To consider becoming a primary school teacher?!

[wouldibetotallymad]

Would I be bonkers?

I have NC as some of this can be linked up with previous posts.

I'm 44, 3 kids (13, 7, 4). I'm a solicitor and have been for 20 years. I don't work in private practice any longer but still work in law. I work 4 days a week and get paid well for it, now my kids are getting older I would like to go back full time. But I am bored as hell and the company I work for is becoming more and more frustrating by the day (think endless corporate training, frustrating management structures etc), but I am also bored and frustrated with the work itself. There is no novelty, just hours in front of a computer screen working on things that are of minimal interest to a minimal number of people, including me.

What attracts me to primary school teaching? The variety, the human interaction, I like being really busy and pushed, the chance to actually make a difference to children's day to day existence.

Would I be bonkers?! I know the pay will be a whole let less than what I am on right now, which we could manage (just).

I have friends and family who are teachers and they have looked at me aghast when I have mentioned the possibility . . .

Also name changed! I'm thinking about doing this, only secondary teaching, and in a year or so – and my teacher friends of my age think I'm mad because they're tired of it. But then they have been doing it for more than 20 years...

Like you, I've been doing what I do for the last two decades plus (journalism/business writing/freelance) - it would be 30 years by the time I come to retrain. I know exactly what it will be like if I keep on doing it for another ten years (40 years altogether) - and think it might be more interesting to do something else. I think if we're all going to work to late 60s/70s then it's hard to keep on doing the same thing endlessly, no matter how interesting we once found it. I'd also like to not be working from home any more (after about 18 years of doing so) and I think a classroom could be an interesting, stimulating place to work.

If I do it, and I'm doing the research at the moment, I would be mid-50s when I started, so I'd have about 10 potential years of teaching before retirement. Which would also be good years from a pension point of view.

It's something I've thought about doing several times over the years but concluded when my kids were in primary that it would be hard to do it then because you'd never get to go to their events/wouldn't be around for them unless you were teaching part time. Now my youngest is in year 8, it seems much more doable - I really do have a lot more freedom during the working day, there are fewer demands on me and no need for childcare. I went on a school experience day and it was interesting to see that there were a few other people there whose youngest kids were a similar age so I think it must be a fairly common thought.

But I appreciate that's some way off for you. So it would probably come down to having after-school childcare, how you feel about events that you might not be able to make and the salary drop, particularly in the training year.

I trained in my 40s and encountered ageism all the way until I left the profession 12 years later. You might be lucky and find a school that values older teachers.

That is something I worry about, @EVHead . But as the retirement age goes up to 67 and beyond, there will presumably be lots more people doing it to a later age.

Plus right now the shortages are such that, depending on where you are, they are pretty keen to hire people. I went to a Get into Teaching event and all of the recruiters I spoke to seemed very confident there would be jobs for someone training in their mid-50s. I mean, they could just be saying that but...

I can’t imagine why you’d want to be a teacher rather than a lawyer tbh. Maybe the 13 weeks a year where you don’t have to worry about childcare? But certainly not for the reduced pay and all the nonsense.

Find another opportunity in your current field.

Yip, definitely bonkers 🙈 I’m a teacher and stay on the same street as 4 other teachers. Two are off with stress currently and the rest have dropped to part time and frantically scrambling to find ANYTHING else to do. One of them was my teacher at school as a child! Just shows how much the job has changed sadly.

You now need a crash helmet, elbow pads and knee pads to stand a chance in a classroom. The behaviour is so far beyond ridiculous and I have been assaulted hundreds of times at work, along with all of my colleagues. Even the head and depute are regularly assaulted. One has been threatened with a knife in the last few months while the other has had a black eye 😶 Don’t do it! Literally do anything else

You'll get a lot of negatives, especially from teachers. Visit a school a decide for yourself.

@Areallthenamechangingnicknames
I did teacher training in my fifties. The tutors were lovely and very supportive, but the schools were much less so - clearly I wasn’t at all what they had in mind as a “student” teacher. In the end, I came to the conclusion that I just wasn’t what was wanted. I’m so glad I’m not in that environment now - some of the behaviour can be awful, even though most of the children were lovely. The other thing about teaching is that you are never away from it - endless lesson preparation, marking, thinking about lessons and children, filling in forms, writing reports - people may talk about teachers having lots of holidays: they need it, and half the time they are doing prep anyway. Interestingly, other older trainees also decided teaching was not for them, including one who’d got “outstanding” for her lessons. She decided the amount of work when weighed up against the pay just wasn’t worth it.

I am a chartered accountant turned teacher. Haven’t noticed any ageism. But I work in a private school, which values my previous career. I trained in the state system, but probably wouldn’t choose to return. Make sure you organise some work experience in a school before commiting to training.

Primary teacher training is still oversubscribed and you’ll have to pay tuition fees for the privilege of training (!) even if you do a SCITT. (That means 4 days working in a school and 1 day training per week). It’s a complete joke. Until a few years ago the government paid a small salary to trainees on SCITTs, but that has been scrapped. You have to really want to work with small children to do primary training.
What is your degree subject? If you train in a secondary school in a shortage subject (maths, science, geography, languages etc) you can apply for a bursary which at least means you’re paid during training.

After being a solicitor, you probably won’t find the pressures of teaching too high - but you’ll be working just as hard as your previous career for a lot less money. Feel free to pm me if you have any other questions.

