Becoming a teacher

[TipToesToast]

I am considering going into secondary teaching as a second career after having children. My current subject options are Maths or Design & Technology. I have a relevant degree so am planning to do a PGCE in either subject.
Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!
Thank you

Both are shortage subjects. DT in most schools covers Product Design, Textiles, Graphics and sometimes Food. Although you would normally specialise in one area to KS4 it is common practice to teach at least 2 at KS3 sometimes even Art.
If you are restricted to a geographical area once qualified it may be worth looking at staff turnover in both Marhs and DT locally as I find that some ECT's struggle even in DT to get a job as some areas/cities don't have much staff turnover.
The GCSE DT is quite theory heavy so have a look at the GCSE specifications of both subjects and see which one you would find more engaging to teach.
I am DT so a bit biased.

You also have resistant materials in DT as well.
KS4 can include engineering as well as those mentioned by Teletone
Some schools have gone for an art and design GCSE at KS4.
It would also be good if you could use or want to use laser cutters, 3D printers and CAD as these are handy to get the higher grades and in some specifications essential.
and Maths and science is included in all exams and guaranteed to be at 15% of the paper.

Be prepared for SLT and SEND people not to understand what the subject is about and keep trying to add more students than is safe in a workshop and also be prepared to be the dumping ground for those kids that nobody else wants to teach.
you should be expected to keep your health and safety and machine certs up to date but will have to chase the school for them to do this.

For Maths you will at some point teach all abilities, if you are in a good school they will let you keep your year 10 and 11 classes.
Not all schools set Maths in KS3 but most do in KS4.
You can get some massive classes in Maths upwards of 40 kids in classrooms that were not built to take them. Smaller classes as the ability drops.
Marking is heavier than DT but the resources are more plentiful and the online maths hwk tends to be self marking.
Depending on the department you can be very inventive with the lessons but some schools work to a tight plan.
There is also a lot of testing in math which will increase the workload/marking.

Workload would be better in DT although there are probably fewer roles available.

I would say really think about whether this is the right decision. I retrained a few years ago and only about half the cohort made it beyond the first year teaching.
Ridiculous workload, huge numbers of SEND kids who you need to help in different ways, poor behaviour, bullying, lack of support for new teachers, no control or flexibility about working hours.
maybe this is the right choice for you but definitely consider other options.

Apologies if you have already done this but a good idea would be to secure some work experience/observation work in a school to get an idea of the positives / negatives of each subject area across the age range.

Don't do it - 22 years in and desperate to leave!

I would agree with this and with the suggestion from @nearden to go and get some volunteer experience / observation work in a school so that the OP is not going into this blind. Teaching is a huge commitment (no exaggeration, as has been indicated in the posts above) and I wouldn't recommend anybody going into the profession these days without having done their homework (pun intended).

I'm DT. I think it depends on the school. At my old school I had to do a lot of unnecessary and time consuming marking, even in DT.

Here are some of my thoughts on both.

Maths - you get to know the students more as you'll teach them frequently, I only teach ks3 once a fortnight and struggle to remember all their names. Some kids hate maths, and when you see them multiple times a week, that's harder than them hating DT just once a fortnight. There are more resources geared towards maths. DT curriculum very much depends on the school /leadership and HOD. My HOD is quite old School, despite not being old. He's resisting 3D printers and likes comb joints for everything, which is frustrating. You might have to teach some food or area of DT you aren't interested in. Budgets - ours is continually cut so we struggle to think of fun cheap projects that cover what we need to cover. Maths is a core subject so there'll always be big pressure there, but more respect and standing. DT often get given the 'problem' kids for GCSE, but if they don't show up often, they can't get their coursework done. I'm expected to run lunch and after school sessions a few times a week, although I think that's my HOD in particular.. Smaller class sizes in DT - easier for behaviour and marking load. I teach the whole year group for a lots of the years so I have to do all the parents' evenings, whereas some maths teachers won't teach as many year groups. Dangerous equipment - can be a bit scary with some class groups! In my first job I had two nearly 6 foot boys in my class who were in rival gangs in a workshop full of tools... Technicians - how many are there in the schools? It makes a huge difference to workload having enough technician hours.

How do you go about finding out about staff turnover? I am in London with lots of schools around me so hoping that finding a job would not be too much of an issue. Do many people end up teaching in the school that they trained in?

I am very sorry to hear that. Is it the workload / pressure / budget cuts that make it a hard job? If you don't mind, can I ask why you are keen to leave?

I have read online that the number of DT teachers are so low at the moment that schools are shutting down departments and don't offer it as a subject any more. It makes me desperately sad that design as a subject is so under appreciated despite the creative industry being one of our biggest exports of the economy. I know it would be a tough gig but I feel that I could make a positive contribution.
My other option of maths would be a more practical choice (ease of finding a job, potential for career progression etc) but perhaps not as much of a passion of mine!

The lack of DT teachers is only part of why schools are not offering D&T as a subject, many academies stopped the subject as it is expensive to run and has a low return as far as grades, EBACC and progress 8 are concerned (bottom bucket and all that).

Under the current review D&T may be forced into a design only specification.

Some schools are trying to bring D&T back but many that stopped it sold off all the equipment and are having trouble buying quality equipment back in.

If I have the option to do either a PGCE in Art and Design or MFL, would one be more highly considered in the future, or does the specific subject I train in not matter with regards to my future teaching?

If I have the option to do either a PGCE in Art and Design or MFL, would one be more highly considered in the future, or does the specific subject I train in not matter with regards to my future teaching?

I think in your case it makes sense to train in DT. It would be easier to switch from DT to maths at a later date, than the other way round, due to the health and safety training involved in DT.

Friend was a dentist in the army, she's tough, she literally got shot at in Iraq. (Had to give up dentistry during to chemotherapy lessening sensation in her fingertips.) She lasted one term in school. It's hard work.