Any positive stories about life as a teacher?

[CrockedPot]

I have been in FE for years but considering a move into secondary. I have always wanted to work with younger children but life/my own children happened and it is only now they are older that I can work full time and am prepared to put in the work to move into a new sector.
I have been lurking on here for a while to get a feel for how it is for teachers in secondary and to be honest am now having second thoughts. Is it really so very, very bad? For my part, I am used to the endless hamster wheel of planning/marking/ever changing goal posts, but find it balances with loving being with my students and enjoying the challenge of the job, plus working with some great people in my college.
My work/life balance could be better but I consider it part of the job to work from home and I do nothing like the hours at home that some of you do, and am aware of how many people are desperate to get out.
What I'd love to know is if any one actually likes it and would recommend it as a job? Or has it become so at odds with what you set out to do at the start of your career that you would rather be doing anything else?

Tumbleweed whistles through...

Crockedpot - watching with interest! I retrained as a secondary teacher after another career, and have decide not to do my NQT year because of the horrific pressure I have seen in some schools. I love being in the classroom but have no desire to sweat the data.

Have been in FE for twenty years, four different colleges, been a manager for the past eleven years, love my work and would recommend it as a career.

My DH loves his job - secondary school teacher (state). He loves his subject. He is very patient and the behaviour issues don't get to him. He enjoys the craft of teaching and thinking of new ways to get the kids to learn stuff. He has a good team of colleagues in his department. He definitely thinks the holidays are a big perk, esp compared to mine. He has a lovely short commute - 20mins by bicycle!

There are definitely some irritations in the job for him, but overall he loves it!

He does work part time (0.6), so I think it's not so all-consuming as if he worked full time, and his subject is relatively low on marking.

interesting replies already! Wigeon - I wonder if the secret is the part time element? I am 0.8 at the moment in FE and would like to do similar IF I make the move.
Mooth - I also love being in FE but wonder if I have gone as far as I can (and have been at same college) I am so worried that I would move from job I genuinely enjoy to one that sounds like a living nightmare.

It all seems to be about the data - what exactly are they asking for?

Have just asked him about the data issue. The data he is is asked for is about tracking progress of the pupils. He feels his school (which is Ofsted outstanding incidentally) has a sensible attitude to it. He thinks the systems they use for recording / tracking data aren't perfect but they are probably the least bad. He thinks his SLT and HoD have a sensible approach to looking at individual teacher's data and that overall there are benefits to it. I don't actuwlly ever hear him whinging about the data!

He also thinks secondary is much more rewarding than FE due to the sense of community, getting to know the students much more, generally better all round! (I hope he isn't the only happy teacher in the country!)

I love my job. I'm a full time secondary head of department. It does depend on the school you're in but 13 years in I still love it. Yes there are bits of the job I like less (data analysis mostly) but there's rarely a day that I don't like what I do and if there is it's usually because I'm not well. I think if you go in positively, organise your time well and enjoy what you do whilst being realistic about how much work you will have to do then it's a fantastic job!

I echo what Tisy10 says.

I also love my job but it took a while to get to the school that felt right. Well ten years, I've been at some pretty rubbish schools in the past.

I am now head of department at a secondary school and love working with the kids and my team. My colleagues are great and it makes the days much brighter.

Yes, data analysis et al is shit, but good organization helps. I work like a trooper in term time and haven't done anything this half term yet as I'm on top of all my marking, data etc.. Only got planning to do which I enjoy as I think how I can make my lessons fun, interesting, stimulating and make the kids learn. I'm a bit of a mad teacher, but that's half the fun - trying out new things so it never gets boring.

It's not all doom and gloom. Will you be exhausted? YES! Will you love it? With the right school and attitude YES!

Thanks for all your replies, really good to hear some of you do actually like it! I have some more research to do yet, but at least it's not a blanket negative!

crockedpot be brave. Take the risk. Look at what you can learn in a new job in a different place and look at what you can bring!

I am a midlife career-changer and have been teaching a core subject in secondary for three years now. The demands are intense and the government is changing the goalposts every five minutes, which makes it very difficult to feel you are up to speed enough to be doing your best by your pupils. However, I absolutely love it. It is tough, but a lot of it is about finding the right school for you. My school is fantastic, my department is very supportive,the kids are amazing and I love my colleagues. In the wrong school, with unsupportive management and unfriendly colleagues it can be a complete nightmare. I know, because I've been there. My advice is, give it a go, but take your time about choosing a school you think you will love working in. Despite the publicity, they do exist.

Another unashamed cheerleader here. I love my job (secondary English) despite the challenges and frustrations, and so does DH (secondary deputy head).

Please remember that any Internet forum is likely to have some negative bias. We seek out online help when things are tough in RL and we need the extra support. You only need look at the childbirth board to see that the proportion of women posting there about difficult or complicated births is significantly higher than the national figures bear out; similarly, with the greatest of respect to my fellow MN colleagues, please don't take this board as a representative sample of teachers.

It's great to hear these stories - I had a pretty sleepless night last night thinking it over and not being able to decide what to do for the best, you have helped my mood this morning! Thank you all for your replies - I really appreciate it and have made up my mind to give it a go. I've got the dreaded interview and observed lesson to get through yet, so a few more sleepless nights ahead of me but I am at least sure I want to give it my best shot. Thanks again.

One thing to bear in mind is that in FE the majority of students are there because they want to be, unlike many students in secondary.
The key to enjoyment seems to be the actual school you are teaching in, and being very sure that you and it are compatible.

I think DH would certainly agree that the school makes all the difference. He joined teaching in his late 20s (or was it early 30s) and I don't think he would have enjoyed staying in either of his placement schools during his PGCE - they just wouldn't have suited him (although they were completely different to each other).

I love my job. I work full time as head of department and it's very hard work during term time but I have the holidays to recover and I enjoy every day. The pupils are great on the whole and something funny happens every day. I'm in Scotland though and I think things are better here than in England - and will be even better in a couple of years once we are all more confident with the new qualifications.

Why do you want to work with younger children? Most teachers I work with are keen to teach as much ks4/5 as possible.