I want to retrain as a teacher. Scared of leaving my secure career for practical reasons.

[LockedDownOpenUp]

I’m a specialist speech therapist currently on 30k a year. Have been wanting to leave for a while. The career isn’t what I thought I would be - very rarely do I get to directly work with kids. Instead I run a lot of parent workshops and make session plans for our assistants to deliver.

Ive wanted to be a teacher for years and it was a toss up between that and SALT. I’m regretting my choice!

I’m used to working above and beyond my usual hours making session plans late into the evening or weekend and having to buy stuff for this out of my own pocket. I’m used to working with difficult parents and children with complex needs. I have about a year of classroom volunteer assistant experience (did this when I was trying to gain experience for uni courses).

As I already have a degree and live in Scotland, it’ll be a one year post graduate course which I’m sure SAAS will fund. I really want to do this but am TERRIFIED of giving up a secure position to be a student again relying on a small student loan for income. I’m a lone parent with no family support so can’t work evenings around it as a job would need to be within childcare hours.

Am I mad? I can’t stop thinking about teaching but terrified about what I’d be giving up to retrain, the financial disadvantages to my family because I chose to be a student again (limited savings but I could stretch them for a year for basic living - no usual treats) and ultimately I might struggle to find a permanent job at the end of it.

I hate my job at the moment and no longer feel like I make a difference. In my position, would you retrain?

I studied my undergraduate degree as a lone parent so the juggling of that with studies doesn’t faze me. It’s the year of financial shittiness of being a student again!

www.google.com/amp/s/schoolsweek.co.uk/teacher-retention-rates-are-worsening-and-7-other-school-workforce-findings/amp/

This gives info on retention, dated June 2019.

The head knows and the head informs the GB. How on earth do you expect a school to improve if they do not know why teachers are leaving? Of course it’s important to know and most teachers have told us why. Primary schools are a tighter knit bunch maybe? Promotion and moving away for DHs job are the most common. We know that’s truthful. Occasionally someone thinks they want a change and would prefer to travel less. Once or twice it’s bern the wrong school for them and occasionally they decide to be a SAHM. Rarely (I cannot actually remember anyone) who flounced off without us knowing why. We are possibly just nice people who worked effectively and did a good job for our staff? We certainly took well-being as seriously as we could.

I'm a primary teacher looking to retrain as a SALT! Sorry to hear you're disillusioned. Personally speaking, the school I am at is part of a MAT and they key principles are no longer teaching and learning but cost saving, data and accountability for results. From where I'm standing your role has a much bigger impact on children and their families than mine

Well the intervening 25 years have not been so awful then, have they? I know some people make mistakes. The high flying NQTs can get better jobs elsewhere and if they are not dedicated to teaching can find another job.

Very strange interpretation of that statistic - I think you've misunderstood the point that conditions have got progressively worse. Also NQTs have always been able to move on to another job, it's the fact that they are doing it far more now.

With respect, I don't think anyone who confirms they've never actually taught themselves can truly understand the nature of the job these days.

Where I was a governor it was the two elements you mentioned first that drove everything we did. Yes, Sara was necessary but to prove learning had taken place. All professionals should be accountable and that’s the same in every profession. However our SIP was exclusively about teaching and learning not cost saving and data capture! Maybe this is where some schools go wrong? Certainly mats in many cases are too remote from their staff in terms of governance.

No point in having governors then! Perhaps you should do all the work yourself? What an insular view!

Rarely (I cannot actually remember anyone) who flounced off without us knowing why.

An employee is under no obligation to give a reason as to why they are leaving. Handing in their notice and serving their full contractual notice period is completely acceptable.

Perhaps primary is different. Large secondaries, you hand in your letter of notice, work your time, and go.

No it'd be the same in primaries, no one can demand a reason as to why you no longer want to stay working somewhere, unless it's stated in their contract "you must give us a reason when you decide to leave", which would be rather weird.

I don't know what it's like in Scotland but teachers are in huge demand here. You'd definitely get a job with your background.

I'd consider secondary!

Maybe I just had bad luck but I had a horrible experience in teaching. I was one of the many that leave within the first 3 years. Looking back I don't know how I coped with the stress and anxiety.

Who said about demanding anything?! Honestly. People who have worked closely together, shared a staff room and work as a team do share why they are leaving! It tends to be common knowledge in smaller schools anyway. You lot really must work in schools that are the pits. I’m glad I was a governor of pleasant schools.

Who said about demanding anything?! Honestly. People who have worked closely together, shared a staff room and work as a team do share why they are leaving!

The way you described people who don't give a reason as those who "flounced off without us knowing why" gives the impression that you think that this is a bad thing and that in every situation they should have done so.

You lot really must work in schools that are the pits. I’m glad I was a governor of pleasant schools.

There's also a slight arrogance in your posts.

There’s a lot of evening and weekend work. You’ll have to wait til your kids go to bed, then be up till midnight planning lessons, and still won’t finish everything.

You’ll also need child care for late meetings, open evenings and parents evenings.

@BubblesBuddy
Considering you have no apparent teaching experience, I'm surprised how strongly dismissive you are of the opinions of some of those that do. Not everyone has to agree with you.

Bubbles you might need to consider what was hidden from you as a governor. Every school I've been in has had an unspoken rule that you do nothing but smile and look happy in front of the governors. To do otherwise is seen as disloyal. Same way we are implicitly forbidden from raising any concerns to Ofsted during inspections.

As a governor I knew why staff left. It’s appropriate to do something about it if our retention levels were giving cause for concern. So no Governor should be shielded from this info and the GB must do something about it. That’s our job! I'm afraid that your situation is rare. I have been a teacher for nearly thirty years and am now in my sixth school. I have been invited to an exit interview. I'd be interested to know how many teachers have. And retention in two of the schools was appalling.

The head knows and the head informs the GB.

Or in some cases, misinforms the GB.

They could say that a teacher has left for a promotion when actually they handed their notice in without a job to go to, then got a better job elsewhere.

Or say that a one year contract came to an end, but actually the school wanted the person to stay and they said no way.

Lots of ways of pulling wool over the eyes of the GB.

Typo. Should have said that I have never been invited to an exit interview.
And I absolutely agree that governors have a very limited picture of a school. And I say that as a teacher who has also been a teacher governor.

Glad I’m not a governor any more then. I don’t think I would have appreciated not being told the truth in order to take my role seriously and improve the school. I tend to think honesty is the best policy. For everyone. I really now cannot think why anyone would ever be an unpaid governor if staff treat them with contempt. Perhaps you might like to tell this to your governors to their faces. I bet you wouldn’t and I’m now considering myself fortunate that I no longer work with to faced teachers. Assuming I did of course!

Two faced teachers!

Bubbles
I will be generous and say you might be a tad naive

My husband took a year out of work to do a postgrad and never looked back. It's actually less than a year - sept to April really - and as people have said you could probably find private work as a therapist. Husband worked at Christmas (post, it was awhile ago) and Easter before exams. We weren't married then; his mortgage company said they would give him a mortgage holiday if he needed it. We discussed him living with me &renting his house out but it didn't come to that.