Primary Teacher or Social Worker? Career change advice please!

[pgtipsy]

I have been a primary teacher for five years and left to have my babies. Now my DH and I have decided we are done having children, I want to focus more on my career. I love teaching because:
*love being with the children

• love the holidays (and will be handy when my children are at school)
• I have done it long enough to know what I'm doing!

The downsides:

• sooo much work. Every evening and weekends.
• planning - bain of my life!

I like the idea of social work and did some work experience a while ago. I just can't decide whether to career-change! As much as I want to get out of teaching because I have no work/life balance, I don't want to spend years retraining and regret it. Any advice from existing teachers and social workers would be hugely appreciated.

Social work degree gives lots of options! have a look on the 'good moves' website for the kind of jobs it can lead to! Lots of stuff around family support/ early years/ early intervention and General project management.

I would stick with primary teaching. Can you go part time or do supply? the holidays will be very handy when your own children are school age. Also, you have done it long enough to know what you are doing :-)

You can get a bursary and course fees paid for social work, so do look into that. One of my colleagues (I am NHS) retrained as a social worker and graduated with a 1st. Of course, she walked into her first social worker job. You will be snapped up with a teaching background!