Want to leave teaching

[Nextpleasee]

Posting for traffic.
For various reasons, I want to leave teaching. I teach young children.
Any ideas or comments from people who have taken the leap to leave? I have no idea what I’d even do.

There's a good and busy Facebook group- Life After teaching.
That's worth a look for support and ideas.

Best move I ever made. Having my evenings and weekends back more than makes up for losing the holidays!

I moved into training. WFH full time. Love it!

I was going to suggest the FB group but I see @grafittiartist got there first. There's always ex teachers posting on there with stories of their AT (After Teaching) lives. 🙂

Thank you for your reply. I came off it because it was a lot of people in a similar situation, but not much inspiration of finding another career.

You have a mass of transferrable skills. Have a quick google - you'll be surprised what skills you use daily.

Take the plunge. I didn't for ages, stuck it out or far too long and have had to come to terms with the mess it made of my MH.

I finally left for a job with less pay, but which interests me. I'm getting counselling and I have absolutely zero regrets about leaving!

I was going to sign up with a decent employment agency when I was offered the project management job that I now do.

For context I was a teacher for over 20 years, KS1 and 2.

Thank you for all your responses.
i have heard that i have a lot of transferable skills, but my esteem has plummeted and I can’t see I’d be much use to anyone tbh

I think I have a kind of PTSD from teaching and I never even went into it properly. The day long interviews and observations were enough.

Museums education might be a change?

I’d be very interested in a museum job, but I’m not located near any.
I think I’ve come to the reality that I won’t earn the same wage, but that’s ok.
This job is no longer sustainable.

If you taught very young children would you consider childminding? I left teaching two years and a term ago and registered as a childminder. I mostly did wrap around care to earn a bit alongside looking after my own children. I regularly had enquiries for preschool aged children and could have easily filled places to childminder full time if I had wanted to and earned very well. Just an option.
I'm actually about to stop childminding as it's no longer suiting our family, I'm actually returning to teaching, in a different key stage. I don't know if it will be a permanent return but I didn't feel quite ready to walk away for good so I'm trying a different age and school type!

You have a huge range of transferable skills. If I wasn't trying teaching again I would be looking at local council, civil service or charity sector roles initially I think. Good luck with whatever you decide, remember, anything you go on to next doesn't have to be forever either, it can just be a stepping stone and give you thinking time.

I’m the same boat myself but I’m going to try and get through another few years. It’s so tough.

What about the civil service ?

Hi, you don't really need to be.

We do outreach work because lots of people including children don't live that near to museums.

It's mostly freelance work though.

Thank you @MuseumAssistant thats interesting to know. Thats why I posted here, because there are jobs out there that I don’t know exist.

Charity Jobs is a good website to find jobs linked to a teachers skill set. Left a couple of years ago…best decision ever!

Can you say any more about this? Did you need the cipd qualification?
Do you teach all day online?

Id love a wfh job.

Currently half way through my QTS. So distressing to see how many threads of this nature come up :(
no regrets as yet but so anxious about what’s to come when I read how bad it’s getting…

@WhenIsaywhoaimeanwhoa I’m sorry, and do not want to put you off. I am getting older and have generally had enough / not able to deal with things as well as I could when I was younger. The job is very different to what I qualified in to.
I would say to keep going, but never stay in a school with a toxic environment. You deserve better.
All the best for your training.

I didn’t need any additional qualifications. My teaching qualification got me the interview.

I train companies how to make the most of Microsoft technologies, mostly AI at the moment!

Wow! I don't think my computer knowledge would be there for that role but I could believe there's a role there for me.

Have you considered going part time in your teaching post?

My husband has been 3 days (primary school teacher) for over a decade now. It's a much more sustainable work life balance.

I find similar with that life after teaching group. So many teachers in the same boat. Civil service seems to be mentioned a lot but where I live there isn't the opportunities.

I left teaching as a teacher and became a TA instead. Poorly paid and I now work full time instead of part time (and still earn less) but can walk out the door at the end of the day with no planning or marking.

I knew next to nothing about AI when I got the job however they valued my skillset and figured they could train me up. I’ve learned loads!

My experience in using Teams, OneNote etc in teaching is valued as it is very transferrable to relate to our corporate/public sector customers.

I really need something between TA and teacher pay as my partner doesn't earn very much and we're struggling as it is.

That's really interesting World. I'd be really keen to do something similar.

My sister moved from teaching to tutoring. She has some individual pupils, works in a centre for home schooled kids 2 mornings a week and does some session tutoring for kids in care.

Obviously it's still teaching but nowhere near the stress and additional work. She purposefully keeps her hours down but could do full time hours. The money is better than teaching but obviously self employed so pension, sick leave, etc should be considered.

A friend moved to project management in the civil service. Went in at Officer grade I think but got 2 promotions very quickly.

All very interesting, thank you to those that have replied.
I would definitely not be interested in working as a T.A (they do a wonderful job!) or a tutor, because I think I need something fresh altogether.
I have thought of going into retail as a stepping stone, but the way I am feeling, I don’t think I’d get an interview at the moment. I’m not feeling very go get it.