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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.

Am I too old??... 49!

167 replies

Brighteststars · 18/03/2018 22:41

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!Smile

OP posts:
Ki0612 · 25/03/2018 00:33

Ive been teaching for 15 years I loved my job even with the crazy hours, pointless paperwork etc until I had my son who's three. I feel I'm never doing anything properly. At home or in work. Constantly drowning and playing catch up is not how I used to work. My husband has just taken my son away for the weekend so I can write reports. My house is always a riot as I'm working when my son goes to bed. People aren't being negative they are being realistic as you sound so naive to the realities of the job. If it is your soul focus-not home or family I'm sure u will love it as I did...

Brighteststars · 25/03/2018 07:03

MISTRESSGIGI... no, no attitude here at all. Nothing to tone down, though possibly enthusiasm and interest. My best friend was a teacher ((retrained later after kids) - she left!!! She loved the job and kids but the head was an absolute bitch to her!! It did cause her great stress. She was a great teacher too - a lot of the kids and parents were upset as she left to work in higher education. By the way.. I don't and never would profess to be God's gift to teaching. As for choosing it for first career, if only!! Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Hoping there's lots of nice heads and staff / team members out there, and not too many big egos! Do you find the other staff supportive of one another?? ... I'm sure that makes a difference to the working day. Ultimately my friend left the job due to lack of it.

OP posts:
PixieN · 25/03/2018 09:44

I’ve been a teacher for 10 years & was previously a cover superviser so thought I was going into it with my eyes open. Even that didn’t prepare me for how full on teaching is. Even though I still enjoy my job, I regularly feel exhausted.

As a previous poster said, it’s very dependant on the school you work at & how realistic senior management are. You want a school which values some semblance of a work/life balance - as much as that’s possible anyway. A couple of students dropped out of PGCE after student placements as they didn’t receive the support they needed for various reasons (teaching practically full timetables, made to write exemplar A* answers, not much support with behaviour). It was the hardest year of my life. I remember feeling completely stressed out when I had an evening off to celebrate my birthday as I felt like I should be planning, working etc, but I was very lucky with great mentors & lovely schools to train in. I’ve also been very lucky with the schools I’ve worked at - no inner city schools - but the pressures & demands seem to increase each year anyway & I struggle to manage disruptive behaviour.

Over the next few years, I’m looking to move part time and/or focus more on tutoring. I would really recommend this. In my opinion, one to one tutoring is the best of teaching. You see that you are making a difference, can build a good relationship with students, there are no behavioural issues (though some may be harder to motivate than others) parents think you’re great and you get paid to do it Smile

Good luck!

MaisyPops · 25/03/2018 11:04

OP
I can see why your tone is rubbing some posters up the wrong way.

I'm also a career changer to teaching.

Honestly, I think having previously managed teams in my first career was both a blessing and a curse. The good thing is that I managed to progress quickly in teaching but without having thr style ovet substance some fast track graduates have. It was much easier to demonstrate credibility in leadership because I had a bit more behind me (still had to prove myself as a classroom teacher too, and rightly so!) Being a career changer meant that I was quickly aware when I was working in the wrong environment and definitely meant that I put up with less shit than other new teachers too (even now it's quite nice knowing that if teaching gets worse, I know I can get a job in another sector).

The down side is that schools can be very resistant to change. Something might not work in a department but too often (in my experience) the default is not to change or only make superficial changes because 'so and so did it'. There's not the same strategic oversight in my experience below senior leadership. So whereas in my last line of work we'd all sit down, thrash out problems and then design a solution, in departments it can be a bit we are worried about y11 so let's focus on firefighting y11 every year and ignore the fact that with a bit of strategic planning we could reduce the amount of intervention required or yes there is a problem with x, but Mrs Blogs did that planning last year so we can't really change it. I find that hugely frustrating because staff end up killing themselves each spring term and it simply isn't needed. (Yes, the point at which would look at structures and curriculum will be a heavy year, but longer term you'd need less firefighting).
In some schools there is a culture of doing more more more without stopping to think about the quality of what you're doing. Again, that didn't happen in my previous career. If something wasn't working, we'd ask why and try to fix it. If something doesn't have an impact in schools there is a tendency to keep doing it and add something else.

Many of those issues (in my opinion) seem to stem from a trend in schools to think that a good classroom teacher makes a good middle/senior leader. Obviously leaders should be able to walk the walk in the classroom, but leading and strategy is a different set of skills.

Now I wouldn't voice all that in schools because it would rub people up the wrong way. Instead I use the leadershio position I have to try abd shape change, get people to buy in and then once people see how their workload is bring reduced/see the benefit then they are more likely to join in and help change things.

