A question - how many teachers on here are thinking of quitting due to Gove?

[bronya]

Everyone I know who teaches and can afford to SAH with their children is going to hand in their notice this year. Many others are looking for new careers. Is this as widespread as I think it'll be?

I've decided I'm not doing another OFSTED. Thinking of doing tutoring and some other things, even if I have to go very part time at first. I tutor a bit at the moment, but I think I could get a lot more if I had more time. The problem with waiting it out is that some other bugger comes in and says something different, then it's all change again, ad infinitum until everyone is broken and demoralised. When friends ask me about going into teaching ( normally because they think its a doss or they can have long holidays with their children (Ha ha!!!!)) I say don't do it unless you really want to do it. It's not a job to do half heartedly, because it will break you. I think after 17 years, it's time to take my own advice!

Me

Its making me ill. Colleague recently died almost on the job,10 years off retirement age. I lost it today with a class, didn't go mad but moaned on and on. One pupil said to me " no one is happy are they Miss?" I used to love teaching, i know I am a bloody good teacher. I feel suffocated.

I've just gone back to work after maternity and am miserable. I enjoy the 90mins in the classroom, on the whole yr10 I'm looking at you but I have been in tears this week at the impossibility of completing the planning and responsibility tasks I have in virtually no free time. As I'm part-time, I'm finding I'm having to work 2-3hrs each non-working day, inc the weekend, just to keep on top. Part of it is due to my own high expectations, not just Gove etc, but its the constant changes and the constant pressure to be 'progressing' as a department, and showing we're a good/outstanding department/school, that what I did a year ago just doesn't cut it now, and as I've been off a year, I find I'm a bit "rusty" and everything takes so much longer. Plus I have 2 kids at home now...

I'm very :( and stressed about it all really. I just don't know what to do. The holidays are such a bonus with my eldest at pre-school and my youngest only 1. I'm tempted with supply, but I'm not sure secondary is really the place to rely on that... I'd have to stay until Easter either way.

Damn it. This is so not what I got into teaching for. :(

Rapunzels I know how you feel. I have 2 DCs as well and my youngest has severe autism, working at home is impossible and because of his disability childcare is non existent. Luckily I was able to stay at school until 6.30 today but I am not touching the surface of my marking. I do about 5/6 hours of marking a week (when we get county funded respite), feeling resentful that my respite time is being eaten up marking all the time. I too am part time.

I just can't see things getting any better either. The actual teaching bit has changed a lot-with learning objectives, success criteria, mini plenaries, 5 part-lessons etc but I could cope with all that if the other stuff didn't exist.

The monumental marking load, for example, even in KS1. I cannot imagine what it's like further up the school. We have to mark in specified colours, with specified nib sizes with opportunities for the children to respond (to stuff they cannot read) and with no time in SMT-designed timetable for such responding to occcur. Performance management to be filled in, assessments to be done before you really know the children (and every 10 minutes afterwards, with SMT changing your data on the system if they don't agree with what level you've given!), data entry, testing, independent writing samples to be marked, planning to the nth degree (plus planning/marking for PPA and also separate plans/evaluations for all intervention groups that LSAs carry out!), individual targets, group targets, IEP targets, daily focus groups, weekly focus groups.

Hardly any of this even existed when I first started teaching. I think the children actually made more progress then as I had more time and energy to plan lovely, cross-curricular lessons and more freedom to be flexible in planning what I think my children needed. I'd usually have my morning lessons planned and all the resources out and ready before I left the day before. Now, I arrive at school at 7.30, playground duty each day, clubs at lunchtime and marking/meetings until gone 6.30. I usually take a pile of marking home and once I've eaten/done that-collapse having not even thought about the next day's lessons. I hate it.

:(

I also feel trapped. I am planning on my escape. The problem is that now I need to bring a certain income (we are struggling enough as it is) and I can't think of another way to match this income. Currently looking at a move abroad, but the thought of uprooting my dcs is a concern (would be a move to dh's home country)

People at work are saying there are lots of transferable skills and they'll just go and get a job in HR, but I can't imagine it will be that easy :(

My problem's that I love teaching. Came to it relatively late (29) after a career elsewhere, & I just can't imagine doing anything else that would be so rewarding or, frankly, so much bloody fun!

The ever-increasing attendant crap I'm getting better at. It's just a question of picking out what SLG's current obsession is (DIT, where I am) & cheerleading loudly & with every indication of sincerity for it.

