Expensive part time teachers and recruitment/pension-anyone else?

[fedup21]

I’ve bitten the bullet and checked my pension and due to having time out with small kids and being part time forever, my pension is pitiful. Now, I’m early 40s, so could go back full time and put 25 years more in, but there are problems with that.

1. I can’t find a full time post on UPS3-any adverts this year locally have been for NQTs! My current work place is lovely but won’t increase me to full time as I’m too expensive.
2. I’m not actually sure my mental health will take full time.

Is anyone else in a similar situation and what do you plan to do?

Ideally, I’d like to do 4 days, but finding someone who’ll pay me UPS when they could get an NQT fill time for the same rate, is proving impossible.

@PinkFlowerFairy if you're on the career average scheme, you'll accrue more pension faster if you pay in more. It's all explained on the TP website.

Personally, I decided on a LISA and SIPP to have control of the extra money and to be able to use it when I choose to - e.g. If I retire early.

There's also not much point in dropping from UPS 3 to MPS6. The pay for full time on MPS6 is about the same as 4 day and on UPS3. So even if you're only working 3 days a week it's a lot easier and less stressful to do a few h of tuition or wth else rather than go full time for not that much more money.

Look into AVCs as you don't pay tax on those. What subject do you teach? You can earn quite a bit if you can free up a couple of evenings or a Saturday morning to tutor, and earmark that money as your AVC money. It's not as good as the TPS, but you'll avoid the stress that comes with teaching in a school.

Good luck. I just looked into my pension at 51, and realised I needed to do something!

I think it's harder to maintain or move schools on a UPS salary in Primary then Secondary. Economies of scale and demand have seen to that.

Very few primaries, especially small ones, will appoint at all on UPS unless it's a really meaty job (SLT, Curriculum lead, KS lead). Many primaries don't now have any TLR posts, with the roles that used to be covered by TLRs now being pushed onto UPS teachers in the name of 'substantial and sustained' contributions'.

I dropped from UPS3 (full time, workload literally killing me) to take an M6 part time job in a school I really like. Luckily, as others have said, I'm not the main earner. I'm in the process of applying to go back up onto UPS (having first gone 'through threshold' in 2003!) through normal Performance Management pay scale reviews, although I feel hugely guilty about it as the school has no money. My pension is fairly dire after lots of time part time. I'm going to have to go back full-time soon just to try and top it up. I'm hoping my current school will be receptive, although part of me is dreading the thought of being a full-time Primary class teacher into my 60s. I will be a very rare sight, I think.

I’m Primary, too

Even decades ago, they acknowledged that teachers pensions were so good, because teachers didn't live long after retirement

This is not true:

Even decades ago, they acknowledged that teachers pensions were so good, because teachers didn't live long after retirement

I'll try again:

www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18952037

Have you tried private schools op? I'm expensive too and this is one of many reasons I'll never go back to state.

@sparkla I wish I could get a job in a private school but round here they are practically none existent.

Private schools are starting to opt out of the teachers’ pension fund because it’s too expensive.

Private schools are starting to opt out of the teachers’ pension fund because it’s too expensive.

I met a private school teacher recently (she was doing 11+ tutoring to top up her wages) and she said exactly that about the pension-she said that was a big consideration.

As an NQT I started paying into an AVC. Reps had come to the school to speak to the newer staff and I think I was the only one who took it up. Occasionally I resented paying the extra and wondered if I'd made the right decision.
Then I went part time for over 10 years with my 2 DC. I am now full time. On UPS3 as I didn't stop working and was able to progress up the scale as soon as I was elibible and I now have a TLR too. I view my AVC (£17k so not a lot) as making up for the payments I wasn't making when I was part time.

Happily for me, my HT prefers full time staff over job shares, so when she started at our school, her first q to me was whether I'd do full time. My previous 2 HTs had asked the same and I'd never been ready, but this fit perfectly with my youngest going to high school.

I find some aspects of full time easier than when I was part time.