Work after maternity - retrain as teacher? Private school?

[Teacheryesorno]

Hi all,
I hope this is the right forum for this. I’m a new mum to a 3 month old and I’m considering a career change to teaching. I’m no stranger to career shifts, I qualified as a vet and worked in clinical practice for five years before moving into civil service and latterly commercial roles. I have about 12 years of professional experience now, and I’m paid £72K + discretionary 10% bonus. My pension is crap.

However, my current job is brutal. The hours are intense and my work area is really under resourced. I currently manage a team of 2 DRs and could easily use another 3 but it will never get approved. Instead we try to do the work of that team size and I’m well paid but not that well paid if you see what I mean, certainly not for the hours and stress.

I have been thinking ahead to school years and thinking that nursery to then wrap around care and holiday clubs will eat most of my salary. We have joint finances so it’s not “mine/his” but still thinking if I want to be burning the midnight oil for corporate America and never seeing my children. I have always loved the training aspects of all my jobs, both continuous learning for me and passing on knowledge. I love teaching vet students and now interns and my DRs, as well as running training for the whole org. I always get good feedback from peers and managers on my soft skills.

Would I be mad to consider retraining as a teacher? How long would it take to reach a similar level of pay and what is progression like? When people are leaving in droves (just like vets) am I crazy for thinking it could work for me? Is it reasonable to aim for private schools? I do appreciate this is elitist and also that many (most?) of the retention issues seem to affect the state sector more. Is primary or secondary a better option? We live in the midlands and wouldn’t be looking to relocate as my husband’s job is based here, but there are a good mix of schools in the area.

I miss how rewarding clinical veterinary practice is but don’t want to go back to that environment, but the bits I love the most I think I could transfer into teaching - basically relationship building and knowledge transfer. Is it family friendly in reality? Could some teachers please comment on your experience of seeing mid-career professionals retraining and how it has worked out? Thanks in advance for any and all support and advice.

@ProudCat
Also, I see that you are 4 years in. That’s still early days. I did 20 years, the first 10 weren’t too bad. I know of someone, thought she was god’s gift to teaching, head of department early in her career, rolled her eyes when colleagues mentioned they were struggling etc, always claimed the nightmare classes were no problem for her etc. Fast forward to 5 years and I’ve heard she’s currently off with stress after being treated badly by the SLT who thought the sun shone out of her arse. Apparently she’s not planning to return.

@ProudCat "Re: exam marking, you can ask again next June, but I've done it previous years, so I already have the answer. If you want your learners to do well in exams, then understanding how those exams are graded by going through the training that's offered by the relevant examining board seems sensible. It eliminates time-consuming guess work."

I can sanctimoniously tell you that I have never needed to become an exam marker to know how to mark exams, and that my kids get great results, with a supercilious hint that perhaps you aren't as good a teacher as me and that's the reason.

You can consider how that makes you feel and whether it is helpful.

I could then also reveal that I'm a maths teacher, which makes a big difference, so my superiority is unwarranted.

I've also been in the job long enough, and been friends with teachers in different schools for long enough to know that workload varies massively between schools dependent on policy and leadership. I know my own workload has changed massively over the years and that's not to do with my efficacy as a teacher but other factors outside my control.

I wouldn't assume for a second that teachers that are working longer hours than me have to be less efficient or doing something wrong. I know for a fact that's not true.

"The hours are intense and my work area is really under resourced. I currently manage a team of 2 DRs and could easily use another 3 but it will never get approved. Instead we try to do the work of that team size and I’m well paid but not that well paid if you see what I mean, certainly not for the hours and stress."

Are you sure this isn't teaching already? Apart from the well paid bit.

@Makingpeace touché. This is an interesting and insightful thread, I appreciate everyone’s responses. I do a lot of good work, or work that tries to be good, but ultimately just make shareholders richer. I appreciate that’s capitalism but it doesn’t fulfil me. I thought teaching might bring together the parts of my career I have most enjoyed, but I do have to be realistic about the hours v salary trade off.

@ProudCat thank you for the alternate perspective. I hear what everyone is saying but it is also extremely encouraging to see someone who isn’t worn down and depressed by it all. Do you mind me asking what (vague is fine) career area you had before? You mention spreadsheet analysis and excel is actually a bit of a weakness of mine, I do try to avoid it at all costs. Having said that, I do spend a lot of my days buried in one so whilst I’m not good at it I can use it. Would this be a limitation?

Could you also share how you advanced to your current role so quickly? Was it just right place right time or do you think other factors were at play?

To everyone who has taken the time to comment, thank you very much. I am not discouraged yet! A lot of you mention that you are one good or bad leader or policy away from a rubbish work environment, do you have any advice for what to look for or how to screen for this?

Re working in the civil service for an easier job, I think this is highly dependent on your work area and immediate leadership too. Like all jobs really!

