Am I too old??... 49!

[Brighteststars]

Am I wasting my time / too old to start a degree at 49 years of age to become a primary teacher (qts)... 53 when qualified!!!... help!!... your thoughts please!

NO!!! You are never, ever too old to embark on a new journey.

Just because it used to be considered a good job for mothers, and the Op thinks it might be a good job for her, does not mean that perception of the job devalues it!

It just means that someone who evidently likes children, would like to work with them, and thinks the hours might mean they can work in synch with their own children's hours and holidays, thinks it might be a suitable job for them.

OP I am not a teacher myself but have heard from friends in the profession that it is next to impossible now owing to a mass of expectations regarding paper work and targets which need to be completed each day for each child, pressures from exams, and also masses of marking. The hours could be very difficult to do with your own children. It is possible some private schools are better about the daily paper work, but not necessarily easier on time due to other demands.

Then as the pay is not that good, you cannot easily hire in help for your children for when you are out at work. It helps if your DP has a very much higher paying job.

You should definitely volunteer in a local school for some time, and talk to the teachers there, to get a better idea before you decide.

OP - you haven't said what is it that makes you want to be a teacher ... what appeals to YOU about primary teaching? Have you spent time in a school lately/done any work experience? Any idea where you'd want to specialise (world of difference between reception and Y6 SATS...all that punctuation ;-) ).
I honestly can't imagine you know many teachers well if you think it's a perfect job for a parent...

I wouldn't. I'm 38 now, been teaching 14 years and love it, but definitely have less energy even now than I used to and it's an exhausting job. I would not contemplate starting at 53 and I think you might struggle to get work. Plus, I join others in saying it is far from a 'nice job for mums'

WipedOutDaze... thank you for your support and you are spot on! Thank you to all who have been helpful with their comments
My stance for PurpleDaisies is that I have the highest regard for the teaching profession, and envisaged making sacrifices and huge personal commitments (financial too) to join it.
My comment of it being "a perfect job for mums"... is not literal, and not meant as an attack to any male teachers without children.
Good luck to all the teachers out there, and I hope that despite the long working hours and mountains of paperwork, you continue to find joy in your work. Children may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

You should do some extended volunteering in a school setting and talk to a wide range of teachers before even considering doing this.
It is a job which is becoming increasingly difficult for family life and is far more focused on data, targets and performance than inspiring eager classes of children.
And I have never done a job that I found more mentally and physically exhausting.

I retrained at 39, OP.

I'm not yet 5 years into the profession and was thinking of taking a break come September. As it is, I'm hoping to continue in my current school, but I haven't the energy to apply for a new school.

What do I love about the job? I love working with the children - every day brings something new. It's also perfect for spending time with my own dc over the holidays. I work with a great department, and appreciate how lucky I am in that respect. It's not just the academic side (I love my subject), but also the pastoral side. Caring about, and being able to do something beneficial for children. We all want to leave school with a positive experience behind us.

What do I not like about the job? It has placed a real strain on my marriage - it has been a very tough few years and my dh has struggled to come to terms with the commitment that the job requires, and felt as if everything was controlled by how much work I had to do in the evenings and the weekend. He is a good sort and has taken on much more of the organisation and work at home, despite working very long hours himself.

I'm in school from 8am to 7.30pm most days, but this is to try and reduce the amount of work that comes home with me (I try not to work in the evenings). I'll typically spend 2-3 hours a day at the weekends preparing for the next week. It definitely means that I'm less available for my own dc during term time, which, tbh, is a rubbish feeling. We also have excellent childcare (nanny) which costs an arm and a leg, but she is worth every penny.

I also find it hard to switch off, so am always thinking ahead to the next day's work. My sleep is pretty poor nowadays, which I think will have long term effects on my health.

Why would OP struggle to get a job if there's a recruitment crisis. I thought teachers were leaving in droves. Well, so this board is always claiming.

An older teacher is less likely to put up with the crap that is handed down. That said, as an nqt she would be cheap so would have an advantage of anyone with experience who an actually do the job. Older, established and experienced teachers are managed out of jobs because schools are unable to pay an appropriate salary for their expertise or are unwilling to listen to their common sense.

The bits I don’t like are:-

-pointless pointless paperwork that takes hours, doesn’t benefit the children but has to be done.
-being held personally responsible for the data of the children in your class and losing out on pay rises when eg the child in your class has cancer and has 6 months in GOSH, or another child’s parent dies.
-only ever being as good as your last lesson observation. These are not graded any more, except they obviously still are.
-marking. Not just tick-yes and cross-no, but hours of deep marking, often (in ks1) where you’ve written more than they have and they can’t read what you’ve written anyway. I know Ofsted don’t demand this, but many schools do.
-huge differentiation to ensure you are meeting the needs of every child all of the time. This generally means that in primary, no lessons you’ve taught can be reused without substantial changes.
-lack of cash in schools meaning that have to buy pencils, books, glue sticks etc or I can’t teach lessons. We have no paper left now, so have to buy our own reams and bring it in or we can’t photocopy/print anything.
-Pay rises are non-existent, redundancies are happening in my school to save money, anyone over 40 (expensive) is being heavily leaned on to leave-sudden (totally subjective) bad lesson observations leading to massive levels of scrutiny by SLT with clipboards.

