Training as a primary school teacher

[MillieMoodle]

I'm hoping for some advice please

DH has decided he wants a career change from management accountant to primary school teacher. We've established that he'll need to do science GCSE as he only got a grade D when he took it first time around (many moons ago and before he realised he actually needed to work at school!). He doesn't have any A-levels or a degree. He's got an advanced GNVQ in business studies and AAT which is equivalent to NVQ level 4. He wants to do a B.Ed at our local university, starting in September. Does he need to get A-levels as well, or can he do an undergraduate degree with just the GCSEs?

Also, what's the best way to go about getting work experience?

Thanks in advance!

Sorry, that ^ was to MillieMoodle. I no longer want to to a job I loved, it has broken me and it makes me so sad that it is not the wonderful job it used to be and people still imagine it is.

One week every month is completely written off with work. October half term / bonfire night and new years days all fall on important work dates so we can never do family stuff then.

I work every single weekend for a about 4 or 5 hours. I also work every single night until about 10. This is as an experienced teacher teaching the same year group for the 4th year running. Yes you get the holidays but half term is mainly spent recovering from the never ending round of work and stress during the term.
Yes you will have the holidays but you won't be able to do family stuff at weekends or evenings.

FWIW I don't have A Levels either.

No A Levels here, but I do have a degree and I'm in the middle of a school based PGCE at the moment.
When I wanted to get into teaching I felt like all these people telling me it was so hard were probably right, but it was probably worth a go. Right now, I have a pit in my stomach and am so stressed out I can't even face opening my work.
I dread going back to school on Monday, and really at the moment I'm just continuing because I feel like it would be a waste of money to give up.

If you are in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, he might get a slightly better deal but I wouldn't recommend anyone to go into teaching in England at the moment.

Thanks for all your comments, it has definitely given him/us some stuff to think about. FWIW his job now is long hours, stressful, lots of deadlines etc. so that's something he's used to. I guess the only difference is that his office is 30 odd miles away so he's away from home a lot. And obviously he gets less holiday

For God's sake persuade him otherwise.

I am in a school that has just plummeted from outstanding to SM and it is hellish. I left one academy strain and full time teaching to go part time, and have coped by planning on one day off, dealing with subject responsibilities and paperwork on the other day, and working from 7 till 11 the other 3 days. And I'm shit hot organised.

I'm desperate to leave. And i love the actual teaching. I'm good at it. I just don't like the system anymore.

It's not child friendly. Full time I missed every single school event ever. Childcare is a massive chunk of wages and time. I went part time when I caughtyself rushing My own kids bedtime story because I knew I had hours and hours of work downstairs. At least part time they get to see me. My kids hate it. Stupid meetings and constantly changing goalposts with a horrible blame culture. And it's getting worse.

I look at the people working in Aldi and once I'd worked out the actual hourly rate I get they earn more than me.

Do anything else.

My DP is doing his NQT year at the moment - he retrained after a 20-year career in the media and did the Schools Direct programme, which involves getting a (low) salaried position four days a week at a school (almost like TA level) and one day at uni. He loves the teaching – he's doing Year 4 – but the bureaucracy and mismanagement frustrates the hell out of him. Because he was used to high pressured deadlines he's managing the workload fairly well, plus the way his school works is that the three teachers in each year lesson-plan together so he's not having to do it all on his own. He said from the outset he wouldn't bring work home if he could help it and stays late instead, which makes no odds to me or our DD as he worked later with his old job. He rarely works weekends either. It's clearly not for everyone - a friend of ours quit recently - but my DP wanted to do something more worthwhile and the satisfaction he gets when a kid nails a piece of work and their confidence soars is immense.

I'm an ex secondary teacher husband is primary deputy. He leaves for work before 7am is never home before 6 and starts work in the evenings at 730 till 10pm. He works all day Sunday. Yes we have more time in school holidays. I would love him to have a career where he had his weekends free and some evenings free even if he worked the holidays.
Things change constantly in teaching. There are huge pressures and stresses.
Secondary from my experience is less work as you specialise in One subject but still will be working most evenings and it is mega stressful

Honestly, I am currently considering dropping out of my primary PGCE. I barely get to see my young son. Everyone warns you about all of the work outside of school, but I wasn't prepared for it to be this extreme.

Have you considered the financial side? As TA he won't make much,and as a starting teacher won't make a lot more than that either.
If finances are ok,if he can he should try to find a job as a TA first and see how he can handle it. It's manic and tiring enough,with a lot less hours and work.

The new teachers at my school are all stuck virtually on the bottom rung of the pay scale (M2, I think) as the school can't afford to pay them any more and there's no automatic right to a pay increment any more.

