May be offered a perm position at a teaching job from September but it’s a 55 mins drive each way

[Sk999]

I’ve been the many schools and don’t easily like most places, not over the moon here either but I’ve come to know that there is no perfect place really.

I started as supply end of March and can continue as perm from September. Bit the distance is far, doable but I’m losing almost 19 hours a week travelling.

The point here is me and husband are planning to try for baby next Christmas and if it did happen I can get maternity pay and if I was very unwell I could have paid time off etc.

Then I would also be off for a year and could go back 3 days. Has anyone ever gone back 3 days to a school that was this far ? I think that is the hope that I will eventually go 3 days meaning I stay home 4 days and only travel 3 days.

That is how you interpreted it.
Its doesn't say that teachers are the only ones that work hard or from home at all.

As @Pomegranatecarnage mentioned, if you only want this particular job in this particular school in order to get sick pay and paid maternity leave then I agree, you'll need to suck up the travel time.

I know nurses who travel for more than an hour each way to their hospital for a 12.5 hour shift four times a week, so you're not so hard done by...

Also returning teaching part time after maternity leave may not be an option further down the road with this particular school...

Lots to think about, only you know what will suit you, not us. Good luck 👍🏼

I would not even consider this. The drive is too far. 55 mins would probably be on a good day too?
When would you exercise, have a walk on those days?

Hi OP, I am a teacher and I work 3 days a week with this length of commute. I would say the commute is only possible because I only have to do it 3x a week. I couldn't do it 5 times. The long day and the travelling mean you can hardly have a minute to think on those 3 days! When you get in the car to go home and you know it's another hour til you can see your child it is a bit depressing! However I stay because I love my school and it's preferable to be driving and listening to an audio book than another hour of work in a closer school. One point I think you should consider is that there is no way you will want to be taking your child to your in-laws, it's a long journey for a little one and on the way home they will fall asleep- messing up bedtime!!

Also I presume you would be employed as a class teacher, rather than an EYFS teacher, meaning you could be placed in a different year group. How would this impact workload?!

How are you losing 19 hours a week? Surely you mean 9.5hours? 55 mins each way is less than two hours per day, x 5 days is less than ten hours.

It's similar to my commute, but I get the bus and do my daily Duolingo on my commute. If I was driving I would be looking at useful or interesting podcasts to make good use of the time.

No I didn't enjoy this. I was secondary and had an hour's commute. Awful especially in winter time, I would be leaving at 7.15 to get in and prep before the students (photocopying etc) plus we had morning briefings on certain days. Then I wouldn't be leaving til around 4.15 at the earliest (later in staff meeting).

Would either parents actually be happy with this arrangement of you dropping off a child around 7.30? Do they still work?

Well, if getting exemplary results means doing it wrong, I'm happy with the problem remaining. Year before last ALL of my exam students achieved the top grade.

@User46576 Lol. No. Sorry that's simply untrue.

In the holidays!
joking, but I don't think many staff do either of those things on a school day evening.

Take the job based on your situation now, rather than what you hope will happen in the future. Are there other options for jobs?

Good grief, it didn't take long for the competitive work commutes to kick in did it?! 😂 First post in!!! 'YABU OP, most people I know do a 5 hour commute a day to work and back... It's VERY common!' 😆

Meanwhile in the real world, you can count on the fingers of one hand the amount people you'll encounter in your everyday life, (in any given month,) who do this commute. No-one in their right mind would elect to do that. Anyone who DID have such a commute would stay away all week and come back at weekends, and it would have to be a fucking good job!

@Sk999 I wouldn't do it. Couldn't be arsed with a 2 hour commute every day, on top of a 9 hour work day!

I bet the 5 hour a day commute brigade walk 25,000 steps a day too, and eat a massive salad for lunch, and weigh 6 stone wet! 😆Oh, and they're definitely on £100K a year or more!

.

That’s fucking insane, and not normal

It is far when you’ve got a 1 year old and would increase their time in childcare significantly. Teachers also have to work in the evenings so any travel time cuts into that.

Take it for now if there is nothing else but I couldn’t have commuted with a 1 year old to care for and put in childcare, especially with bringing marking home etc.

How is 55 mins each way 19hrs a week travelling?

That might have suited you, but it won’t suit everyone. At one time I had a similar length of commute and hated how little time it left for my personal life. Horses for courses.

That said, OP, I think 55 mins is not such a long commute not to give it a go and see if it suits. Sounds like a good opportunity.

An hour each way is just about doable for a childless person, kids may make logistics harder

I taught at schools were most people lived 50 mins or more from school, me included. Not uncommon at all !

I teach and have a 25-40 minute commute, traffic depending, and where we are house hunting will make it a 40-50 mins commute. It's doable but longer term I would like to find a school closer to home. I have one 3 year old and another on the way and I work 3 days. Practically, my husband drops off at the nursery and I pick up. I leave by 7.30, get to school for 8ish and leave by 4.30pm. I very rarely work in the evening but I do often work through my breaks and lunch and I wrote all my reports in the Easter holidays. For context, I'm in Scotland as I know things are a bit different south of the border! Basically, it's doable, I love my school and I love where we live and where we plan to live so it's a worthwhile trade off but I wouldn't fancy doing it 5 days and will definitely look for a new job once my kids start school and I can go full time again.

In your shoes I'd take the job, if you don't get the option of part time, you can always go back to supply. You won't really have lost anything and you might love the job! Also, perhaps you could consider moving closer at some point or as a previous poster has said, you would then be in a stronger position to look for another permanent job elsewhere if you didn't want to move.

Not unless I actually apply and go for some interviews. There are jobs out there. Close jobs will be fringe pay and the current job will be inner London - so 6k difference before tax. I’ve been thinking for days now and cannot decide.

It’s a manageable commute. And if it happens, in the time that you are pregnant/on maternity you can look for a vacancy closer to home. Bear in mind if you change councils (if school is a state one) you may have to pay back a chunk of maternity money but not if in the same county council!

Why do you think you could go back 3 days after maternity leave? You do realise that they can say NO to this request.

@Trovindia
Bollocks! If that was true then your friends will be in the tiny minority then! Are you actually denying that there’s a huge retention and recruitment crisis in teaching at the moment? You might want to try googling just how many teachers have left in the last year or how many more are actively looking to get out!

How does 1 hour 50 mins = 19 hours a week?