Has anyone recently retrained as a teacher and is glad they did?

[Lizzypet]

I am considering retraining as a teacher, but most feedback seems to be so negative. I currently work in healthcare and am considering Primary teaching or Secondary science. Has anyone made the move and is glad they did?

On balance, yes. It is much harder than I had expected. I'm struggling to get used to the feeling of always having more to do and that whatever decision I make, some people will not be happy. I'm working a minimum 55 hour week M-F and time at weekends too. I am the only adult in a large class and I cannot see how to fit in everything expected. I'm not regretting retraining but I am not feeling as buoyant about it as I was during training, but I knew the first few years would be tough (and it has surprised me how exhausting it is).

Having said that, the Christmas holidays were amazing and much needed (and I rigorously set days to do no work), but I was excited to return to class.

Hi OP! The system needs teachers but I would volunteer and do work shadowing both in primary and secondary first. This is such an important step to get a feel of school life.
Primary workload is very full on and so is secondary. So choose the age you prefer, also primary requires you to teach all subjects, for secondary you have a specialism. The job requires you to always be " on". You have a duty of care towards your students at all times. You will not have a full lunch break ever and you will have duties everyday. In addition to all your duties as a teacher. In most jobs you are judged on your performance and targets but nobody actually watches you whilst you work. In teaching you will be observed while you teach even when you are experienced. Whilst the observations can be helpful the frequency of them can make you feel like you are no trusted to do your job. You need to really get used to them and get used to SLT expressing views on how you teach.
Some schools have routine observations and do lots of learning walks - so be ready to always be on even on a rough day.
This is the reality of teaching.
The perks are long holidays and working with children/ young people. This is often not enough to keep even motivated and passionate teachers in the job.
My advice if you ever wanted to work as a teacher: find a school that has centralised planning and very good resources ready ( you will be thankful they are available to you when you are exhausted after a long day)

I have two women in my department (secondary science) who have retrained from other careers in their 40s. Both are overall pleased they did, and this makes me happy. It's tough, everyone will tell you how tough it is. There are good parts though! I had a good day today.

Have a look at Now Teach its a great support for those retraining in later life - my cohort in general find it hard work but satisfying. The key seems to be finding the right school for you.

You got to realise why you left teaching in the first place - many do because they realise they aren’t cut out for it and others leave because of the demands of the job.
With regard to primary teaching, you’ll have your set class throughout the year and you’ll obviously be teaching multiple subjects. Not as much pressure as secondary though with GCSEs and A-Levels and all the added work that comes with that.

Yes, and I love it, but I teach A Level in a lovely college. Maybe consider that too.

Thank you for your replies everyone. Can I ask, is there any particular programme/company you would recommend?

One that is local to you so you can attend training face to face rather than on Teams/Zoom the whole time. Not only will you get a better experience during the training, it will also be easier to build relationships with the people you are training alongside. The strength of your support network will be the thing that enables you to keep doing when it gets tough.

I retrained from a successful career in my late 20s. It's exhausting and the pay is rubbish for the hours I do. However I get to spend the holidays with my children which makes it worth it for me, and on balance I enjoy teaching my class. (Primary)

@Lizzypet There are thousands of different training options depending on where you live, what you want to teach, and what training environment you would like. Even then, courses vary depending on which school or subject you are teaching. We'd highly recommend speaking to one of our career coaches at Now Teach to discuss the options, not only when choosing a course, but early years in the profession.

Choosing to teach shouldn't be taken lightly. There are lots of amazing things about teaching but also tough things too. Try to get as much school experience as possible; it helps in many ways, not just for yourself but for pupils too.