PGDE - thinking of going for it, advice please

[cheeseburgerandfries]

I have a degree already (nursing) but I'm not entirely happy in my job and have been thinking about going for it and applying to do it (primary teaching has always been something I'd wanted to do).

Any information on the course / your experiences would be great. If anyone has any advice please give me it.

My daughter would be around 2.5 when I would be starting uni.

Thanks!

I would be giving up work whilst I complete the course.

Would you recommend I waited until my daughter was in primary school? Or would it be doable with a toddler?

How would I go about getting classroom experience?

You will need ironclad childcare. As in, someone happy to have dc if they are ill so you can still be at work on time. Expect to work a 70 hour week while training. do some experience in s school and see if it is right for you. You can talk to other teachers about the job and observe what they do.

Thanks everyone I would definitely be giving up work while I completed the course. Childcare wise I think I would be better having DD in full time nursery as relying on family would probably become too much and it appears I'd need something solid. I do have a PVG.

I would be looking at Strathclyde Uni. Any information anyone has about the course there would be excellent.

Honest answers .. Is it all worth it? I love nursing but if people were to ask me if I recommend it I would say no.

Hi,

Have you looked into whether, or not, you can do the course over 2 years? That is what I am doing. I also work for the NHS (Biomedical Scientist) and have planned this change for a long time.

My children are almost 11 and 7.

As a nurse, you will be used to working long shifts and unsociable hours (like Christmas) so I am sure you will be fine. I would wait until your little one was in full time school though.

I'm at Glasgow uni doing the 4 year course as a mature student. I'm single and my youngest is 4 years old.
I've been speaking to some of the PGDE students and they've said their placement is 90 minutes travelling time away.
As long as you have someone who can pick your children up from school in an emergency with no hassle then it's doable.

I am in England and on a SCITT course, but I honestly wish I had done it before my dc were at school. Now they have after school activities, clubs and weekend things, to juggle, I think it would have been easier when they were little.
It is soo much hard work, but I am loving it, best thing I ever did.

I think it would be easier with dd as a toddler, at nursery full time. School becomes a total nightmare in terms of drop off and pick up.

Thanks for all the information everyone. No I haven't been in a school since I was in school. I would look into doing some sort of volunteer work perhaps within a brownies or after school club. Then later on in the year contact schools to see if they would have me for a week or two.

My current job is 7.15-7.45 either day or night shift, any day, 3/4 shifts per week. I could fit in a block at a school if I took annual leave but other than that I think helping out at a club would be my best way to get some experience?

five weeks' worth ;)

Your comment, I love nursing but if people were to ask me if I recommend it I would say no. made me want to reply. That's how I feel-I do love teaching, but I would never receommend it to anyone now and I wish I could go back in time and shake my 21 year old self and tell me not to do my PGCE.

I'm 15+ years in and I still love being with the children, but the workload and the totally deranged and inconsistent demands from SMT, the goverment and Ofsted have done me in. I'm off and good luck to all those left behind.

No, I wouldn't do it, not if you want to see your kids :(

When you are out on placement how are you assessed and what is expected from you? I'm a bit worried that a 4 year course can be condensed into less than a year. For the people that have done the pgde- how confident did you feel afterwards?

Based on what you've written, I would echo other posters that it might not be the best move for you. In a sense, nursing and teaching are the same job - both have clients that often do not appreciate you, and both jobs are government run, so constant changes at the whim of whatever minister is in power, and if the government doesn't know what it's doing, then the management don't either, creating lots of stress further down the line. You say you love nursing, and I suspect the reason why you wouldn't recommend it are for the same reasons as many teachers wouldn't recommend teaching. You also say you don't currently do any work (voluntary or otherwise) with young people, which suggests you don't really have a passion for working with young people, so again this would ring alarm bells as to what your motives for wanting to teach are? Have you thought about other jobs within the pharmaceutical industry eg clinical research associate (running clinical trials), sales reps for pharmaceutical companies, or other jobs within the pharmaceutical industry? These jobs really would be completely different, but still with a health care element to them. I used to work for a pharmaceutical company, and they were an amazing employer - really looked after their staff. And they were rolling in money, so equipment, resources, buildings etc, we're always top notch. Have you thought about nursing in the private sector, or a different job within a hospital?