only qualified people applying. Generally we prefer people to have some childcare experience but being a parent would be enough to tick that box. We do put TAs who are likely to stay through qualifications once they’ve been with us a year or so but they’re not compulsory. Some schools might be able to stipulate only qualified staff apply for TA jobs if they have no issues with recruitment and retention but it’s definitely not the case for all schools, especially post-covid where there are so many more jobs which let parents wfh and offer flexible hours around school pick ups/ drop offs etc
and so TA jobs are less in demand.

It's pretty badly paid and likely you'll need before and after school care as you won't finish before the kids to collect them.

It is very inflexible, no sports days, your own kids shows etc.

Not all school jobs are just term time only though are they? For example office/marketing/ admin roles which can continue all year. I've seen ads for these jobs in schools (usually private ones though) and you still only get 4-5 weeks holiday, and you are expected to take this in the school holidays too.

Many schools can’t afford TAs and many admin jobs will be part-time. Most of these jobs will be minimum wage and if you work term time only you don’t get paid for the extra weeks you have to have off in the holidays.

If you work in a central team you may not be term time only

As a TA, then absolutely for the hours and holidays and generally you don’t take the work home with you so you’d have lots of time for your children. However, the pay is terrible for what they are generally expected to do in school. In my experience, there are few class TA jobs and all support is used to support children with rather severe SEN. For lots of people this is a real talent and they love supporting these children; it can be incredibly rewarding but it’s hard work within those hours.

Otherwise, you could consider retraining to become a teacher?

The pay is often shit in schools for a demanding role - office based roles are often not term time either. My mum works in admissions and she's contracted all year long as well as the Burser and other office staff.

Can you cut down to doing 9-3 or 8.30am-2.30 then be there for them every morning and afterschool. Could you also ask for 3 or 4 weeks a year working from home so you don't need to pay for those weeks as childcare. I bet you will still be better off than working for the school wage.

Very poorly paid and friends who work in schools find it very difficult (nr impossible) to get time off to see their own kids (in different schools) sports days, school plays etc etc term time working in a different job probably the ideal scenario.

I think that working in a school works really well for some people but that it's a limited pool of jobs and a limiting work environment, there are only so many type of roles.

You should look at what options are available to you in your current industry if it's one you enjoy.

Part time
Flexible working
Home working

There's also unpaid parental leave, you are entitled to 18 weeks per child up to the point where they turn 18. That means you have entitlement to 54 weeks of unpaid leave that you can use for school holidays over the next few years on top of your annual leave. Realistically once all your kids are 13 they won't need or particularly want you to be with them all day every day over the holidays so you can use more now and less then.

If you do the calculations you may find you're better off financially taking a month off unpaid every year than you would be moving to a term time school job.

Some employers like the civil service offer term time only contracts. You might find they pay more than a school.

This is partly why I got a job in the Exams/Data office at my son's secondary school - 40 weeks a year for more money than I was on full time! It was a win/win situation, so now I have 95% of the school holidays off & don't need to worry about childcare for my 8 year old either. It's a wonderful work/life balance!

Look up all the private schools in your area that you could commute to and keep an eye out for term tome only jobs there are lits that don’t exist in state schools eg jobs in marketing, exams officer etc.

Friends who are teachers feedback also -

The holidays can really drag because its 6 full weeks off together, whereas an office mum maybe has 2-3 weeks focused time off from their annual leave over summer to concentrate on squeezing the most out of summer hols.

No abroad holidays because they are hiked up in price and not allowed due to their contact at the school.

I used to work as a chef but I now do 20 hrs a week and my manager does 37.5 in the kitchens at school. Pay is pretty poor and works out less that minimum wage for me but it saves alot on nursery fees & after school with 3 kids.

Marketing jobs at private schools work during the school holidays, usually with only the basic holiday entitlement per year. Pay is also poor.

What do you mean - holidays not allowed due to their contact at the school?

I think it's a typo; it's in your contract that all holidays must be taken during the school holidays. No exceptions.

Not true I do 22.5 hours a week as a dinner lady. Other people I work with do 20 or 10. There are various hours depending which school you go to secondary schools especially can have 30+ hour positions. I know secondary school dinner ladies who work 7am - 5pm. There are lots of different hours it depends on the needs of each school.

Sorry I meant to add you also don't need qualifications to work as a classroom assistant in my area either.