Teaching or Nannying?

[lucyalice18]

Hi guys!

I wasn’t sure where to post this but I saw a similar thread had been started on here in 2014 so i was wondering if I could potentially get some advice?

So I am 18 and am currently on a gap year and have applied for University courses in Primary Education.

However, although the idea of working with children has always been something i’ve been passionate about, i’m not an overly confident person. I’m pretty reserved and introverted and I’m not entirely sure how I would feel being observed as a teacher and standing in front of 30 kids.

I have worked as a teaching assistant recently and have a job in an after school club (sometimes managing over 30 kids alone) and i love the conversations and the engagement within these jobs with the children, but i feel completely daunted and the pressured when it comes to standing in front of all 30 kids and trying to get them to tidy up or do other tasks.

I much prefer the one on one tasks with the children or in smaller groups, so i can’t help but think maybe nannying would be a better career? I don’t want to waste a 3 year degree so I was wondering if i could get some advice from people in these positions or who have been a teacher or nanny (or both).

Any advice would be great!!

Thank you!!

Nannying is a great job and when you work for the right family, it can be amazing. However, unless you work for a very wealthy family it is usually fairly low paid and has little chance of career progression. It is also a trickier career to have your own family in, unless you transition to being a childminder or similar.

I also started working in schools at 18 and felt like commanding a classroom was daunting. I was fresh out of school and remembered my own respect for my teachers and couldn't imagine inspiring that sort of automatic respect in children. But primary school aged children don't necessarily see you as an 18 year old, just as a member of staff like any other. It gets easier as you gain your confidence.

I would recommend you pursue your degree in teaching (or any degree + teaching certificate) as it will give you more options in life. Teaching has set holidays and career progression opportunities and I believe will always welcome you back. While you are studying, you can easily get work babysitting.

If you want to do nannying instead, having a teaching (or nursing) degree in my experience will help you get a position working for a wealthy family with a good salary (I only emphasis working for a wealthy family because it means they can afford to pay you what your time is worth).

Alternatively, if you want to go all-in on the nannying you might consider something like Norland, which will definitely help with getting a position later.

Thank you so much!!

I definitely can see what you mean regarding confidence and the difficulty to gain the respect and attention of children without feeling daunted and i’m really hoping that with age and experience this will become less of an issue!

This advice is really helpful, I am feeling very uncertain at the moment but i think it could just be because of all the assessments and interviews that come alongside teaching, but hearing the positives of having it as a career really helps settle the fears i have about becoming a teacher.

Did you end up going into teaching after working in schools?

I have looked into Norland and was heavily considering it but i was struggling with the idea of working with more privileged children and not being able to help the ones who may be in a more disadvantaged position with less fortunate backgrounds, so i ended up ruling it out.

Thank you so much for answering my thread so quickly - you’re advice really is so helpful and appreciated!

Why not continue to work as a TA and in the out of school club for a while longer and talk to the school staff and ask for their tips and advice?
You don't have to go to University at 18 or 19. You will probably do better for a little bit more experience. You can also save up so you have some money in the bank before becoming a student.
Or, of course, you might decide teaching isn't what you want to do.

If you want to work with less privileged children, nannying is probably not going to be the right career path. Teaching might be better.

I ultimately didn't end up teaching or nannying long term, I moved into my country's equivalent of the civil service (it was an all hands on deck recruitment drive due to covid). I do miss working with children and have strongly considered moving back into education. Maybe when the pandemic settles down.

The assessment and interviews seem scary, but it's mostly there to help you. Just like when you assess children you're teaching, until it gets to the end of secondary it's really to check understanding and progress. As you get used to it, it's less frightening.

Also remember you will gain a lot of transferrable skills and can career-hop if you like. This works especially well between well-paid jobs, fulfilling but poorly paid jobs, and (possibly as you get older) jobs with good maternity packages/flexibility for families.

Good luck!

Introverts can be great teachers and you can be transformed from not knowing how to work large groups to a master of the job. Teaching gives more opportunities for classroom work and small group tuition. Plenty of room to work with the disadvantaged.

Nannying, or the kind of nannying that pays, I’d never going to be about ‘disadvantaged children’!

I won’t go into teaching because I earn much more nannying- in central London for a high net worth and take home about £45-50,000 a year depending on overtime.

Obviously, those children are very privileged. Music lessons, mandarin, private school, fine star holiday resorts etc etc. But I still like to think I give them experiences they might not otherwise have- sometimes it’s really simple stuff like nature walks or a mud kitchen or baking, craft activities, soft play, hours at the park, trips to seaside towns. The parents don’t go in for that stuff but they’re still just kids at the end of the day so they love it and it’s lovely to see them enjoy things that aren’t just for the upper echelons.

I have lived in when I was younger but have been a live out nanny for years now, it’s too intense otherwise. SO much also depends on the family you work for.

However, I’ve just had my own baby and fitting back into nannying is a huge obstacle. I will still do it because of the money. But do you know what, it’s really going to rankle that I’m putting my baby into nursery to go and get paid to look after someone else’s children. I’m going to try and squish my hours into four days or find a more part time role. I’d kill to stay off with him until he’s about 2 but I can’t, we can’t do it on DH’s salary and I’m the higher earner. So that’s definitely something to think about.

Travelling nanny was a great gig and I went all over the world but that was pre covid (and pre baby!)

What about other jobs where you get to work with children, but individually or in small groups. You could be an occupational therapist, speech pathologist, or child psychologist just to name some of the obvious options.

Nannying is not a career - Nannies are amazing, but it is a job. To get paid a lot you are at the beck and call of a family. It can be great when you’re young, but it’s rarely for life. And If you are bright enough to teach, you’d more than likely get bored.

