Moving from secondary to primary

[Whynotnowbaby]

I am a secondary linguist, 15 years experience and was in a leadership position until I went part time after I had dd. I am returning from my second mat leave in January and have decided that although I love teaching, I would like to change direction and move to primary. This is actually something I thought of swapping to even while I was doing my PGCE and has been there as an idea throughout my career.

My plan is to resign from my current school and take some time as a sahm and do maybe a day a week as a parent helper. I was also wondering whether there was any point in approaching a supply agency to ask if I could do very occasional supply but I don't know whether this is something they would do or whether you have to commit to being available for a certain amount of time every week. I would look to start applying for a junior class teacher role after a year of is sort of thing.

Has anyone got experience of making this sort of move? Is it feasible to think I might be able to get a job like this. If so what do you think I should do to show I am ready for primary? I would be happy to take a pay cut as I know that someone at the top of the payscale with limited experience in the primary sector is probably not ideal.

Have you taught primary at all? I know a lot of schools do transition work through their linguists.

Lots of primary teachers hate MFL. Have you considered setting yourself up to teach MFL across both key stages to cover PPA at the same time?

I haven't taught any primary although I have observed a bit, and run a large scale youth project with primary aged children. That's why I want to ensure I get some experience before I apply for any jobs. While I would be very keen to be involved in language provision, I really don't want to just be a linguist. The appeal of primary is the broad spectrum of subjects so just teaching mfl would be much the same as what I do already but just with a younger age group!

I am a bit worried about that aspect as whenever I mention it to someone irl they seem to say oh fantastic you could do ppa. I'm pleased to have a marketable asset but I want the relationship with my own class and the breadth of curriculum. I'm happy to do different things to ensure I have a full understanding of what is involved but would like some advice on what is good to do.

In London, if you have a pulse, the agencies will bite off your hand to give you primary supply - schools are desperate, so dictate your won days of working. I am secondary trained but was pressurised to take primary work. I did a few days, and was asked back, but the demands of marking were ridiculous, so no longer do primary. But there is massive demand.
The only downside for you is that when ( not if!) one of the schools want to offer you a job, if you have been there thru an agency, the school will have to pay a hefty agency fee.

I've moved from secondary to primary (independent prep) but am still a subject specialist. I have the best of all worlds-teaching littlies with loads of variety, but very little marking due to my subject (music). The amount of work required in class teaching in the primary sector is absolutely astonishing and there is no way I would be able to keep up with the planning, marking, data tracking and ever shifting goalposts. Primary teachers are extraordinary people, and I am full of admiration for the commitment of my colleagues. I would crumble after a week due to the workload.

That's reassuring MrsGuy I'm not in London but at least it's clearly something agencies would be prepared to consider. I'm glad it's worked well for you teacher but I really don't want to be a subject specialist who only teaches that subject - I may as well stick with my current job if I want to do that!

If anyone else has any advice I would be very grateful!

I moved years ago, but I was an English teacher so the move wasn't quite such a shock.

The workload in terms of marking is much, much heavier. 30 literacy, maths and topic books every night. In secondary my marking load was heavy, particularly with AS/ A2 and around coursework time, but primary is relentless.

I also find that the children are assessed much, much more. I now use target tracker and assertive mentoring as well as Singapore, and it's non stop. Assessment at the start of and and of every half term plus afl every day.

And the new content might throw you. I'm confident with the literacy ( some of year 6 is old year 9 stuff!)but the maths requirement took some revision!

I am now 3.5 days a week and that's about the most I can cope with.

On the plus side, the behaviour is generally less challenging ( not always) but I was surprised to find that most of the really challenging students don't reach mainstream secondaries. My understanding of SEN has enlarged exponentially.

Also be prepared to be flexible. The gap between year 7 and 13 isn't as large as 1 and 6. My first year 1 class made my knees turn to water! Note that in most primaries you get placed in a year, there's not always a choice. I'm free from year six after several hours of duty now, but be prepared to get the year nobody wants!

Thank you Phleba, that's really interesting. I will definitely be brushing up on my maths! I had heard the marking is a nightmare so will need to get myself organised for that. I think literacy should be quite manageable as mfl gives a very good understanding of grammar and there was a huge lit component in my degree. I definitely need to get into some schools and try to get some hands on experience of every possible year group!