Thinking of re-training as a teacher - would love to hear from teachers who are Mums (x-post)

[snowflake99]

When DS2 starts school I am thinking of retraining as a primary school teacher. If there are any Mums out there who are also primary teachers I would really love to ask you a few questions so that I can get a better picture of what I'd be letting myself in for.

• What time do you have to be in the classroom at the start of the day and how long do you stay after school?

• Are your evenings all taken up with preparation/marking etc?

• Are you in the same school as your children?

• If not, do you miss out on their sports days, plays, etc?

• If you re-trained after having your kids, how did you find that?

Many thanks for any replies.

Could of friends have done this -this is my impression
PGCE year v v busy
Friend of mine works full time - most evening some work and some at woeekend
is in work after dropping kids of at before school club - picks them up about 5
Part time roles are possible (friend of mine just got one) and I think if you can get one the best answer for issues of seeing your kids/going to sports days etc and not spending all your time marking
also depending on the area nqt roles can be tricky to find - but you would need to ask around in your area to find out
but they love it and they do have the holidays with their kids which they also love

I know of several teachers who gave up teaching after Dc came along as it was just too much. Many people don't appreciate how much teachers have to do in the evenings and holidays.

I teach 3 days a week ( going to 4 days a week in sept) On Monday DH drops the children at childcare so I get to school at 6.30am, on all other days I arrive at 7.45,( but I wish it could be earlier) I leave at 5 or half 5. Most evenings I work for about an hour, but I try not to work on my days 'off'

I work a bit of sunday most weeks, but not for very long.

At different times of year e.g summer term reprot writing , home work is much more

I do not teach in the same school as my children, DH tries to take time off to see sports days etc and I dont work fridays when class assemblies tend to be, but otherwise, yes, I would miss them.

I have never been there for first days of school as it is also MY classes first day, so I need to be working, this is the only bit I feel guilty about.

The big advantage is holidays, which make it all worthwhile( but remember diff schools have diff inset days, dh takes these off)

It is not as straight forward as people think, I have had lots of friends say' oh,now the children are at school I will become a teacher, but all have changed their minds!!

If you do go for it, good luck, it can be a great job!!

That should be report writing!!!

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all your thoughtful and insightful comments. I did read them all at the time but it took a while to take it all in. It realy does help to hear all experiences, both good and bad, as personal experiences are invaluable when considering a career change. I have lots to think about.

I retrained with children and it wasn't too bad although I did my PGCE part time. The placements were hard though as you are expected to produce very very detailed lessons pland (ours was 8 pages long) and each lesson is expected to be outstanding which makes a lot of time. My hours are 8- 4:30 to 5 with some weekend work and a very short lunch and very little time to breathe! I do work at a very family friendly school and as most of my pupils are EAL learners my previous experience of teachers overseas for years has helped me with planning. I do love my job and as a parent being able to spend most of the summer holidays with your kids (doing some school work in the evenings) is great. Your experience as a mum will help you too.

Get into a school as much as you can between now and your interviews. This year has been highly competitive to get onto courses with the government chopping back places and the cost going up to £9k next year.

I have a 2:1 with hons from top uni and busness background, I couldn't get a place.

In fact I hate the way UCAS do the applications because if you miss out on your first choice after being interviewed, the rest of the considered places were gone. I am very disappointed this year.

Hi there

My mother trained as a teacher but gave up when she had kids to do a part-time admin job which was beneath her capabilities but flexible enough for her to be around a lot for us. She meanwhile did a part-time MA in Education to keep her brain going. She also worked term time only!

She went back to teaching when her youngest (me) was 11, which was ideal as we were all much more independent by then. She got home at about four in the early days and about five when she was a head of dept. She was in work by 8.

So just saying, you could still keep your teacher dream but do it later on. Or you could go for it now. Either way good luck. I have similar aspirations later on in life and know it can be hard waiting for the right time.

I have been a teacher for about 10 years and am now probably going to leave and retrain, having had my first child.

Advantages

Can be highly rewarding
Term time only working
Cameraderie with colleagues can be fabulous.
Pay can be quite good, especially in London

Disadvantages

Workload - I always found myself working most evenings and every Sunday in term time.
Stress - the children, the parents, the workload, the constant non-stop, never rest, always on a clock pressure of it all.
Inflexibility - I have found it very difficult to get a part time post.
Poor management - can be a problem in some schools.
Questionable family-friendliness - my flexible working request was rejected and I have never really known teaching colleagues to have time off for children's plays/assemblies etc. Lots of pressure to be present and performing well, so time off for sick children is not regarded favourably.

• What time do you have to be in the classroom at the start of the day and how long do you stay after school? *I'm in at about 7.45 and leave at about 5.30/6*

• Are your evenings all taken up with preparation/marking etc? much of them, yes

• Are you in the same school as your children? No

• If not, do you miss out on their sports days, plays, etc? I would miss all of them, if I wasn't working part time. As it is, I have missed a fair few.

• If you re-trained after having your kids, how did you find that? I didn't, no. I did my PGCE straight after leaving university at 21. It was bloody hard work then (with my then boyfriend, now DH doing all of the cooking and housework as I was too busy doing lesson plans/marking to help!) and tbh, the NQT was probably harder as you have a lot more responsibility. Not meaning to be too negative, but I actually found the year after the NQT year to be just as hard as you don't get all the protection of being an NQT-lots of PPA/NQT time and are usually expected to coordinate a subject too.

Also, check out the NQT pages of the TES forum before you make any decisions. There are many many NQTs out there with staggering debts who cannot get a job as there are just so many applicants. I really wouldn't recommend teacher training at the moment.