If I became a teacher, would I be able to not need childcare during school holidays?

[Twiglett]

or is that naive?

(assuming I work in the same LEA as my children's school .. I understand I would need before and after-school care)

Good for you VictorianSqualor, tough job, great job!

My ex husband teaches. He was normally in by or before 8 and left the school at 5.45pm which is when the school day finished (long day, private school) and usually 2 or 3 evenings a week before of what he did in the school and then because the pay is so appalling in teaching he taught out of school too and did things like summer camps in the school holidays. It's basically very hard work for not much pay and sadly doesn't even have the status it used to have. lose lose all round except that we need good teachers so just as well some people are prepared to do it. On the other hand if you marry someone like me then you can walk off with nearly £1m on divorce and be quite a rich relaxed teacher at the end of the day so there is more than one way to skin a cat I suppose financially like tip off your spouse.

no i dont teach primary. I teach secondary. Ive been teaching ten years and every teacher i know works weekends (at home) its nice to work from home of course, but i know i would be rather be doing something enjoyable with my sunday, rather than doing school work.

VS you WILL have weekend and holiday work - when do you think you write those reports (120 kids each time)? - when do you read up on your subject and think up stuff to teach ?(no you aren't given timetabled time for that) when do you prepare homework sheets? when do you mark 100s of scripts a week (2 homeworks a week, 120 kids) you work it out!!!

It can be great but its not the opt out most people think!!

Oh, by weekends I meant out of the home, I wouldn't mind doing stuff at home, I'm actually one of those weird people that enjoys paperwork and being organised

Oh Xenia,

oh sorry i thought you ment no work at weekends (sorry) I love teaching and yes it is very good for flexible working. I had to go part time as now have 2 children and working full time was too much. Try to get a school close to home. I have to travel 40 mins to work, so i haveto drop off kids at 7 generally work till 5 on average. i couldnt manage this 5 days a week and also unfair on my kids (we are like a mini military in the morning)

Where are all these schools where you are allowed time off for your own child's sports days and plays? I worked for 9 years and I don't remember anyone being allowed time off for such things. It just to annoy staff as on one hand the school wantd our parents to suppot their pupils in activites/events, but on the other hand they refused to allow staff to support their own children.

I find the Prospects Web website - designed for graduates - a good place to learn about alternative career choices/ Look under the education section.

I know of a friend of a friend who got a lecturing position in a University without higher degrees or a teaching qualification. She got the job on the back of her marketing experience and was, lecturing on a Marketing degree course.

It might be worth looking at the job pages of some of the non-traditional Universities. Target some Universities which offer vocational degree courses in the line of work you used to do.

Oops - here is the link to Prospectsweb

I take the point that teachers have a hefty workload of marking/preparation etc. But surely once your DC are of a certain age (bearing in mind twig is not talking about doing this until her youngest is nearly 6) while your presence is nice you could be doing some of the less taxing stuff while the children are around IYSWIM. There is a certain degree of flexibility to the work outside of the 9-3.30 (other than staff meetins, parents evenings etc, I know).

Am sure I will be repeating some things already said, but will add my bit:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching and my particular cushy job is pretty family friendly, home by 4 etc. Dh's teaching job is also fairly good in that he maybe could wangle time off (unpaid) to go to nativity plays etc. THIS IS UNUSUAL. The last place we worked was a bloody nightmare and would have been VERY hard with a family like any other job). So it does depend (like other jobs) where you work.

Holidays are WONDERFUL and needed. You do have INSET days which if kids are older, some schools let you bring them in or you can make occasional arrangments.

The biggest factor though is the training. The first few years of teaching are a KILLER (think the same level of tiredness/out of your depth/overwhelmedness from the first few weeks of looking after a newborn). Of course, you get through it and then teaching is great but just be aware that it is really really hard at first.

Other benefits to teaching are that part-time is usually an option, and that you always have supply work to fall back on to.

Best thing to do is to go and visit a school and see whether you think you;d enjoy it!

I was in school today talking to 2 separate year 2 classes for over an hour each, telling them stories and answering questions .. and I loved it

DS says I was better than his teacher .. but that might have been the cakes to be fair

hmmmm .. reconsiders yet again

164 posts and here comes Fio straight to the point

It is a fantastic job if you love kids and love your subject.

