Should teaching be this hard?

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Apologies about any typos, I'm crying as I write this.

I'm in my first year of teaching but wondering if I have made a huge mistake. Yes, I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn't expect to feel at deaths door!

The school I work at is going through a turbulent time, the whole senior lead team left under mysterious circumstances. There are is an acting SLT in place with people parachuted in from the local authority to cover SEN and safeguarding. The people who interviewed me were part of the team that have vanished.

The stand in team have implemented new strategies. Including a completely new maths and English programme. No one seems to know what to make of it and everyone is short tempered and snappy about it.

My ECT time is often cut short or taken away do I can do other tasks. My mentor is doing his damned best to help me but he is also confused by what is going in the school.

I working insane hours. I get to school at 7.15, luckily I live nearby and my kids are old enough to walk to school by themselves (they are secondary aged). I'm leaving at 6pm. DH is taking the flack at home by doing all the cooking etc. I am then working until 9 on the evening, where I force myself to stop. I am working in the weekends too.

I feel like I'm married to the school, despite me bending over backwards to do everything that is expected of me, I'm told what I'm doing isn't good enough. There is always something external from teaching to do e.g filling in spreadsheets, decorating the classroom and corridors. Meeting after meeting! There is at least 3 meetings after school a week which lady an hour a time.

I'm really on the verge of walking out. I really would like to stay in teaching, I like the kids. I enjoy the teaching aspect. But the other bullshit is killing me. Am I to accept that this is teaching? Or am I at a particularly bad school?

The first year is worst, because you're teaching almost everything for the first time - you don't have resources and experience from previous years to draw on. It sounds as if that is compounded by the school having new schemes of work, so nobody else will have plans/resources to share as much as usual. And massive staff turnover means you're probably not getting the support you should.

Stand your ground on non-contact time. Ask your union rep about the meetings - that's more than there should be. Don't "bend over backwards": be assertive sometimes, and say "I can't fit that in this week, sorry. I'm sure you'd rather I got my lessons planned and books marked" or "if you want that done, what would you advise that I drop in order to fit it in?"

Accept that resources may not always be perfect - try and limit the time you spend and accept "good enough". Ask your mentor for their time-saving tips.

Yes, teaching is pretty bad, workload-wide, and lots of people do quit. I'd say that you've landed in a worse-than-average school at the stage of your career when it's hardest anyway, so it may not always be this bad.

The first year is hard, but being in a school in turmoil is not helping! If you can’t see the situation improving soon I would cut my losses and leave sooner rather than later. Teachers always work long hours, but yours are ott.

Your ECT time can't just be taken away. Have you spoken to your induction lead?

Move schools - it's almost impossible to challenge endless meetings and requests for paperwork if that is the culture of the school. No it shouldn't be anywhere near that hard, even when newly qualified.

Thank you for all of your replies. I was honestly expecting to be told, "yes, this is teaching."

We also have ofsted looming next half term. Well, if we go back after Christmas. Your replies have given me some clarity, I do think I need to change roles. Now it's up to me to decide when.

I strongly recommend getting the first ECT year under your belt if you possibly can.

I think I'll give it until after Easter, I know I would have to give my notice by half term after that. I don't really want to leave my class, I think the children have been through a lot of upheaval over the last few years without me adding to it!

Your class will recover. Will you?

Good enough is good enough. The first year is super hard but yours sounds uneccessarily challenging. Jobs for September usually start coming up after Christmas so maybe start looking then.

@MrsHamlet

Your class will recover. Will you?

Thank you for that reminder to put myself first. I haven't done that since the beginning of September.

@Radagast

Good enough is good enough. The first year is super hard but yours sounds uneccessarily challenging. Jobs for September usually start coming up after Christmas so maybe start looking then.

I think I need to learn what good enough looks like. I always try to follow high expectations, even though the goal posts are constantly being moved further away.

It sounds at the top end of not unusual, but you need good boundaries to survive any length of time in teaching. Decide what yours are (for after the inspection).

How do you know you have ofsted next half term? You may go into your 'window' but they are behind and it doesn't mean they will come. We go back into our window in May but assume it could be 2 years before they get to us, especially with the outstanding schools being done again.

Your ECT years will be hard in any school. That said, finding the right school for you where you can feel at home is the key to being a happy teacher. If your current school isn't that (and it does sound difficult) it would be better to find a different one sooner rather than later. Don't assume it's 'you' or teaching in general that is the problem.

@2reefsin30knots

How do you know you have ofsted next half term? You may go into your 'window' but they are behind and it doesn't mean they will come. We go back into our window in May but assume it could be 2 years before they get to us, especially with the outstanding schools being done again.

Your ECT years will be hard in any school. That said, finding the right school for you where you can feel at home is the key to being a happy teacher. If your current school isn't that (and it does sound difficult) it would be better to find a different one sooner rather than later. Don't assume it's 'you' or teaching in general that is the problem.

The school know ofsted are coming because they have called the school asking questions about the sudden disappearance of the whole of the SLT. Not that I blame them!

Being away from the school for a week has given me some clarity that I can not continue in my role there. I just hope I haven't blotted much book by deciding to leave midway through my first ECT year.