I’d look at you aghast too. People aren’t leaving teaching in droves because of the pay, although it isn’t wonderful. They're leaving because the workload is unsustainable and exhausting. You will spend more time doing paperwork than you will being in a classroom.

I considered this but soon changed my mind reading threads by actual teachers.

Teacher here.

I enjoy teaching and I feel like I am a good teacher. I hate all the extras that has to go with it but I've been able to put my foot down. I tend to work once my children are asleep or doing their own thing, if I absolutely have to.

If you're working 4 days a week, could you volunteer once a week? I do think you need to see it for yourself. Is it a dire situation? Yes. Is it rewarding? Yes. I work in a high needs, high mobility in a mainstream school. It is hard work and I do have to do work in the holidays, but you do need to find a good school.

Thanks for all the comments and for being so honest with me!

@Youcannotbeseriousreally being a solicitor ain't all that! Especially where I work. 😂It's not about the holidays either, as my DH is a dep head (secondary) so is around for chunks of holiday, though not all as he has own work commitments.

I don't think my degree is in subjects that there is a shortage in, but really I would want to do primary in any event.

I do indeed have one day off a week at the moment, and I would definitely like to use that day to explore it a bit more.

Crazy workload is one thing, which I accept would come with the territory and which I am pretty accustomed to in any event. Behaviour . . . . I hear you. I look at the school my younger two go to and I can see how challenging it can be.

A friend of my just re-trained to be a primary teacher, and It’s killing her tbh. Sometimes it’s better the devil you know!!

the training was such long hours and now she earns half, it doesn’t seem worth it to me and she isn’t happy either.

only you know what’s best for you, but i think you’d be mental!

@DressYG I am very sorry to hear that you have been assaulted at work and that it's so dreadful.

I have friends who are teachers (primary) and they enjoy it, don't find it especially demanding, and find it gives them time to travel/avoid holiday childcare for their own children.

BUT. It does not pay very well, which is fine for them as they are either married to a higher earner or in one case single without children to support. In your case, you are used to earning more, and I think it would be very difficult to justify the drop in income.

@Youcannotbeseriousreally yes, possibly. Maybe I should consider dropping my current role down to 3 days a week and working as a TA for two days a week to get some experience and a clearer idea.

I once knew a solicitor who made a career change to become a history teacher. She had no regrets and enjoyed the job!

I’d certainly recommend getting some experience before committing to a course. Even in primary, behaviour has become more and more challenging. Many teachers will have a story to tell about aggressive , abusive and dangerous behaviour.

If you try it out as a volunteer or TA, if possible, you’ll get an idea about whether you think it’s for you long term.

Go for it!

I used to work in a primary school and lots of the teachers loved their job. It's busy, but you're used to working in a busy environment. I mean, my job is full on 90% of the time, teachers aren't the only profession who are worked hard, it doesn't mean you won't enjoy it.

I think it also depends on where the school is. An inner London school is likely to be a lot harder in lots of ways than a small rural primary. Although everyone's different and will be seeking different work environments.

I know plenty of teachers who love their job! The country is crying out for teachers.
Don’t ask on Mumsnet, which is overwhelmingly negative about teaching

I’m a solicitor not a teacher. I moved into local govt legal sector after 20 years. Money is poor but the work life good and get the variety, interaction and making a difference. I’m in a very niche area. People I work with are lovely too.
I’m a Girlguide leader (volunteer) I enjoy that for the interaction with the children.

Please think again about being a primary teacher, 70 plus hours a week is not fun and as an ex teacher that is the norm, the holidays are taken up with planning and prep. It is not how it used to be, it can be very stressful and you will feel very unsupported and very lonely at times. Secondary can be slight better but only slightly. Think very carefully before making the jump

Out of the frying pan... and into the fire.

Yes OP you would be bonkers.
Not sure how much of an impact I make (former primary school teacher now TA) given that everything we do is for OFSTED’s benefit not the children’s.
Primary school teaching pushed my mental health to the brink, I was becoming ill from the stress and constant pushing for more and more of my time. I earn a lot less now as a TA but it fits around my own children and at least when I walk out of the door, I’m done until 8:30 the next day.

The variety, the human interaction, I like being really busy and pushed, the chance to actually make a difference to children's day to day existence.

Hmmm, the variety is much less than you’d think-many schools have very strict timetables and you have little chance of autonomy. The human interaction is just getting children through the content at great speed because there is never the time so I always feel like I’m rushing and at risk of missing things by or doing it badly. I miss talking to other adults-I think being in a classroom with only children can actually be very isolating.

The ‘making a difference’ part is actually pretty tiny as well, sadly. Imagine being expected to ‘make a difference’ to every child in your class of 30 simultaneously. If one is looking out of the window, it’s your fault, if one is trying to stab another with a pencil, that’s your responsibility, if one is crying because they haven’t had breakfast, you still need to get them to do the work and you haven’t got time to find out that they didn’t have breakfast anyway. Then there’s a nosebleed, and 4 need asthma pumps after Pe, one needs their pull up changing and one is sick. Then it’s phonics, then it’s maths, then you’re on duty, then it’s literacy. You are doing an endless performance which every child needs to be engaged with. Then it gets to the end of the day, and your ‘actual’ work-ie marking, planning, assessing, sorting out your subject for a Deep Dive, prepping for learning walks and lesson observations and parents evenings and meetings, actually begins.

20+ in and the job has changed immeasurably and without any benefit to the children. Don’t do it!