Then I pretty much get left in peace to do some actual teaching.

they'll just go and get a job in HR, but I can't imagine it will be that easy Hell, no! Why do they think they'll just walk into a profession where there are numerous very well-qualified, experienced HR professionals out of work? Interestingly, I have just moved from HR ( there is a recession on, made redundant) into secondary teaching. The days are much shorter, yes work to be done in the evenings, but that is exactly the same in other professions - out there, jobs are just a stressful, and there are similar pressures. I am far less stressed now as a secondary teacher than I ever was in HR - be careful what you wish for

Worried123456 I agree with everything you say. Im pretty sure that my pupils of 30 years ago made more progress and were more all-rounded happy characters than those going through primary school today.
I also agree though with the posters who say there is stress in other jobs, it is certainly not exclusive to teaching.
On a morning supply engagement this week in year 1, before I left at lunchtime to go to my second school of the day, I marked 4 pieces of work for 30 pupils. Phonics, Literacy, Numeracy and Science. Following the school marking policy this involved highlighting which part of the LO was achieved in one of 3 different colours, a comment regarding what could be done next time to get better and annotation on the pile of planning sheets for each subject about how each session had gone for each group. I also had to ensure each child had assessed their own work with a traffic light system and select a group each session to discuss why they had chosen to assess it as they did.
Unsurprisingly my favourite part of the morning was supervising skipping rhymes on playground duty.
I'm all for useful feedback to children but how can this level of marking be sustained all week and how useful is it to 5 and 6 year olds? Bet they remember the new rhyme I taught them rather than the rest of the nonsense.

... Love the comment about cheerleading! I do so much of that. I also witness a lot of "Emperors new clothes" nonsense going on.

Me. Decided I wanted to be a teacher aged 12 and never changed my mind ... until now. Not sure it's entirely down to Gove though. Just the workload and unmanageable amounts of data analysis and general Ofsted-driven hoop jumping. The alternative is to go back to the private sector, where I taught happily for 10 years. At the moment I'd rather be stacking shelves than doing what I'm doing .

Oh and what Worried123466 said. Exactly that. It's so depressing. I actually hate teaching atm.

Me. This is my 10th year. I'm unhappier than ever before.

I start a new job in Jan.. I thought having it to look forward to would maybe motivate me a bit. But it hasn't. I just don't think I want to teach anymore, i love teaching, but like everyone else, fed up of endless hoop jumping!!

I just don't know what else I could do, i get the transferable skills etc etc.. But looking around, jobs just aren't as well paid :( and with a mortgage, i can't afford to take a hit financially. Is there anyone else either in the same boat or that has any advice?!!

Is there anyone else either in the same boat or that has any advice?!!

Yes, I'm in the same boat, but unfortunately, have no advice!

I gaze desperately at people serving in shops/traffic wardens/nurses/postmen and wonder if they enjoy their jobs, how much paperwork they have and what they earn!

I have got to get out before the job makes me ill.

:( it's rubbish! I'm only in my forth year but the fun has just gone for me. I dread getting out of bed in the mornings, i don't think i'm 'depressed' as such but just very fed up with it.

I wish Gove would read this. I too decided aged 15 that I wanted to be a teacher. Loved it by and large until 2/3 years ago.... Hmmm...

I agree, Hibou. I don't think I am actualyl medically depressed, just incredibly unhappy with work. If teaching was removed from my life completely, I would feel totally different :(

I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in the infants-have never considered another job. It's only really this year (and maybe towards the end of last year) that I've felt like this.

What really annoys me, is that this year-we have more non-teaching SMT than ever, they have offloaded massive amounts of paperwork that they used to do, onto the classroom teachers (usually at the last minute) and they, without fail, leave between 3.45-4.15. Often, they can't actually be found at all during the day. I rarely leave before 6.30 and always walk past a row of deputy head offices with the lights off.

If they appeared to be working as hard as the rest of us, I might have more sympathy. That could just be my place though...

Fedup21 yup. I understand where you are coming from. Our Head puts in v long hours but others in SLT...more and more stuff being passed down.

Sounds like my current smt too. One of the reasons i'm moving schools after xmas. However I will be going from a school in a category to a good school so hopefully that will take some of the pressure off.. I'm just not excited about starting.

Depressing reading but so true.