Primary vs Secondary

[icecreamsundae32]

I am currently on extended maternity leave/caring for my son with sen but was previously an EYFS teacher. I did enjoy it on the whole but feel like a change and since relocating, I would eventually be looking for a new school anyway so I've been considering other options. I only have EYFS direct teaching experience although have covered some other primary classes but no secondary experience. I am wondering whether secondary might be an exciting new challenge to inspire me again.... is this a stupid idea?

Has anyone done both and what did you prefer? Are secondary schools that bad? Obviously it's very different to primary in that you have lots of different students of different ages and abilities. My specialism is in psychology so what further training would I need if I decided to pursue this path? My teacher friends are all primary and I never considered secondary before, in fact the idea made me think no way, but for some reason I am intrigued!

Oooh. Interesting.

You could look in to nurture room roles (although these tend to be TAs/HLTAs) as a lot of the EYFS skills would be transferable. In fact, I think lots of SEN roles would have potential.

Some schools I have seen recruit primary trained teachers to deliver intervention for low achieving students.

If you could face it... you could look in to educational psychologist training. My LEA a couple of years ago were paying/part paying for the training IF you already had a psychology degree and enough teaching qualifications and experience. It was open to all key stages of experience.

I've never taught primary, but I have friends who have taught both. The consensus seems to be that behaviour management and covering the curriculum is easier in primary. If you only teach KS4 and 5 option subjects, behaviour management can be easier than teaching across all year groups. But it's a skill that comes with practice - it can be hard when you first start.

Marking and planning - seems to be more of it in primary than KS3, but I teach KS4/5 English and none of my primary friends work at home as much as I do. In secondary, it's full on for half the year, but gained time gives you some recovery time. Primary friends seem to spend a lot more time dealing with parents,

Psychology is a popular A' Level subject and you might find a school that offers GCSE too. Most won't which will mean picking up other lessons to fill your timetable - in my last school, it was Y7 and 8 RE.

I am primary trained and worked in primary for many years. I then moved into secondary at a SEN school. I love it and wouldn't go back to mainstream primary now.

Some interesting replies. @ooopsupsideyourhead Ed psych or even Senco roles would be of interest to me definitely and I could look into what further training or experience I'd need. I have worked with a lot of children with sen and my own son has autism and adhd so it's something I deal with daily at home too!

@Cynderella interesting about filling the time table, I hadn't thought of that but very good point! How did you find teaching re instead of/as well as psychology?

It wasn't me teaching Psychology and RE, but in schools with smaller sixth forms, anyone teaching just A' Level is often either p/t or used to pick up KS3 lessons. In my last school with a sixth form, Sociology teacher taught GCSE and KS3 History, and the Business Studies teacher taught some PE and SEN withdrawal groups. The Psychology teacher wasn't a happy RE teacher, but put up with it because she couldn't afford to work part-time.

In a big sixth form, there might be enough Psychology.

For both senco and Ed psych roles you'd need a full understanding of the sen code
Of practice, EHCP process and interventions

I taught Secondary for ten or so years, including 2 A levels and i've taught year 6 for the last ten years. Primary is harder in terms of marking load, the pressures for results just as heavy, if not more so. Behaviour is easier in some respects, but not all. The high end SEND have gone by secondary, but you are expected to teach primary classes with very high levels of ebd and SEND in. I've been spat at, kicked,bitten and scratched by far more year 6 students than I ever was in secondary. There are fewer TA's than ever, very few echp and practically no send school primary places.

I miss the teaching of A level, but keep my hand in by exam marking it. I left secondary when teaching to the test became practically mandatory and students who were patently no A level calibre forced to stay on. Primary is now no better - the sats papers are extremely proscribed and if you don't teach to the test you won't get the ridiculous targets you will undoubtedly have been set.

I saw far less of parents in secondary. You see a lot in primary. I also deal with all the social service meetings for any child in my class, liasewith family workers etc. This was the pastoral hoy job in secondary, not just the class teacher.

I take a lot more work home in primary. Every book marked every evening. The planning is more intense with no schemes of work. In secondary I could use my sow and plan as I went. My weekly plans in primary must be tailored for "old" levels ranging from p scale to 8. My class sizes are also larger - 36 now. My gcse and a level classes were never that large, although they may be now.

For all that, I wouldn't change back again - largely because as an older, menopausal teacher, i don't think teens would have any respect. For my year 6 I am verging on grandma years so they still have some! Plus i'm just too damn old and expensive for just about any school now.