I’m sure I can think of some more reasons.

Can you tell us a bit more about why you want to teach?

Being micromanaged and not trusted to do a professional job.

I don't think she'd necessarily have problems getting a job. It's just usually in primary locally people leave once they have children as it's a rubbish job for a parent. Also older staff get managed out as heads are often young and want young cheap nqts who wont question the latest demand.

Taking longer to mark every piece of work and all the green and pinks is just crackers.

I would say do not under estimate how exhausting children are day in day out. I am in my 40s now and find it very tiring. You have to be ‘on’ all the time. It’s totally different to office work. I certainly don’t see myself doing it for too much longer

OP - the problem with asking on this board is that it's populated by burnt out, bitter (perhaps with justification) teachers. I know lots of primary school teachers in their forties and beyond and their experience doesn't reflect the views on here. I'd say "go for it" - you've got a lot of working life ahead of you and you might as well do something you want to.

I really appreciate all the information and different views on here, many thanks. A great eye -opener too!
I have in the past, helped in schools on a voluntary basis and loved it, but I honestly had a strong desire to be in front of the class teaching! I realise I'm at last chance saloon age... if I leave it any longer to start primary teaching degree, I will not gain many years of teaching. I'm thinking at 53 as a nqt I'd still have a good 6/7 years... maybe more?
I would like to teach for the love of it (I'm hoping that exists!) - it's not a financial necessity fortunately. I'm hoping my enthusiasm will be an asset. I have loved helping my own 3 children (9-16) with their studies. I would love to think I'd make a difference to a child's learning and outlook on life... maybe to be a role model of positivity. Huge thanks for all your contributions with this!

Do you need to do a degree? Is a PGCE possible instead?

I was thinking about training to teach I have previously worked as a TA and I love children but have changed my mind as it looks so much hard work and I would not like the stress of working at home and planning lessons/ meetings etc.
My daughters reception class teacher is amazing and I really respect all good teachers 👏

Do you need to do a degree? Is a PGCE possible instead?

Presumably OP doesn’t have a degree already by the way she is is talking? Obviously you’d need a degree first before you could do a post-graduate qualification.

OP-good luck to you, enthusiasm is a fantastic asset! I would recommend getting a block of voluntary work ASAP -a full week or two across different year groups and ask the teachers lots of questions!

Just a word of caution - I don't know a single teacher who didn't have buckets of enthusiasm before they went into teaching. It isn't an uncommon quality!

You definitely need to get into schools. Shadow the teachers carefully - get in when they get in, leave when they leave. If they don't get a break or lunch because they are setting up lessons / marking/ whatever, you don't get one either. Make sure you know how many hours of work they are taking home with them each night, and over the weekend. Speak to older teachers (if you can find any, they're a dying breed) about how they are finding the job.

And speak realistically to your partner about the changes this will make to the dynamic of your relationship. My dh hates me being a teacher. It has had a really serious impact on our marriage at times.

@CarrieBlue You either need a Primary teaching degree or a degree and PGCE. You can't just do a PGCE.

OP you need to speak to teachers so that you can get a real understanding of what you're going in to.

Also - look carefully at the national curriculum. Make sure you can be enthusiastic about delivering that!

I teach English at secondary. I actually find it hard to remember why I like my subject some days, when I'm dragging students through the new GCSEs.

I’m involved in ITT - I know you need a degree or degree + PGCE - the OP may already have a degree so wouldn’t need to do a BEd and could qualify sooner. It isn’t clear from what she has already said.

I don't think 49 is necessarily too old. However, you have missed the UCAS deadline for undergraduate degrees for 2018, which apply to B.Ed degrees as well, so you might not be able to get a space at your preferred uni for this September.

I do think the B.Ed route seems less full on than doing a PGCE, but it could still present issues. In the first and second year of the B.Ed I think it's common do lots of short placements in different schools, which could cause issues with travel and arranging childcare. You also probably wouldn't get half terms off, so would need child care for these as well- which could be expensive? It can be hard to afford childcare as a trainee teacher, and you may need a car to get to placements.

Regardless of whether the actual job of teaching is family friendly (and I think there are arguments for and against this), I don't think any training route is very family friendly, and I would look closely at the proposed schedule for each year and think carefully about how you would manage.

Lady, if it is very difficult to get teachers now, do you think the OP might have a chance of getting a B.Ed place through clearing?

@WipedOutDaze Primary places always fill up quite fast, there is no problem getting people to fill places for primary teaching, there is a problem with retention.

Why not?
A friend of mine at school, early fifties, qualified a couple of years ago. She’s great.
I had a student last term who was late forties. She lacks confidence in herself but she’s got many qualities of a good teacher already. She’ll be great.
Interestingly, both of them partly did it because of needing a change due to relationship problems. Friend has just got divorced. Student in an EA marriage.
Plus their kids are grown up or almost adults. They have more time in the evenings than I do with my little kids