I used to be a primary school teacher and now I am a...

[cleoteacher]

I am fed up with teaching and have been a sup ppl y teacher for the past 8 years. I feel totally stuck with what else to do. Every avenue I look into reaches dead end. I don't know what I am good at and lack confidence after having so many knock backs before.

What are ex teachers doing now?

[StitchingMoss]

I am also a primary teacher currently on a career break and lost as to what to do - I considered TA work but the pay is shocking . Following thread with interest.

[Rosieliveson]

I left teaching and am a SAHP so that's not much help. I do have two friends however who also left (primary) and now work for charities or organisations that go into schools and run eduction sessions etc. One works for a charity which promotes religious tolerance. The other works for a football team.

[cleoteacher]

Rosie- that's a great option. Do you know where they found these jobs? That's something I would be interested in doing but never seem to see these types of jobs advertised where I live.

I want to return to uni and do SLT when the kids go to school, my youngest will be going in 4 years time so I really don't want to carry on supply teaching for all that time. Part of me thinks I would be better off staying in teaching so I have relevant experience when applying for a place on the course but I need to get something better paid and can't stick it out that much longer.

I am looking into NVQ assessor courses in childcare as this looks like something I would enjoy as an option too.

[Chchchchanging]

Private school?

[stillsingingintherain]

I trained as a primary school teacher but then changed my mind about it / thought better of it! I'm now a nanny and love it! No paperwork / working after hours, no stress / red tape and I can pretty much plan my days as I please! I've got a great group of nanny friends so its very social too..

[CharlesRyder]

I have a couple of friends who are SaLTs and EPs and work with SaLT/EP/OT/Outreach etc a lot and I'm not sure things are much better for them TBH.

Their jobs are becoming more and more paperwork based and target driven- constant pressure to prove their intervention is cost effective. They do less and less actual work with children and have huge caseloads. One SaLT friend has just opted to be a SAHP and an EP friend is desperately trying to go private because working for LA is so unpleasant.

[cleoteacher]

Interesting Charles. I would want to try and work in the private sector anyway. It seems anything for the LEA is going that way.

Single- did you sign up with a nanny agency to get your job? Do you mind asking how much you charge? Do they let you take your own child too? Do you have to do the same paperwork and observations towards ELG s that childminders have to do?

[Rosieliveson]

Sorry, I don't know how they got them. Google might give you some idea of organisations in your area which provide educational visits etc.

[jaspercat2002]

I too did my primary PGCE but didn't ever actually teach in schools. After doing other jobs in training/tutoring I now work for Family Learning. Lots of my colleagues are ex-teachers and their experience in schools is invaluable.

New contracts do tend to be zero hours though, although occasionally annualised ones come up. Paperwork is still an issue but it's more manageable. I love (most) of my job!

[Changejunkie]

It sounds like some objective career guidance perhaps might help ? An external viewpoint could uncover some things you'd not thought of. It's interesting that one post said 'paramedic' was stress free. I can imagine that to certain personalities that would be fun and they'd thrive yet to others it could be a nightmare and very stressful. What is right for one person is clearly not right for another. Career transition and reevaluation is not easy but nor is feeling a mismatch. I changed career radically many years ago and I have never looked back but it took some time to engineer.

[cleoteacher]

Well an up-date if anyone is interested. Still stuck. Really fancy nvq assessor and enquired online to two companies but got no response. How the hell do you get into that industry?

Looking into SALT which I am very interested in but no local courses and all full time which isn't possible at the moment.

Hv I looked into but you have to qualify as a nurse first.

Basically everything is a dead end.
I can't see any of the jobs suggested above around anywhere either.