Going back to University as a mature student to be a teacher - bad idea?!

[Lostwelshlady]

Does anyone have any experience of going back to University as a mature student?

I’d love to hear your experiences, especially if you have young children. Also, any primary school teachers with young children- how do you make it work?

For context, I’m 40 years old with a 9 month old baby, and my maternity leave is going to end soon. I’ve told my current job I won’t be returning to my previous hours/schedule as I have zero childcare options, and I don’t want to put DC in nursery. (There are no good options locally and I’d basically be working to pay a nursery bill)

I’m paid well for the area I live in (decent jobs are hard to come by in my locality- it‘s one of the most deprived rural areas in the UK) so I know in one respect I’m foolish to leave my job as I won’t get the pay anywhere else for a few years. It’s a fairly standard admin job in the private sector which I just kind of fell into, but not something I particularly enjoy and has been quite toxic at times but pays above average as I’ve had a few pay rises over the years to stop me from leaving.

I have no realistic childcare options as DC gets older, so I’ve been thinking of career options which would work around being able to be home with him. My local university offers a primary school degree, and despite the deprived area is actually one of the top 25 in the UK to offer this degree. Am I being ridiculous to even consider it?

At the moment my thoughts are to get a basic job in the evening so that DH can watch DC, and then once DC is old enough to go to nursery school in two and a bit years, I could enroll in university and gain the teaching degree. Then if I got a job as a teacher I would be working the same hours DC would be in school? I know there would be additional hours but I could do breakfast club/after school club, and most importantly I’d be home to care for him during the school holidays? I feel like I’m being ridiculous even considering it but I cannot think of any work I can do that pays well enough and also means I can look after DC myself. We have family nearby but none are not viable options for any more than an hour or two of childcare for special occasions (elderly, health issues etc)

Can any mature students give me any insights? Or teachers with children give me a reality check as to why this would be a stupid idea? Or the practicalities I haven’t considered? Or does it work well for your family?! My head is spinning trying to figure out if it would work or is totally ridiculous. Thank you x

My friend works in the high school that is in the same campus as her DC's primary school literally 20 steps away from it. She didn't realise that she would still need breakfast club and after school club. You have to be in the building, logged in, and set up before the school day starts. Most breakfast clubs don't start early enough for you to travel far to a school where you work. You can't just leave the building the second the bell goes. Even if you could, how would you get to pick up your child? This all adds up. Also, the teacher training year at uni and the NQT year are incredibly long hours. You work every night until you fall asleep and repeat. This is unmanageable for most people with young children.

Also, depending on where you work, you may not have the exact same days off or holidays as your child. You will work on inset days so you need childcare for these.

Inset days for your own child’s school can be a real pain to cover and impossible if you have no realistic childcare options. My children’s school ALWAYS closed when it was snowy whereas mine never did! Theirs was used as a polling station as well.

Don’t forget about attendance at your own school for parents evenings and productions as well.

I’d basically be working to pay a nursery bill)

No
You would be working for
Pension contributions
Paid holidays
Building up experience so your salary rises over time
And childcare comeout out of joint income not yours alone

What is your dh suggestion for childcare options?
Is he going to adjust as well?

I was a lecturer in FE before I had a baby and then after I had him I looked into doing a PGCE to become a primary teacher. I had a place but decided to pull out.

The reasons were:
I would still have had childcare issues whilst doing the training
I already knew how exhausting lecturing was without a child
The lure of the holidays wasn't enough to convince me it was a good idea!

I'd say whilst your child is so young, just get a job, any job, that's going to work for you and bring in some money.

Maybe look for work as a TA when they're a bit older so you can get a real feel for the job.

Honestly, I would say now is not the right time to dive into this but wouldn't write the idea off completely.

It just seems like you're trying to identify a career that will fit in with parenting which as lot of people have said, teaching is not!

I went to uni at 36 and loved it. My son was at private school so the hours were d/o at after 8.15 and pick up around 5 which was doable. My uni homework I carried out evenings. My mother was amazing in doing the occasional pick up when things ran over.

Work life was fine after as I picked up a 9 to 5 job the same year my son changed schools. The school bus picked him up at 7.30 and dropped him at 6ish so that worked out fine because I had an hour and 15 commute.

The point is that you can work around things if you have either a good support network or can buy the longer hours childcare you need. If you don't do it will you resent the lost opportunity? I ditched my first husband because he wouldn't support me going to uni, and so I did it on my own.

I did exactly this,slightly older and primary age kids. The training was good, mixed ages, placements were 8 weeks 8am to 5pm. Actual teaching loved it and still do, but as others have said ONE of the least flexible jobs, no dental/docs appointments in term time in reality, don't get to attend kids nursery/school events.Little down time after school. Really need good backup support for kids,eg illnesses.Lots of pressure day to day not to mention OFSTED!
If you could afford to not work for a few years that would be my ideal choice with very young kids(I had 4) wasn't an option to work.
See how life with small kids pans out then make a decision? Good luck.