And the older (more experienced/ higher paid) teachers have been sacked. Sorry, have suddenly been found to be incompetent, so have lost their jobs.

This has just happened to a friend of mine.
She was on the phone to her union lawyer about it who happened to comment that all the cases of this he was working on her women with the same name. My friend pointed out that this is because they are all the same age, and therefore expensive.

There is no one left in my school (LSAs excepted) over the age of 50!

OP - you always get the whingers on this board. I have lots of friends who are primary school teachers and they love their jobs and have a good work life balance. Some of them are - gasp - in their 50s. Good luck to your DH.

www.evolvesi.com/
If he likes sport and being children then this might be worth looking at. They are a national company, I don't know where you live but they might be working near you.
The role is very like that of a TA with a specialised focus. We have used their staff and their role is varied. They do facilitate training and take people of all ages and backgrounds.

I am a teacher. I did not do a levels. I did an nvq in early years education as an apprentice then went to uni .
I qualified 7 years ago. I have a thread at the moment about not wanting to teach anymore. I would seriously suggest lots if work experience first.

TA here. In my area he would need classroom experience and relevant qualifications in order to get a post as a TA. I do 30.5 hours a week and take home £920 a month. I am at the top end of the scale as I have relevant degree, relevant diploma, NVQ3 and 10 years experience. I always do more than my contracted hours too.

Thanks for all your replies. It's interesting how opinions differ! He would only want to do primary school teaching, probably KS2, but to be honest I don't think he would manage well with the amount of work that has to be done outside of school hours. It takes a lot of motivation and dedication and I'm not sure he wants to do it enough at the moment.

He is considering trying to become a TA in a few years' time, but for now has decided to take at least a couple of years' career break to be a SAHD. DS1 is almost 6 and DS2 is 5 months so when I go back to work, he will leave his job and be in charge at home. That will be most interesting!

He's still keeping up with coaching his under 6's football and is considering doing his coaching badges so we will see where that goes.

I just really don't want him to exchange one miserable and stressful job for another!

and for all you teachers and TAs; overworked, underpaid and under appreciated is what my DM always said!

Wow. Do you really all hate teaching this much?

Op, I work in secondary. It's the best job in the world, seriously. Yes, it's stressful and it eats into my evenings and weekends but I can't imagine doing anything else. I genuinely love it.

If you can afford for him to stop doing his current role, then applying now to do a degree (not teaching - maths/science, whatever he's interested in) and getting regular work experience on time off from uni, would be a good idea. If he likes it he can do the pgce. if not, he'll have a degree he can use for other jobs. Good luck!

Used to love the job

Now I hate it with a passion. Am trying to escape.

Sorry OP

I'm in my 3rd year of teaching, so a relative newbie. No kids. I'm in a VERY good school - not as in the children's attainments, but as in the teachers and SLT are incredibly supportive, so I do realise that not everyone's experience is the same!

I love my job. Yes, there is paper pushing, yes, some of the box ticking is a pain in the arse. But I love it. I am pretty damn hot at being organised - I work half 7 til half 6 most days (occasionally leave at half 5!), but I don't take anything home during term time, and I don't work at the weekends unless it's close to a data deadline/parent meetings.

I appreciate it would be really different if I had kids, and that an 11 hour day is still pretty long! But I love it. I've never cried as much as I have in this job, but dear lord the good times make it worth it.

Good luck to you and yours OP, I hope that your DH finds a role that is more fulfilling for him.

ATruth - every teacher I know loves teaching, it's all the other time wasting stuff. the actual teaching is great - rewarding, challenging, makes you feel you are doing something worth while, etc., but it's such a small % of the time you spend working now

I know @BackforGood, I totally agree. I love the teaching and endure the other stuff. I just figure that there'd be even more crap/other stuff in different jobs.

Reveal

I'm glad you enjoy your job but what will you do when /if you do have children (and remember the majority of teachers do).

Could you work so long then? Drop your children off somewhere at 6:30 (most nurseries open from 8am), collect them between 6:30-7pm? Be out of the house longer? Get home make them tea, put them to bed?

That's when it all implodes.

Add to this the change of priorities you might face (who comes second - work, or your own children?). Teaching is not family friendly. Now fit in the workload. Imagine having SLT or colleagues judgingi as you leave at 4:30 to try to see your own children before bedtime while they stay to 5 or 6.

Sorry to single you out (and I'm glad you are happy), but I wanted to make a point.

If anything by the time peop,e have children they have more responsibility and more expected work. Without the additional waste-of-time workload, the job would still be fine. But add in all the crap and it's awful.

Agree with BackforGood