It’s natural at your age (any age really!) to feel getting up in front of a class of kids is intimidating, but you will find that gradually goes. Confidence comes from doing things, and you won’t do well in life if you avoid everything that scares you.

Might be worth looking at special needs teaching (smaller classes, more one on one), speech therapy.. even children’s nursing.

Id suggest chrildrens nursing or OT or SALT
All these make a huge difference to children.

I wouldn't recommend teaching and I certainly wouldn't recommend a teaching degree. The retention rate in teaching is horrendous and far more would leave if they could see a way out. Even if you end up in a good school, all that can quickly change with a new head or when you become too expensive.

If you really want to train to teach, do another degree first and then do a PGCE. It doesn't really matter what the first degree is in, in theory it needs to be relevant to the curriculum, but it's not usually an issue in reality. That way you have a fallback later if you decide not to continue in teaching.

I haven't been a teacher or a nanny but I have been a 3 year old with a temporary "teacher" who I now know was 16. She was really, I guess, a TA who covered while our regular teacher was with another class (private school in the 1970s so different to today), but we were all a bit in awe of her and saw her as a teacher, or certainly an adult who was in charge of us. I only found out how young she was a few years ago. She was actually the teacher's niece but we didn't know that. Don't let your age put you off - in an Early Years setting your class will probably think you are ancient!

Hi op, I work in a childcare. Not nannying, but still in the same line of work. Honestly I wouldn't recommend childcare. I love my kids but it's a huge amount of responsibility with buttons for pay and minimal holiday entitlement. The hours can be long and honestly I think far too much is expected from childcare workers a lot of the time.

Babysitting/being a nanny is not a career. Consider other child oriented careers like a OT, a SALT or a physiotherapist.

Being a professional nanny is not ‘babysitting’. But people who nothing about it tend to throw out comments like that, it’s so ignorant.

Would also recommend considering speech and language therapy or occupational therapy. Saying this as an ex primary school teacher

Train as a teacher and do your NQT year. That will help you get the best paid nannying jobs in London and abroad. Then once you have a family and want to settle down you can go back to teaching.

Teaching isnt really the best family compatible career. The retention rate in teaching is rubbish. Many schools try to get rid of older staff and many many leave after having children.

Teaching is often now a pre-child career it seems.

For longevity salt/psych/ot really would be better.

Training as a teacher would be a great bonus to any job working with children.

From there you could consider other options. Speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, maybe teaching or working with children with special needs/special educational needs would interest you? That tends to be smaller groups, more personal relationships and you’d be making a massive difference.

@languagelover96

Babysitting/being a nanny is not a career. Consider other child oriented careers like a OT, a SALT or a physiotherapist.

Hi @languagelover96 I have to say I'm offended by your rude comment. I am a career nanny and I do very well, but thank you. Babysitting is completely different to nannying. As a nanny I am not just there to 'watch the children' so to say. I teach them, preparing educational activities. Plan outings / organise clothes/ cooking / laundry / diaries / Bath them / change nappies / play with them / cuddle them / help with routines/ take them to and from school. The list could go on and on. I do babysitting occasionally too, but babysitting is simply evening minding the children usually once they are asleep. It is completely different.

OP. I went to uni at 18 to do a degree in education. I soon realised that I didn't want to be a teacher but I don't feel that my degree was a waste. I learnt SO much. And I loved uni and if I could do it all again I would. I made some of my best friends at uni and had some of my best life experiences. There isn't a time like it.
I did some part time nannying at uni and I kind of grew from there. For a few years I wasn't sure if it was what I would carry on doing but I've just continued building my name up and I've never ever been out of work. It is a scary time when parents don't need you anymore and I'll admit that that is one of the downfalls of the industry but it has always worked out for me and I've never had a gap! I can't see myself switching careers anytime soon.

I will say that the hours are often long with nannying. I do 11+ hour days and being out of the house that long can sometimes be tough but I've now dropped a day and couldn't be happier. When do you have to decide about the degree? Could you do some part time nannying soon to see how you find it?

Good luck!

I was a career professional nanny for 20%yrs

Only changed to maternity and nights so when I was a mum I could be there daytime for my child and not have to wake them up at 6am to take to work etc

Nannying and teaching are very different

30 kids would drive me nuts and I think dd now 4 at school teacher is amazing to deal with them all

It's definitely worth getting your degree and teaching qualification, and maybe doing a couple of years teaching.

You can probably earn more nannying though, £40-50k is common in London though so are 10-12 hour days! You will have lots of opportunities to travel and work abroad, and with a teaching background you can look at governess jobs too.

i was struggling with the idea of working with more privileged children and not being able to help the ones who may be in a more disadvantaged position with less fortunate backgrounds,

Then you need to be a teacher. No one who is not incredibly privileged can afford a nanny.

Remember those aren’t the only two jobs in the world.

It doesn’t sound like you want to be a nanny if you are wanting to ‘make a difference’ to under privileged children. That’s fine. That doesn’t mean you should be a teacher though.

As a teacher of many years-I wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy and if you hate the thought of teaching 30 children whilst being watched by numerous adults, I would drop that as an option asap!

Then you need to be a teacher

No, she really doesn’t! It doesn’t work like that. There are many other more suitable jobs out there.

Thank you for this advice - i’ve heard from a couple of people now that they wouldn’t particularly recommend teaching, which is a shame. Did you teach primary or secondary? And if you don’t mind me asking what other jobs do you recommend are good to look into? I love working with kids and i currently love my job at an after school club so much so are there any other jobs similar to this that you recommend?