Being a career changer will give you a different way of approaching teaching. Some of it is very useful, some of it not. What you have to be very careful about is going into teaching (or any new line of work) with the view that you are so enthusiastic and anyone who conplains must just be jaded and lazy. There will be jaded people on schools, but you need to step back and ask why. When you try to see the world through their eyes, you'll find you learn a lot.

Sorry for the essay, just wanted to help.

pieceofpurplesky · 25/03/2018 11:24

@MaisyPops how long have you been teaching and how many schools?
I say that as in 20'years every school i have worked in plan and 'thrash out problems'. The problem lies with the changes that are made that impact on what has been done so it becomes irrelevant.

MaisyPops · 25/03/2018 11:35

pieceofpurplesky
I'm messaging you.

Some schools come up with decent solutions similar to my last career
Others it's talk talk talk and then minor changes or changes which add to workload for litfle impact.

applesauce1 · 25/03/2018 11:58

I moved from the private sector working 9-5.30 into primary teaching 5 years ago. We are trying for a family now so I'm actively looking for ways out of a profession which is so incompatible with family life.
Yesterday, I did 2 hours of work. I'm about to start work again now on meaningless assessments and admin.
I work at school from 7.30 until 6.30 most days, and sometimes longer if the school is open late. You say you wouldn't mind working until 6, instead of 5, but it feels so much different to just one more hour. The entire day, term, year, feels like a mad scramble. It feels like you're treading water, and people keep chucking things at you asking you to catch, and whist you're drowning, they won't stop asking you to take on more.
I barely take a break all day. I don't drink very much because that means I'd need to go to the loo and I don't have time to go to the loo. I don't shit at work because I don't have time. I rarely eat lunch because I need that precious lunch time to keep up with the marking. I get eczema during term time because I'm so stressed. No one listens to you. You are just expected to shut up and dance to the tune of the latest bullshit teaching fad.
I enjoy the time I spend with the class, and I'm never bored, but I'd never encourage anyone to trap themselves in this career. Barely anyone respects a teacher and I feel like I'm learning not to respect myself. Hoping I can escape soon...

Redlocks28 · 25/03/2018 11:59

In an ideal world, I'd be part time so I wouldn't have to do work at the weekend

That is my problem at the moment, I think-I have had to do drop down to part time hours so that I can cope. I couldn’t do 50-60 hour weeks any more, it was having a very negative impact on my marriage and children. So now, I’m part time and working probably 35-40 hour weeks, but only getting 3/5 of the pay, and more significantly, 3/5 of my pension!

That’s pretty much what every teacher I know has ended up doing in the end if they haven’t packed it in completely. It’s a bit shite that the job is so awful, you are forced to go part time just to work a ‘normal’ number of hours.

To the poster above whose grandchild says their teacher leaves 5 minutes before the bell every day so they can pick up their own children, I am amazed! You have deduced from that, that clearly being able to leave work 5 minutes early every day to pick your kids up is family friendly but i have never seen that be the case in 20 years of teaching! I wouldn’t use that as an example of ‘family friendly’ as I would wonder what is actually going on there!

BlytheByName · 25/03/2018 12:04

I became a teacher just before I was 40 when my children were about to start secondary school. Now aged 53, I've worked at least 50-60 hours a week. I still love my job and I don't think your age is a barrier, many heads like older teachers because we tend to work hard and moan less, and have other skills on top of general knowledge. I find young NQTs lack resilience and basic skills often.
On the downside, my teenage daughters lost out. I was a single mum so they spent a lot of time home waiting for me to get in after 6pm. I was out before they were up in the morning and I know they needed me for all sorts of support and I wasn't there. I was often tired and tetchy when I got home and wanting time to myself. They've both said that they resented my job at times, and I know I missed vital signals that they'd got problems in their lives because I was too busy.
Oh dear, this is a typical guilty mum post.

peacheachpearplum · 25/03/2018 12:35

To the poster above whose grandchild says their teacher leaves 5 minutes before the bell every day so they can pick up their own children, I am amazed! You have deduced from that, that clearly being able to leave work 5 minutes early every day to pick your kids up is family friendly but i have never seen that be the case in 20 years of teaching! I wouldn’t use that as an example of ‘family friendly’ as I would wonder what is actually going on there!

She does leave 5 minutes early every day, after he told me I realised she was never there at the end of the day if you went in for something.

It is friendly for her family, or do you think it would be more family friendly to leave her kids standing outside their school at the end of the day? The fact that you haven't seen it in 20 years isn't the point is it? All sorts of things happen that I haven't personally witnessed but it doesn't mean they don't happen.

What is going on there? An excellent teacher returned to a school where she had a brilliant reputation when her child started preschool and she was allowed to go 5 minutes early to get to their pre school, now school. The school had some problems at the time (performing badly compared to other similar schools in the area) and there was a change of Head and several teachers were replaced. I didn't know her from her previous time at the school but I do know parents with older children who remembered her and were thrilled the school were getting her back.

