Has anyone done a PGCE after having children?

[Treetopchallenger]

I'm wondering whether I can afford it. I have three children I can either wait until youngest is in school or apply next year but they will need full time care in nursery etc.

The online calculators tell me what I might get but there's nothing concrete! It'll be in maths so I'm hoping I will get a bursary.

How did you afford childcare and also the logistics of having children with studying and working?

Thanks!

I did with 4 dc, however i did wait until the youngest was in school
It still was an expensive year. I got a bursary but it barely covered ( didn't cover?) after school care and parking fees at the uni, never mind loss of income etc.
Hard year, nqt year harder, gets much better from there on in

Mine were both at primary when I did mine. We just had DH's salary. It was enough for us to manage, but everyone's different. We were paying for after school care. There was a holiday club that was 1/2 price to students which was a big help while I was doing essays.

The money is only one aspect though. Teaching is not a family friendly profession. Who picks up your child if they're sick at school, because it won't be you? Who goes to their plays, sports days and assemblies? You won't. Who does bedtime when you're marking and planning?

I am no longer a teacher...

I did my PGCE with two children at a childminder. I left the house early so DH dropped them off, and I picked them up. Timings were not an issue at all.

I really can't remember anything bad about it apart from my lack of income. My bursary, back in the day, was only £1000 and it was given out in the summer term.

It has been a fantastic career move for me as I now have five children. It survived career breaks and, of course, enabled me to be at home in the holidays.

I'm doing a PGCE, I get a student loan, a bursary, tax credits and I would get a contribution towards my child care if I paid it.
I'm out of the house between 7.15am and about 7pm with work to do at home.
I couldn't have done it when my children were younger!

a good friend of mine did this, started off as a volunteer reader at her boys school once youngest was in reception. Moved on to a TA at same school and then studied for the PGCE once they were able to take themselves to school in the morning (year 5 and 7 I believe)

It's good to hear you can get a loan as well as a bursary. I already had a loan for my degree will that disqualify me from having another for the PGCE fees?

No, teacher training is eligible for student finance! We are all post-graduate. However your partners income is assessed when making the calculations.

as long as you don't mind your kids being in someone else's care for 12 hours a day, then you'll be ok...

It was 9 hours in my case, but that's what it's like for working parents. Most have it a lot worse.

I'm doing a part time one at the moment. Feels very manageable so far and loving it. DD at fab nursery & will be going to lovely prep school with before & after school club for wraparound childcare. Heaps of teachers at my school get in 730/800am leave at 4ish collect kids and then do work when kids in bed. I think if you pick a nice school with a reasonable head it's fine. Much more child friendly than my previous job in the city out the house every day 6am-8pm with 5 weeks off a year....

Very few teachers with kids left at my daughters state primary. Most left in last few years so mainly just the younger ones or without kids.

I wouldn't go back to teaching. I dont think many left at 4 when I was. Certainly at my daughters there's a bell about 6 when they're supposed to leave.

It of course is probably different in a prep school..

I love the negativity of people on this thread "If you don't mind your children being in child care for 12 hours a day", "Who will go to the plays" etc.
In my previous job this was impossible for me and the child care a reality too. Plus being expected to work away from home, travel to several far out locations and attend alarm calls at 3am in the morning and still need to be back in work for 8am (in reality 7am to do the work needed)

I have just finished my PGCE and have two children. We got student loan, child care provision and tax credits. You will find it hard going, there will be times when you need to focus on your work, placements will be stressful and you will encounter teachers with negativity just as much as those with positivity.

You could make it work but its not just your going through it, its your whole family.

I'm doing it now as a single parent with 8yo and 6yo. It's early days but so far so good, however I deliberately waited until my youngest was in Y2 and settled in school. They are with the childminder 7am til 6 (obviously at school in-between!) I do my work in the evenings when they're in bed.

I get a bursary, student loan, also a parents learning allowance and childcare grant so financially we're fine. However they're all means tested apart from the bursary, so if you're married/living with a partner they will take his earnings into account.

Secondary maths has a really high bursary not confirmed yet for next year's entry but was 25k tax free this year as long as you got 2.2 in your degree getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-and-salary/overview so depending what you doing now it's not bad and certainly more than you get as a qualified teacher in your first few years, this bursary is totally non dependant on anything else, you can also get a student loan too, I'd check how it's paid back though as my OHs was just added onto his current total but the new postgraduate loans are paid back in addition ie 9% over 21k for undergraduate loan plus an additional 5% over 21k for postgraduate loan which isn't as attractive if you don't need the extra. Whether it is doable time wise with kids is up to you, with lots of support maybe but pgce is way more intensive than any other year of a teaching career as some but not all schools will insist you make all your own materials and produce very detailed plans for each lesson as well as filling in sheets for university about how each lesson went and coursework which will give you very little free time in the evenings after probably a long and stressful day teaching

I did, was hard going but doable.
You will need to be super organised and time management is key. The mothers on my course all did better than the youngsters with no dependents. We multitask and manage our time better.
It's fine. And yes, getting to assemblies/sports days is pretty impossible but bloody hell, look at the holidays!

Thanks, I will do it I think but wait a couple of years until the youngest is in year one (so settled in school). I know I will miss a lot of school things but will be better for our family in the long run as we can have nice days out/ holidays etc plus will still get lots of time in the school holidays with them. My husband works shifts so will be able to do some of the school runs and some school events. So useful to have people real experiences to read. Hopefully next year I'll get my school experience together and brush on on my subject!

Being honest. Before kids. Yes. With kids you have to really really want it. I wouldn't if I was deciding for me now with dc.
Good luck whatever you decide.