Wwyd getting pregnant Vs getting into teaching

[Needadoughnut]

DP and I really want a baby we're not getting any younger so the sooner the better... We leave in a fairly rural area and I come from a corporate background so finding jobs hasn't been the easiest. It looks like I could do a PGCE with a bursary... But what would happen if I'm pregnant in the middle of the course? Or even before I start? Of course I could do it once baby is born (what I think I would do) but I don't know the bursaries will be available by then. Any experiences with this type of programme would be very helpful.

I knew two people who got pregnant during the pgce-they did the first half of the course pregnant and then did the second half a year later after having the baby. That was 20 years ago though, so it might be different now.

It’s a pig of a course (and career) though, so I wouldn’t actually recommend it with or without children .

Definitely get on with getting pregnant and fit the baby in around the PGCE.

I did exactly this - and like people the PP knows, I was put onto a flexible PGCE, and I then did the first half of the in-school training whilst pregnant and then the second half with baby (which went to nursery). I followed all the lectures on-line from home. I can only remember going into university for one formal session, which was some practical-lesson training (I'm science). I had 9 months off in the middle, so did the first placement in the autumn term, and then the second placement in the following autumn term. This was about 14 years ago.

I definitely don't regret my decision one bit. I struggled to have my second child (got there in the end), so glad I got on with it when I did.

If you found your previous career OK though, then I'd try a lot harder to get a job in that first (I get the impression from your post that you don't currently have a job? ). The stress levels and the workloads are horrific.

I did a PGCE after baby, I waited until he was 2 though. I am now PG again after teaching 2 years and not sure I did the right thing... I am hoping to get out of teaching now as the workload has taken over my life and fear my children would miss out.

It can be a bit of a gamble making big life plans for over your pregnancy. A lot of women can carry on as normal, but I would have struggled to get any PGCE done if I had been pregnant because both times I had horrific all day throwing up through my first trimester, and in this pregnancy the added stress of a health scare over the baby and then severe SPD which meant I ended up signed off. My first PGCE placement was horrible with a teacher who clearly didn't want me there (the next two were great), I think I would have had a break down if that first one had overlapped with being pregnant. 😣

Ha sorry I am not normally such a negative person- I just read my post back as "well, teaching is awful, being pregnant is awful and PGCEs are awful". Unhelpful

@astuz it's hard to define if I'm employed I work on comission only and even though the job itself is not awful, to.meet the targets of have to around 9 hours,which then would leave me with a below minimum wage situation. I was made redundant in February, since then I've had 2-3 relevant interviews to my previous experience. I'm still waiting to hear back from one bit as you can see jobs here in a comparable field/role are extremely hard to find.

If you can't decide between having a baby and getting into teaching then you should have a baby.

You don't sound at all enthusiastic about teaching, it almost sounds like you saw a advert for the bursaries and then decided that you wanted to do it.

Also, contrary to both common sense and current news articles, it is not as easy as you think to get onto a teacher training course.

In fact, even though the Government are desperately trying to recruit more trainee teachers, many applicants are rejected even though they meet all of the requirements to start the course.

In terms of applying for a place on a teacher training course, it might be a good idea to think about these questions and then you might get some more specific advice from other posters:

What subject were you thinking of teaching?

What subject is your degree in and what classification did you get?

Did you want to do teacher training at a university, through a SCITT program (school based training) or through School Direct?
(These are the three main routes to train as a teacher but there are several others as well)

Originally I wanted to do it trhouy university but there's no funding there, so I'll do it the SCITT programme

Youseem far more interested in the idea of a bursary than teaching!

Not at all. Getting a PGCE has been on my radar forany years, but my field didn't use to get funding so always dismissed the idea.

Plenty of people don't make it through their PGCE or their probationary year even without the additional pressure of pregnancy or a baby. Doesn't sound like great timing.