Feeling disillusioned

[Geordiebabe85]

I've been teaching primary (currently in ks2) 15 years and I just don't think I want to do it anymore.
The timetable is so full on, I literally can't fit everything in. We're a Catholic school so we've got 2.5 hours of RE a week on top of trying to fit in English, Maths, times tables, reading, SPAG and hand writing everyday plus all the other subjects. From the second the kids are in the door it's just bam, bam, bam. There's no time for fun or letting them explore their interests in a topic. The gap between the lower ability and higher seems to just get wider because we have to move on to the next thing, whether they've understood it or not. We follow white Rose for Maths and we've been told its 1 step a day, no exceptions. If a step needs relooking at then we have to find additional time to do that.
We've just been told our writing results as a school are not acceptable (despite last year's y6 having 4 children with ESL join part way through the year) and we're going to be doing extra writing.
I'm just not sure it's what I signed up for. Feels like children are just robots who come in every morning, get their daily dose of learning and then leave at 3.30.

I have no advice but share your pain.

Don't get me wrong, what you describe is sadly happening across the board (no time for fun, crammed timetables etc) but this does sound pretty extreme. It sounds like a change of school may be necessary as that's unsustainable. You're going to burn out, the kids are going to burn out and all in all it sadly sounds like a really miserable place to be. Not all schools are like that despite ridiculous expectations from the government in terms of curriculum, OFSTED etc. It depends how individual headteachers interpret it all.

I live in hope that with a new government will come a new curriculum which isn't so formal and intense 🤞🏻

This is one of the reasons I decided I had had enough of primary teaching. We were required to stick to a rigid timetable crammed with things children didn't really need to learn, with not enough time for the basics or having any fun. The primary curriculum is absolutely not fit for purpose.

I've got my fingers crossed that a new gov will bring change!

What do you do now?

My school is the same.

Phonics, guided reading, English. All of that before 10.40am
This is Year 1.

Geordiebabe85
I left with no job lined up, but starting to look at civil service/admin type jobs now. Luckily I could afford to do this, but I was just too stressed and busy to job hunt while still teaching.

I felt the same. I've moved to a special school. Only just going into my 4th week but already I know I've made the right decision. I feel so much more relaxed in and out of the classroom. The workload is at least as high, possibly higher than in mainstream, but the actual classroom teaching is so much better. I can meet the children's needs, instead of trying to squeeze them into some ridiculous government guidelines. I'm have autonomy over what and how I teach and when. It's been life-changing.

I finally made the decision to retire this school year.

I'll be 56 and 7 months. I'm going to draw my teachers pension and get another job for 2 or 3 days a week to top it up.

I've paid off my mortgage, got some savings (plus I'll have my lump sum) and I've been tracking my spending for the past 2 years so know I can manage.

I've totally had enough, every day is an effort and sitting in the staff meeting on Monday listening to the Ofsted talk (we're due soon) I just think I can't do this anymore.

I've been teaching for 29 years and the love I had for the job has gone.

I'll tell my headteacher after Christmas.