I was a TA when my children were small - that is the family friendly option, but the money is dire.
I went to university then trained as a teacher when my kids were 16 and 13.
I don’t think I would have been either a good mum or a good teacher if I’d tried to do it when they were younger.

Have you considered being a childminder? You could do it over next few years, lots of overlap with primary teaching. Then study after that.

Or something like forest schools, if they have those in your area? Is your area touristy? Could you get a job helping school groups etc?

Teaching is something lots of people look to as a career change, often with quite unrealistic ideas about what it involves.

At my kids' schools there are TAs who could be teachers but chose the lower salary for the sake of shorter hours and less stress. Might be worth looking into. Other school roles are things like running after school clubs, sen support, or with your skills you could get a business manager type job - still within the school.

Make friends with someone at your local school and talk it through!

This.

I went to uni at 36 and loved it. My son was at private school so the hours were d/o at after 8.15 and pick up around 5 which was doable

The teaching practice placements I had at university would have required more childcare than that. Even if I didn’t arrive till 8 (and everyone else was there before 8!), we could be allocated a school an hour away, so robust and early childcare would be essential. Luckily I didn’t have kids when I trained otherwise it would have been a nightmare.

Don't underestimate the stress and emotional tolls of teaching, either. So hard when you want the best for your own children, but you also want the best for the children you teach.

Then there's the practical side - even though our children go to nursery, I have a 4yo and 18m old, on my working days I can't drop them at nursery and get to work on time, let alone get to work with time to set up my day, so someone else has to. And because of staff meeting and nursery closing time, someone else has to pick my children up from nursery too.

Working part time I have found that I have to work harder than I expected because I have to stay abreast of everything the same as a full time member of staff on far less hours.

It's definitely not a family friendly career.

If you’re in England I’d say go onto some of the teaching groups on Facebook, see what people are saying.

I retrained as a secondary school teacher in my late 40s. It was gruelling but a fantastic course (Keele). I felt that I learnt so much I'm such a short time. When I was doing teaching practice at school there were students who had done different training routes and they really struggled. So make sure you have a good, supportive uni. I think that makes a huge difference. I think teaching full time os really hard work if you have young children. My children were teens - so still demanding - but I'm not sure I could have coped with young children. But lots of people do.

I haven’t retrained as a mature student but I did have my first baby when I was a full time primary teacher. I would have to drop him off at nursery at 7.30 and pick him up at 6 (when nursery opened and closed) so I could get all my school work done And I was still needing to work a day at the weekend quite often. I wouldn’t have been able to do his first day at school, see any plays or assemblies and the head teacher was really unreasonable if I was off when he was poorly. Initially I went part time for a bit but then I quit because I felt it wasn’t sustainable with young children and I had another baby.

Could you not try to negotiate more holidays from your current employer. If they don't want you to leave they may be flexible? The more I think about it, the more I think teaching when you have young children will be a nightmare. It's not like you're an established teacher; you will still be learning and you'll be constantly tired and frazzled. I think an "easy" job with fewer holidays will still leave you more available for your own children. You can never switch off from teaching and the hols are spent prepping.

The hours for teachers are brutal. Whilst you might be able to drop off and pick up u will have work to do in the evening.

I did a pgce when my children were just about teenagers and was 40ish. My husband and parents were very supportive. It was an incredibly hard year, and my nqt year not much easier. I no longer teach, but when working I was in at 7.45 and rarely left before 5.30 and wasn’t the last on the premises. I marked most nights and prepped and planned at least one day at weekends.

Do your research, teaching these days is a very hard job and the system would like you to dedicate your life what is not now a particularly well paid job. Perhaps private schools are more teacher friendly, I don’t know. I really don’t know how women with very young children make it work.The attrition rate is shocking now for a reason.

I did this when my youngest was 8 - it was the hardest thing I have ever done and I can categorically say you will never work just the hours your child goes to school. I love teaching but it does not fit around your family. I often have less flexibility than my DH

Another thing I did not realise was how little patience and energy I would have for my own children once I became a teacher. I would say if you are doing it because you are thinking it will be family friendly - don’t.

I did it mid thirties with 3 children at primary school.
Got an au pair who did 7-9am and then 3-5ish.
Do it!!

Most people don't know what childcare options there are locally until they need it. Summer camps, school or overflow after school clubs often don't need to advertise. You could try ringing up a nanny agency too. So don't over-react to the no childcare thing unless you are absolutely sure. Personally I think teaching is one of the hardest jobs to fit around kids, because of the lack of annual leave, and from what I know the PGCE year without substantial family support would be a huge challenge.

Also you may hate this suggestion but you could seek a role as a TA or LSA for a year or two before committing to the training. You might feel it sounds like wasted time, but it would mean you were going in with your eyes open and some sense of your aptitude & enjoyment for it. My son attends an autism unit within a mainstream school and there are several subject teachers at his school who started out there as LSAs. It would also mean starting with a work timetable that's more like 9-3 than demanding evenings and weekends of you, while your child is young.

Also, any primary school teachers with young children-how do you make it work?

Robust childcare and a very supportive husband/parents.

I don’t see how you could teach without childcare or very supportive local family willing to do it.