@Teacheryesorno
Unfortunately it isn’t that easy to spot the nightmare leaders until you’re working there. In saying that the interview I had for one school (where I actually got the job!) there was a bit of a weird vibe. There were 8 of us and the interview was like rounds where 1 or 2 people would be asked to leave but it was done Apprentice - You’re fired style with the phrase ‘You’re not right for Shit School’ They even made one poor candidate sit through lunch only to be asked to leave afterwards. That should really have been a sign in hindsight! 😳😂 Another clue is watching to see how they treat your colleagues, if they are treating someone badly then there’s always a chance they’ll do the same to you. There are reviews online for some schools posted anonymously by former staff, I’ve seen that these have been pretty accurate. Ignore inspection reports, the school I’m referring to in this example was graded excellent! Be wary of ‘nurturing schools’ and ‘restorative schools’. These are code for ‘we let the kids do what they want without consequences!’

But even if you get a good school, the good head can leave and be replaced by a shit head and everything will change for the worse.

So, you can teach secondary science and likely a bit of maths? Therefore you are very employable. You will not get anywhere near your salary. I have been teaching for nearly 30 years, am a HOD of a reasonable sized dept, the only person in the school who can do an essential role (they are fucked if I get mown down by a bus!), and get London weighting and teach in a private school - I am not anywhere near your scale.
teaching means that you won’t be able to go to your child’s nativity, special celebration, etc unless you teach in a school with a prep dept.
private schools expect their pound of flesh so run an extra curricular club, run taster and marketing fun things for marketing purposes, loads of parents evenings, entrance test days, open days (Saturdays), open evenings. The list goes on, plus duties at lunch/break and don’t forget the endless meetings. Parents expect responses instantly and are demanding. I broke up last week but have spent most of three days working including a virtual parent meeting (admittedly this is a total one off and had to be done - they and pupil are lovely). Essentially, burnout is a thing but … i enjoy most of my job, the pupils are fab.

i think the best thing is for you to shadow in a science dept at a variety of schools. That way you can get an idea. Marking in science isn’t the same as English but there is still a lot. You need to get your head round behaviour too. There are fabulous moments in teaching but there is sooooo much paperwork and self justification but then that is in every job too. Safeguarding can break your heart but you’ve been a vet…guess you can handle that side. I do think you’d get a load of astonished people at you swapping veterinary for teaching.
i would start investigating. Science teachers are like gold dust so you could do on the job training. I did mine with the OU - was really good. I had had a normal job before. However, I’m now counting down the terms until I can retire. Kids are less resilient, mental health issues are rife, parents are far less resilient and sometimes the lack of respect can be breathtaking.

@Pippatpip
Agree with all of this, however, I have seen more and more science posts being filled by young PE teachers as opposed to experienced but more expensive science teachers so I wouldn’t say it’s as easy to find a job in some areas.

I think you get more variety in secondary, different kids every 50 minutes and then different topics for each year group.

I work in a private boarding school and happy to answer any questions about that side of things.

I do love teaching, though this term has been my worst by far. The initial training is also tough as there is so much to take in.

Get into as many schools as you can to experience different environments (not easy when you have a lurker one I know).

Where about in the country are you?

Private schools are tricky to work in right now because of VAT, increased employer TPS contributions etc. It depends on the school but many private school teachers are paid more poorly than their state counterparts and have a worse pension scheme.

'I’m well paid but not that well paid if you see what I mean, certainly not for the hours and stress' - this is the bit that stood out for me. This is exactly what so many teachers will say about their jobs and they aren't on anywhere near £70k.

I was an experienced primary teacher. Knew all the tricks. My workload was 50-60 hours and it was because of academy nonsense. Powerpoints all had to be the same. So I would need to take White Rose poowerpoints and copy them in to the academy colours, change the font etc. Did I challenge this? Yes? Did I ask for union advice? Yes. I needed other teachers to be brave and say no along with me. I had been hit with support plans in the past for gently asking how an initiative improved the teaching and learning.
You sound like you work in a sensible school.
Marking in primary - at least 60 books every day as English and Maths taught, comments needed and also had to mark the response to the feedback from the day before! In a variety of coloured pens!! Couldn't not do it as management would ask for a random selection of books on different days eg they would want the book for pupil 5, 12 and 18 on the register - this would change each time. Once got told off for not providing book 29. I had 28 in the class! This was my fault!!

Agree with your point that people that have gone straight from school to uni to the classroom have no outside perspective and do things the way they have always been done and continue the toxic management. So they have no experience to draw on.

Not my finest moment when I told a middle leader that I couldn't take criticism from someone whose birth year started with a 2 lol when they were trying to tell me their new idea in a condescending tone. Yes I'm menopausal and have no patience for BS any more!

The amount that is needed for SEND has simply become unmanageable in primary. Need various iterations of a piece of work and then the child tears down your display.

It's good that you have had a positive experience but you are in a unique position

If you think that teaching is family friendly you are wrong. I rarely saw my own kid's nativities, sports days etc as toxic management said no to leave requests as you can't just book holiday. Given the current funding crisis you are unlikely to get up to your current pay as you will start at the bottom. Experienced teachers on UPS3 are being told that the job they are applying for will be paid on M4 - take it or leave it. As you are starting out then things will take you longer and planning will never actually be complete. I spent the holidays exhausted and then never got an actual break as doing childcare is also full time and you have to prep for the next year.
Many private schools are tightening their belts due to fees and the VAT thing and some schools are closing or merging.

You can try it but you might be better going part time in your current role and earning the same as full time in teaching.

For your pension look up Rebel Finance School. It's free and has advice how to retire young.