Should I return to teaching?

[SquidgyMaltLoaf]

Currently on mat leave from a non-teaching but still education and subject related job. I taught secondary for nearly four years before I got this job and year and a half ago. Took a £3k pay cut when I changed.

A job has come up at a very good school with an excellent department. It starts a couple of weeks before I would have been going back to work anyway. I can't decide what to do - they might not even want to interview me but if they did and by some miracle they offered me the job...!

Pros: less weekend stuff than I currently do (though still evenings), much shorter commute (15mins instead of an hour), holidays, can be slightly more flexible on hours, more money, more working with young people (I currently do a bit but I miss really getting to know students).

Cons: it's full time, it's only a maternity cover contract, could be stressful again with marking in the evenings etc. (though current job is just as busy during the day).

I came out of teaching because I was fed up with my last school as it had an unsupportive SLT and a line manager who bullied me. Had a suitable job in teaching have come up or my line manager left (which he was trying to do) I probably wouldn't have left the profession. But I planned to work part time on going back this time.

What would you do??

Are you primary or secondary?
If primary, I would say no way jose, because as a supply teacher I work in lots of schools, primary and secondary, and although I love doing odd days in primary because of the lovely DC, the workload for those teachers I cover seems to me to be utterly insane, whereas secondary workload slightly more achievable.

That's interesting, Roehampton. Is it really that different in secondary?

It depends if you are ok with being unemployed in 9 months time. Sounds a great way back if you can afford not to work later on and be prepared you might get the job as most maternity covers are done by supply. Is it a head of chemistry in a grammer school?

No super ram different job

Secondary. Standard post, MPS.

No, don't do it. I'm a peripatetic teacher across primary and secondary schools and everyone is stressed and exhausted. It's become a lot worse in the last two years and many teachers are telling me they don't know how much longer they can carry on. I miss classroom teaching and keep looking at jobs but I know in my heart that it wouldn't be good to go back at the moment.

In a word, no!

Rollon Definitly don't want to imply that Secondary teachers have an easy life - they most certainly don't .
But typically there is no time for any kind of break, except a quick trip to the loo and get a coffee at lunchtime, because the marking, which all has to be done that day often consists of four pieces of work for each child which has to be deep marked, several colours, etc.
As supply I do not have to produce all the (massively detailed) planning, differentiated resources, displays, meetings, parent liaison, subject leadership, reports, appraisals, observations, PP intervention recording, TA planning etc that the regular class teacher has to do every single day. I usually only agree to one or max two days in any week in primary because even though the primary Dc are so lovely (they often make me thank you cards ) it is so much more draining that secondary.
Hence my complete amazement that anyone can sustain that level of workload.

I know both as a ft teacher and primary is much much harder.

Secondary teacher of 23 years. (ok, 2 periods of mat leave)
Do not even consider it. Really. Just don't. At all.