Work life balance in SEND schools

[Bakingwithmyboys]

Hi, for personal reasons I need a job that does not eat into my personal life. The problem is I'm not yet ready to give up teaching. I'm not interested in supply as I love the relationships you can build up with a class over the year.

I do have a very supportive head who is aware of my situation. She has mentioned SEND schools as a compromise as she believes the take home workload is less.
I do have previous interest of moving into SEND and have enjoyed working in our hub class, plus made some visits to local SEND schools when I was part time, and I have a great interest in Autism especially. I know the days will be gruelling with the children in the classroom. You are constantly on it well over 100 %.

But my question is a serious one about how much work you take home. Do you spend weekends resourcing or is that all managed after the school day?

I really need an honest insight to this without being yelled at.

An ex-colleague now works in our local specialist autism school. It's a private school so I'm not sure how much difference that will make but she works insane hours and they are so understaffed that she's often left without a TA for weeks. She also spends her Sundays prepping for the following week and SLT just seem to give her more and more responsibilities with no extra training or time to complete them. She's currently looking at working abroad.

I worked previously in a FE unit for moderate LD teaching life skills and my workload was relatively light. Mostly just finance and risk assessments and then the SEND paperwork (but I wasn't the SENco so not overwhelming levels of paperwork). I loved that job and it was very rewarding but it was very badly paid with limited opportunities for progression so it wasn't sustainable with a mortgage and childcare costs.

I think your headteacher is really undervaluing the work that goes into SEND education. Yes, there is less marking, but the lesson prep is still the same (often heavier because of the number of adaptions), a lot more paperwork, depending on the SEND you are at risk of being injured by students. The schools around us are starting to drop the level of marking. Our school only marks three pieces of work per year per subject with verbal feedback from when you are circling valued far higher. I wouldn't go into SEND because you think the workload is better, but I would be looking at other schools (SEND included), visit schools and ask around seeing what worklife balance is like.

I think that @RainbowColouredRainbows is correct. I worked in special education for twenty years and moved back to mainstream a year or so ago. When I first started in special it was easier in terms of admin but over the years that changed. I work 55 or so hours a week now, the same as when I was working in a special school. And when all of the children you are working with have a very high level of need the days are intense. I did love it in many ways and the children were amazing but it was physically and mentally exhausting.

I have worked as a long term Supply teacher in SEND and mainstream. I would say they are different. Some SEND schools like to really blur the distinction between TA and teachers.

I feel there is an expectation that you do HoD on main scale but as a temporary teacher I could have misunderstood this.

The work is very intense and exhausting. You may not take 30 books home but you do take a lot of worry and stress. And lesson prep. And fewer books but more expectation that you know exactly what each child has completed.

And if you’re a Form Teacher weekly reports, if not daily phone calls to parents.

I would also add that proportionately there does seem to be more long term absence due to illness/stress in SEN schools…higher turnover of staff, staff shortages , especially TAs.

This is sadly true. It is very rewarding but it is tough.

Thank you.

I did wonder if my head was selling it short. She was just trying to find a way for me to stay in teaching. I don't think I can which is a shame.

Yes, I should have included the rewarding bit…(otherwise why would I accept work in SEN schools?)

It can also be a bit frustrating, however, in some schools when there is a tick box culture rather than an effort to meet pupils’ needs…

There is a terrific cameraderie in some of the most demanding schools….

I know you said you wouldn't want to do Supply but if you did it even for a couple of months you could recover a bit of your mojo...

I would strictly only do short term though. Long term you get the drawbacks of same work and lower pay...

Or, do something else for a year...

Or, get signed off with stress for a short while..,

Be aware that TA work in SEN schools can be completely draining as well as low paid (I did 1:1 in an LD school during a lengthy career break - it took me over an hour at home to be able to interact with my own SEN and NT sons)

If I was10-20 years younger and knew what I knew now I would have put a strict limit of 2 years Supply on myself and used some time to retrain. Ah well...

What about asking your empathetic head if you could go part time? Then do Supply day to day the other days?

Or does your school/MAT have a bank of Supply Teachers they use on contract (better pay than an agency).

You also really need to work out what is financially viable.

Good luck.

Some LEAs advertised roles for SEN case workers. Not quite as well paid as top of scale teaching but better than TA. You might want to investigate that.

Depending where you live some museums, cultural organisations, etc, employ teachers to educate school visits...

There are roles that use teaching skills but not in a classroom.

Don't rush into anything drastic like resigning before you have something else lined up

Yes, absolutely, I had some fantastic colleagues and it was always a real team effort. Lots of special school staff have a good sense of humour and can see the funny side of things. They also tend to be very flexible and happy to support each other. (Also possible in mainstream too of course.)

Have you considered 1:1 tutoring? I love it - all the best parts of teaching. Most of the children I support have additional needs and it's so rewarding to be able to go at their own pace and see their progress.

Basically I need a 9-5 job mon-fri that pays the same as a M6 teacher! Lol. No evening work or weekend work.

It also needs to be regular.

Supply might help fill a gap but I love having my own class and building up that relationship (I've only just gone back full time this year).

I've thought of tutoring but it seems like it would be a lot of out of school hours and I would need to make up the wage quickly.

I may be throwing up barriers, I'm not even sure I know my own mind yet as to what I want (apart from staying a classroom mainstream teacher which I can't do).

It's so complicated at the moment.

I think it would be very difficult to go into a new job on the equivalent of M6. But remember the amount of tax paid goes down with your salary. There are online salary calculators for take home pay you can use.

Look at your local council job site, Civil Service, museums and charities. (The Guardian job search covers some of these areas - other papers may too).

I think you may have to consider a 1-2 year salary cut though. It will be worth it in the end.

Good luck

And take your time. Don’t rush into any drastic decisions. If you can’t face school see your GP.

Given you could do 9-5 why not stay at school till 5pm every night? Get your work done and strictly leave work at work.

Teacher Workload - How to Master it and Get your life back by Bruno Gomes is worth a read (not too long, available on Kindle).

I will look at that book as that sounds amazing! I've always wondered if it could be done.

Thank you for all your advice. I'm trying not to rush into anything.