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The staffroom

Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

Moving to the independent sector

6 replies

gottaloveascamhun · 21/05/2017 07:57

Have you done this? Would you if an opportunity came up that suited you? What are the pros and cons (bearing in mind all schools are different?) I'm primary trained.

OP posts:
PumpkinPie2016 · 21/05/2017 08:13

Not me, but a friend of mine did, albeit secondary not primary. She has never looked back!

Her pros are:

Smaller class so smaller marking load. Longer holidays. By and large that are left to get on with the job without constant scrutiny.

Cons are that she has to do occasional Sunday duty (boarding school but she is not resident there)

gottaloveascamhun · 21/05/2017 08:29

Thanks for the reply. I've applied for a part time job at an independent school. V small classes and lovely caring ethos. Worried I'm looking at it through rose tinted specs though!
Pros I can see:
Small classes
Day starts later so easier for childcare and closer to home
Less involvement from SLT on day to day teaching
I currently teach in an inner city school in an area of high deprivation with a huge number of EAL children so my cohort would be very different
Fewer meetings
Less marking
As far as I can gather planning wouldn't have to be redone every 5 mins to fit into the latest trend
I already do a lot of extra curricular and wider school stuff on a 0.4 contract

Cons:
Would imagine some parents would be pushy
More open days and parents' evenings
Pay is 2/3 of what I earn now but I can afford the drop
Need to ask about pension

Any more thoughts welcome!

OP posts:
Cathpot · 21/05/2017 09:24

I'm coming to end of a years contract in a private school. The classes are a max of 22 there are no significant behaviour issues, the staff are VERY much left to get on with it. I have had one lesson observation and it was 5 months after I started. It's obviously difficult to generalise as I have the sum total of 2 private schools experience , the one I went to ( which was comedically shocking in the manner of an 80s boarding school) and the one I am teaching at now. So with the proviso that this is a sample of 2 and Secondary so might not be useful - the staff are in general more academically qualified ( lots of PhDs ) but my impression is the teaching is quite dry. On the plus side there is an opportunity to shine if you arrive with the normal state school attitude to engagement. I never thought I would say I miss data but I have a bit. They don't track the kids at all and I've got children who are really struggling with a very academic syllabus and I know are failing across the board and there doesn't seem to be a concerted response. There are no TAs because they are not financially viable and some of the pupils really need one. The finances loom large as we are in an area with good state provision and the school is fighting for numbers. Staffing decisions seem a bit chaotic as they have to be very last minute as the budget is so uncertain There can be quite a bit of low level disruption goes on in class which the school just isn't set up to deal with as there is no real behaviour policy. We are supposed to set insane amounts of homework but if the kids don't hand it in and then there is no real follow up. There is a marking policy but it isn't enforced. No one is checking if homework is set so some staff just aren't anywhere near what the official line is. I haven't found the parents pushy at all but there is a lot of reporting and a lot more full reports. I do think grades can be inflated to keep parents happy.I've had several instances where grade boundaries are adjusted to ensure the bulk of the kids are getting high grades and I think there is a reluctance to be frank about how where the kids are academically possibly because then the parents would be alll over it. The terms are much shorter - 3 weeks off at easter was blissful and I will finish start of July , but it does mean you really have to race through syllabus content. I do have cover now and then but I don't dread bottom set year 9 on a Friday p6 because you know actually there will be no real issues . I have found the staff to be really lovely, friendly and welcoming and i like all my classes. It is definitely easier in terms of SMT involvement , there are no 'learning walks' no one is trying to link my pay to results etc and the general staff feeling is calmer and much less stressed. I'm going back to state sector in September but for practical reasons like reducing my commute and being able to go more part time than I am now , and go back to a school I know well. I'm bracing myself for going back to classes of 32, I've found much of my workload this year was self generated as I am still running on the sort of planing and marking I would do for state and actually I could have eased off and not been penalised. If you make the move it will definitely be easier than what you do now and if you have coped well with what sounds like a challenging state situation you will have so much spare capacity.

gottaloveascamhun · 21/05/2017 16:23

Thank you for your detailed reply! I will find out tomorrow if I've got the job. Really want it but trying not to get hopes up.

OP posts:
Cathpot · 21/05/2017 17:37

Possibly more of a rant! Good luck

Flyingprettycretonnecurtains · 23/05/2017 10:12

Hi. I did the move five years ago. Behaviour is less of an issue. Parents, however, are more of an issue. Because they are paying they are more demanding and frankly can be rather ridiculous at times. You spend a lot of time carefully handling parents. There is less acceptance that their child is in the wrong and the school (particularly in one where numbers are an issue) will bend over backwards to appease them. Do keep an eye on numbers. Many privste schools are struggling and are not awash with money - this then increases the appeasement level. The anount of work then that staff do, in essentially giving x child one to one tuition in lunch hours really ramps up.

There is a lot more homework given and this has to be turned round really quickly.

There will be evenings, weekends to work for open days, founders day, etc, etc and that is unpaid. Always a three line whip to attend. Be very wary of boarding environments - they never tell you how many extra hours they want you to do at interview.

Don't think there won't be safeguarding issues, etc, there are and sometimes more difficult to deal with. Likewise SEN issues can be difficult because it is up to the parents to accept there is a difficulty and pay for an assessment and on occasions they just don't want to know.

Generally, though, I prefer it. Not having the level of behaviour significantly reduces paperwork, however, that time is taken up with help with students - which is a good thing. The students are generally lovely, vthere's a free lunch - not to be underestimated because it saves loads of money; you get more time to actually teach. Things like cover are generally more and forget ideas about not doing displays - all of that stuff has to happen as often there are fewer TA and no cover supervisors.

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