Anyone become STA after teaching and still exhausted?

[Veryverysadandold]

Looking for some solidarity or support if anyone can spare it, I'd be really grateful. So I taught mainly secondary for almost ten years, some abroad, and came back to the UK to buy a house. Decided to become an STA in secondary as less stressful than teaching, then the pandemic hit. My partners industry has been destroyed by covid so I've had to keep this job longer than I thought. I work with a lot of low functioning SEND teens and I love them but I utterly exhausted. Forgot a close friends birthday recently because I'm so tired, and I'm basically on minimum wage (no SEN or school holiday payment). Feel so demoralised. Cried at work today and so embarrassed, my mental health is in the gutter but can't afford therapy. Most of my kids cry most days because they're so overwhelmed, and think I'm picking up on it. Am so done with education and how brutal it is for everyone. I want to work somewhere where people are kind and caring and I don't cry regularly and lose sleep, is this a pipe dream. Has anyone else experienced this or similar or found a way to be more resilient? I've started applying for other things but am not getting anywhere so need to deal with this for now.

You might prefer a special school? You would find there is more chance of meeting the children where they are at rather than shoehorning them into 'the system'. There is also more chance of a close-knit team where everybody has got out of bed in the morning specifically to help those children.

I'd have thought your CV would lend itself very well to a teaching job in Special.

Try Supply Teaching day to day. Pay is still rubbish but you can leave on the dot. Give a days notice. With SEN you will be in demand. You can take time out if you need to. I hear there is a lot of work at the moment. I’m taking time out from Supply. Too many long term assignments.

Thank you both, good ideas. I'm currently learning to drive and when I pass I will be looking into these options.

It might be worth checking out different schools. The secondary I work in sounds far less stressful and a lot more fun. The secondary my SIL works at sounds similar to yours. Are there any other local schools you could check out? Good luck!