Doing PGDE with young children? Experiences?

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I'm due to start my PGDE (Primary) in August 2019. I also have a little girl who will be 1 in January. Has anyone else done the PGDE whilst having a small child? I'm so passionate about teaching and desperate to have my own class but have heard the PGDE and NQT year are very intense in terms of workload etc. Any stories/tips?

I'm in the same boat but I still have no baby in my arms... So asking preemptively

@Needadoughnut hopefully we can get some advice/answers! I did manage to do the final 5 months of my degree and completed my dissertation and final exams within 10 weeks of birth so I'm hoping after that I can handle anything!

My PGCE year was hard, the NQT year was harder (own class, full time, data/observations/reports/parents evening etc), but the year after the NQT was the worst!! Reduced non-contact time, subject coordination, etc etc

Just bear that in mind that it’s a few years of hideousness.

But how many years? At my local PGCE provider it is.possible to do.it part time

@Redlocks28 thank you for the honesty. I definitely feel passionate enough to give it a try but will prepare myself for a stressful time ahead!

@Needadoughnut it's 10 months full time, no chance of part time here.

I started my PGCE with a 2 year old and a 10 month old.

I honestly didn’t find it too bad, having worked for a blue chip company. I already had the childminder I used in my industrial job.

The way my course was set up meant there was plenty of time in the school day to plan lessons. I did have to do some reading for essays at home.

A friend of mine did hers with four children (ex husband living in the Far East paying nothing to her) - it's not easy, but not impossible.

Do you have SCITTs in Scotland? They will sometimes offer part-time options.

I'm currently a PGCE student, although I don't have children.

The key will be the accessibility of placements and the support you have available.

For my last placement, I was expected in school by 8 and had a drive of an hour, minimum (often 1.5 hours in the evening). My current placement is closer (about 35 minutes door to door) but finishes later and I'll be expected to stay for meetings after school twice a week. This means that I may not be getting home until 6. I am still expected in school for 8. I'm not complaining about the hours I'm expected to be in school (although the last drive was horrendous) but just to make you aware of the hours you could end up being out of the house for.

I'm Secondary, and I accept Primary is a bit different in that you will have more schools in a smaller area, but also there will be more trainees on a primary course (usually) and schools can accommodate less trainees as they are smaller.

I also agree that there is a lot of work- whilst on placement I was regularly coming home from school, having dinner, then working another hour or two in the evenings. I was also working at least one afternoon each weekend (often more). My placement school was quite good in having shared resources you could adapt, and my mentor wasn't too demanding about when he saw lesson plans- if you have a mentor who insists e.g. on lesson plans 48 hours in advance, or you making all your own resources, the workload could be even more.

A lot depends on the structure of the uni course- e.g. for my assignment this term we had to do lots of observations in school (outside of subject area) meaning I lost planning time in the school day. It also depends on how time consuming your uni admin is.

Most unis will take into account caring responsibilities up to a point, but they also do expect the course to be a high priority, and you to be able to e.g. drop everything and go on a school visit this Friday where you have to be at a school half an hour away by 8am. We also only get a week's notice of placements, which makes it hard to organise your life.

I know this all sounds really negative, but the workload is doable (if you are not a perfectionist), but it's just making you aware of the logistics you will need to manage.

@LadyLance no SCITTs as far as I'm aware. I tried searching for some but nothing came up!

Thanks for all the experiences/stories/advice. I'm definitely not expecting it to be an easy year at all but I am definitely determined enough to make my way through so I definitely want to give it a good go anyway.