If you are working in education...

[LorlieS]

With the current staff retention crisis, I just wondered how many of us are (or have recently) made the decision to leave our roles in education.
Is it as bad as we really think it is?

This is sounds much more doable.

How is pupil behaviour and what is your curriculum like? Are parents supportive?

I didn't get the choice after 20 years in Finance/Senco/H&S/Exams/First Aid/Admin/Estates/Jack of all trades in a sixth form college which closed down. Did love the job, students and colleagues - though the money was rubbish!! Due to my age - I was pensioned off - can't say I work any less now though - looking after various GCs now - unpaid but a lot of fun!! Look forward to the peace on my 'days off' !!😆

Amaya, this sounds incredible! Best of luck. I so wish we had one strong union instead of several; then we could really get behind the workload problem collectively.

Yes I have a toddler and another one on the way. It’s forced me to be even stricter with boundaries. I grew up with two full time working parents, we would cook our own dinner and Mum would be back after 7pm. I am home at 4pm, and I’m with my kids every moment of the school holiday. I personally thank my lucky stars that I am a teacher; I think I earn quite well, and have a good work-life balance. I’m not in leadership though, so my workload is very manageable; I get everything done between 8am-4pm and have a 5 min commute.

@JustJessi You're a teacher (England?) and get everything done between 8 and 4?! A lot of us would love to know how you do that I'm sure!
When do you do marking/assessments/reports etc?

This is how it should be, all the time.

JustJessi, sorry to be nosy: may I ask what year group you teach, and, if in primary, how many classes per year are in your school? I am amazed at what you accomplish in terms of reducing your working day and, I suppose, am looking for 'structural' differences in circumstances. I've also got 2 DC and a tiny commute, and would love to fit the job into the hours you keep. I've always considered myself focused and organised, working through the lunchbreak to get things done etc, but am nowhere near an 8h day. The closest I got was when I was very part-time for a while after maternity leave and didn't have sole responsibility for a class as my job share partner shouldered the lion's share, working more days than me.

Does anyone have experience of moving from a state primary to an independent?

DH and I both teachers. Trying to work out a way at least one of us can leave. Probably DH as he has terrible work-related stress and has been on antidepressants for some time. The pressures of the job keep getting higher in an environment where you are constantly required to do more with less. I am in primary and have to teach more children with increasingly complex needs with less support or funding than there has ever been, yet expected to maintain or improve results.

We also feel we are not supporting our own DC enough, who are both struggling with the educational environment themselves.

It's hard to leave though- we are both middle leaders so difficult to find something else on a manageable salary.

I am 52, and teach at an independent school. They're phasing out the TPS and giving smaller pay-rises to those who want to stay in. I was initially planning on working until I was around 60, but my DS will be through the school before that (fees reduction) and so now I'm planning on going after two more school years. Luckily my birthday is in September so I can go when I'm 54 + 11 months and then draw a reduced pension! The whole sector might collapse with VAT, so...

Finances should be OK, but I haven't ruled out taking a part-time job doing anything undemanding just to help with uni for DS (older child will be through the system by then).

Have done nearly 15 years as a TA in a primary school. Had an interview two weeks ago. Notice to school going in this coming term. Had enough, getting out 😊

I'm a TA I love the job, the school I'm at the staff and the kids but I will have the leave once my youngest is in year 6 so can come home alone unless someone changes by then I won't be able to afford to carry on

I’m in my 17th year. I’m keen to leave. So are both the colleagues in my department. If we are all successful then there will be no one in the department left.

Reasons-
workload- it’s insane. You have to prepare for approx 2 hours to teach for 6 hours, then work to mark the work you taught which takes about 2 hours, prepare for the next… it’s a vicious cycle. So teachers really need 12 hours per day to do their job to the standard OFSTED want but, like many of us, I have children of my own who need my time.
Lack of parental support- parents do not like teachers. They don’t trust them. They don’t believe them. I don’t know how this has happened, but slowly over time, trust in teachers has been eroded. I emailed a parent last month to explain their child had not submitted coursework (compulsory for their course) by the deadline. I was then told it was my fault for not explaining it to the child properly, even though all 72 other students had done it, and submitted it. The information was available o Teams and in paper format AND email.

I teach GCSE and A level only so I don’t have behavioural issues to add to the mix. If I did, I would have left years ago.

apparently the average career length in teaching is now only 5 years….. this is unsustainable and I worry for my own children- one who will soon hit secondary school where the shortage is the worst.

I am 9 years in, was promoted to middle leadership too early and burnt out spectacularly.
I now teach online, WFH and much less demanding. I would never go back to a physical school. Every time we advertise for jobs the school is inundated with applications.