At this particular school, note I am not claiming it happens everywhere, the teachers get their PPA time for one afternoon a week when one of the HLTAs take their class. From what I have seen they are in school till after lunch, check their class and HLTA are settled and then they leave. They can either take this time in school or work from home. Again I find that a good arrangement, where my DD works (teacher in senior school) her PPA seems pretty random but I guess it is easier to plan in a primary with 7 classes as opposed to a large comp.

I think some teachers must manage to negotiate probably based on a variety of things but must also depend on the SLT as I am sure they vary as much as managers do in any organisation. I know my DD would say she has worked in a school with a terrible SLT that made her feel worthless and is currently in a school where she feels really valued.

BendoverK · 25/03/2018 13:03

I'm a primary supply teacher. It has lead to a term on a contract and I was contracted for 3 days.. I worked most of the days off to prepare for my lessons. I prefer my day to day supply work because I get to teach all day. No planning, assessments, meetings, inputting of data etc.

theluckiest · 25/03/2018 17:42

I was a career changer & went into primary 8 years ago. I loved it. Even though the hours of my PGCE were insane, I absolutely took to it like a duck to water. My age was never a factor. I also went into it with my eyes wide open.

I was lucky - my placement school (who offered me a job so I've been there ever since) supported me and encouraged me to be creative and really inspire the children. I have made lifelong friends who I also still get to work with every day....

Fast forward to now. In that relatively short time, education has undergone an enormous negative shift. It truly feels like things are unravelling. Curriculum is hideous, much of it pointless. Young children are put under pressure due to the continual pressure on the school itself. Funding is nonexistent which has led to cuts everywhere. Children with SEN don't get the support they desperately need because of money.

My family life has definitely suffered. The holidays are the only positive but even then I work and sometimes get my own DC to help me. Would I do it again? Not on your life.

Honestly OP, it sounds like you would be a good, enthusiastic teacher. Trust us, that can only take you so far. The reality is utterly shit in this current educational climate.

And I'm one of the lucky ones...I love the children, have brilliant colleagues and work in a lovely school. It is still unmanageable. And your family life WILL suffer, however hard you try to not let it...

It's a car crash.

FlameOutTeacher · 25/03/2018 19:00

Did you read Luckiest's post OP? I think that's the point so many of us have tried to make. We were all like you - keen, driven, creative, eager to make a difference. It was tough but great at the start. When you are young and single with loads of energy you can live and breathe it. But the demands have become more and more absurd and when you have you have your own family to think about it's different.

You might be on the right side of it because your kids are older but don't dismiss the many posters on here warning you that it's the current climate, fund cuts and demands that are making teaching so tough. If you are only looking to do ten years you'll probably manage but you will miss a lot of your remaining time with your own children. In the end that's what is driving me out.

MaisyPops · 25/03/2018 20:28

Honestly OP, it sounds like you would be a good, enthusiastic teacher. Trust us, that can only take you so far. The reality is utterly shit in this current educational climate.
This.
I'm in a good school and am managing well (give or take pinch points). If i based my assessment of teaching on my current school I'd be saying 'some stuff is a bit shit but it's just about doable' but schools like mine are in the minority now.
The more i see and hear horror tales, the more I'm grateful I'm somewhere good.

Enthusiasm can lead to burn out
There has to be a healthy amount of 'no' and a commitment to your own health

carefreeeee · 17/04/2018 21:53

I always knew teaching was a difficult and demanding job...but am shocked at some of the posts here which seem to be saying that working 50-60 hour weeks is the norm.

It begs the question, why do people put up with it? Especially as it seems that much of it is pointless paperwork.

There's a law that states employers can't make you work more than 48 hours a week, averaged over 17 weeks. You can opt to work more but can't be penalised for refusing to do so. Also you have to have 11 hours rest in between each 13 hours work, every day. And you are entitled to a 20 minute break during the working day.

As there is a shortage of teachers, and most/many? are in unions, it's surprising that nothing is done about these excessive hours. I understand that people put up with the hours because they care about the children they teach, but it doesn't sound sustainable.

Maximum hours can be enforced by HSE. If your employer tried to penalise you for staying within the legal limits you'd have a good case for constructive dismissal. So could you just refuse to do any of the pointless extra paperwork if it meant working over these hours? I imagine it'd only take one case going to court to make other employers take notice. Or maybe this has already happened?

pieceofpurplesky · 17/04/2018 23:39

The problem is @carefreeeee if we don't do it the kids suffer ...

gingerbreadbiscuits · 18/04/2018 08:58

There's a law that states employers can't make you work more than 48 hours a week, averaged over 17 weeks. I don’t believe this includes unpaid overtime.

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