I spent 5 hours preparing lessons on Sunday. the kids are older now and were happy puttering round the house as I worked away. Now, I enjoyed making those resources. If I didn't love my subject, it would have been a different thing.

Later in the evening I did an on-line revision session for my sixth formers who have an exam tomorrow. I'm doing a 2 hour drop in session tonight just to iron out any last minute issues, also on line. This is because the kids are great and I want to do my best by them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning about the work. But if I wasn't happy with kids or my subject, this would make teaching a nightmare for me.

Just do it. You don't have to feel it's a vocation at all.

Like any job it has its pluses and minuses but I am really pleased that my kids don't have to go to child care during the hols. Yes there is a lot of work to be done at home and one thing to remember that you seem to spend more time thinking about and doing more for other people's kids than your own if you are not careful and personally speaking this is something I HAVE to keep a check on. Also your own health is a major issue. Working in a school you do build up some resistance but it is very very very tiring (you are, in effect, spending 7 hours 'performing' infront of various students) and it is easy to catch the nearest bug. Unfortunatly setting cover is a complete bugger and sometimes is causes you less work to go in and be ill all over the place than phone in sick. Also I find that schools take a dim view of teachers being off because their kids are off and there is also no leeway for carol concerts, etc, so sometimes you have to go in when ill because you might need to not build up the absence too much in case the kids are ill/desperately need you to see the school play.

I would advise anyone going into teaching to shadow in some different schools (secondary, primary, infant, FE) to get a feel for different places adn then possibly do a year as a TA/LSA before committing to the training.

All the best.

I haven't got a hope in hell of getting a TA slot as they are like gold dust round here so I am going to volunteer at our Primary school. The course I want to do is more training in the school which I like the look of, but if I read it correctly there are fees of £2500 but I will be eligible for a bursary of £4000 (currently £6000). This is all pie in the sky though really as we have no guarantees where we will be living, just hopes.

What is an LSA [thick emoticon]?

Learning support assistant?

MB, I think your point about the subject is an extremely important one, I love English as a subject, if I were to teach say maths or science I'm sure I'd hate my job by the end of my first year, especially as I would imagine a great deal of what you teach is repeated.

Teaching is so so exhausting. I was in industry prior to teaching, and did all the 12 hours days, working bank holidays etc. It was hard work, but nowhere near as hard as teaaching.

When you are teaching, there is no switch-off minutes or wool gathering. If you do that on a class, some liitle sod will do something evil....

You hit the ground running at registration, no slow winding up with a cuppa

Teaching is incredibly intense. When PCW did the work study on teaching, they found the intensity of workload was unmatched in any other profession, and IMO this is what is so hard. You are working every single second of every day.

It is physically and emotionally draining. I have stood up ALL day, apart from a 10 minute sit down at break and similar at dinner time.... (8.30am to 4.30pm)I find the never ending being on your feet all day really really tiring

Having said that, holidays are great, but you need 'em. Boy do you need them, I just collapse in an exhausted heap at end of term.......

I'm in FE / 6th Form lecturing and I have to say that that is quite family friendly.

I work 3 days a week. When my daughter starts school next year, I'll be able to drop her off at school each morning and get to work for 9. I leave pretty much when the bell goes!

I do my photocopying etc during my free periods, and basic admin etc but all my marking and planning I do at home. Basically, I start work again at about 8pm and work through to about midnight. I do this at least 3 nights a week Quite often it can be 5 nights a week. All of this is unpaid.

But I don't work weekends (except Sunday evenings from 8pm) and I absolutely refuse to work holidays.

FE is a bit more flexible because if I need time off to see a school play etc - because the classes do not need to be covered, then I can just set them work etc. But the downside is that my holidays can be different even though I'm in the same area.

But it all comes down to the discretion of your line manager. Thankfully, mine is nice, so if I'm not teaching I'm free to come and go as I like - so one my afternoons off I can go home at 1 if I feel like it. You tend not to see that so much in schools. FE in my experience is more family friendly, but then I took a big pay cut to take on this job (but I love it, so its not a problem for me!)
HTH

The worst thing about the work is the hols... in a funny sort of way.

I spend six weeks counting down to my next holiday, I have no life for six weeks, working really hard. Eventually half term comes, the week whizzes by in a flash, and the clock counter resets and I'm back to counting down the weeks again!

Whilst I love the holidays (esp the summer ones) I do sometimes feel as though I am wishing my life away!