Private sector to teaching / TA?

[LM101]

Hi ladies,

I really need some advice. My little boy is 18 months and i have been back at work for 9 months working 4 days. Planning on TTC after Christmas so I don’t think I will change career just yet. But I have been thinking about long term what I would like to do.

I’m so jealous of teacher friends when they get all the holidays off with their children. I have a week off next week but this will only be my second full week off for the full year. Maybe I just need a break but I have been thinking about jobs that would suit my family life better. So teaching or being a TA. Has anyone made this jump from the corporate world? And is the grass any greener?

What qualifications do I need to be a TA, would I be better doing a teaching qualification to keep my options open?

Both routes would be a massive pay decrease but I think we can manage.

Thanks for your replies xx

Oh LM101 I don't mean to be patronising but teaching is probably the least family friendly career out there. Trust me there's a reason there are teaching shortages the grass is not greener its decidedly dead.

You may get more time off but if you teach that time will be spent planning and prepping for when you go back. Life as a TA is not as bad but they are being given so much more responsibility and so much more is expected of them for such little amount of money. Not to mention some schools are cutting them left right and centre to save money.

My honest advice, stay where you are!

Do you have a degree? Obviously, you’d need that if you were going to be a teacher so that would be a starting point there. Obviously the holidays are great but bear in mind that there is no flexibility in teaching during term time. Taking time off for your own child’s sports day, assemblies, nativity, illness, doctor appointment etc is not possible, so that’s worth considering.

There are TA NVQ type courses but the last three we hired had no specific TA qualifications-so they aren’t essential. TA pay is extremely low though; depending on what you’re paid at the moment, that might be an issue.

If going into teaching would be a massive pay cut, you really need to look carefully at a TA salary before you jump!

My colleague went from one day a week teaching (PPA) to being a full time TA (to reduce stress) and the pay was scarcely any different!

Don’t worry all my teacher friends have said the same! They look in horror as I suggest the idea and they suggested being a TA instead. Do teachers spend all the of the holidays planning? We have friends that have spent 4 weeks in Cornwall on holiday which is my total year allowance.

If I do stay put - How do i cope better with the Mum guilt that my little boys in nursery from 7.30 till 6pm four days a week. I’m sat at my desk and I want to cry I’m really fed up the corporate sh*t, I want to feel like I’m doing something more than just making money for stakeholders?

Yes I have a degree in science and so I could get funding which is a positive. I think
I’m more drawn to being a TA as it’s less pay but less responsibility. I might also look at dropping another day in my current role but I think it would be denied as I would need a job share.

Do teachers spend all the of the holidays planning?

It gets less the longer you do it for the less time it takes especially if you stay at the same school but then the Government changes stuff so then you have to start all over again.

I think nothing much would change as to how you are now. If I'm honest you would probably see you son less as you currently have 3 days out of 7 with no work. If teaching you would have 2 days off at the weekends during which you would mark work and plan.

If I do stay put - How do i cope better with the Mum guilt that my little boys in nursery from 7.30 till 6pm four days a week

But your kids would be in nursery at least those hours if you were teaching! I don’t pick mine up until at least 6.30! I then work all evening.

I think I’m more drawn to being a TA as it’s less pay but less responsibility.

It is a very low amount of pay unless you were on a higher scale. However then there would be the responsibility of possibly covering the class and planning for intervention groups.

I think it’s a bit over £500 a month for a TA.

Sadly, TA jobs are like hen’s teeth, unlike teaching jobs which can’t be filled!

So yes my little boy would still be in nursery but I woud get a week off with him every 6-8 weeks ish right?

He currently in nursery 49/ 50 weeks of the year. Rather than 39 weeks, I know teaching is hard work so I would love to hear from someone who came from corporate work to teaching or TA work. I check my emails on a evening/ Friday and weekends as I work with the USA and India so it’s none stop. I also checked my emails while on maternity leave I have been away on business for a few weeks this year already which sucks.

I have heard the TA route might be more family friendly, guess that’s why these positions are easier to fill.

The average salary is approx. £12K a year and most are paid pro-rata (so only paid for the weeks you work + an average holiday entitlement). I would imagine you wont take home too much more than £500 a month which would probably not even cover your nursery costs.

Primary school teacher here. The holidays are great and I don’t spend all of them planning - maybe a day or 2 each holiday.
BUT:

• it is nigh on impossible to get a term time only nursery. CM more likely though. So you end up paying for childcare you don’t need.
• there is no flexibility in hours so trying to drop kids of at nursery is very difficult. I get to work at 8 am as I’m due to start mat leave but that is late. I used to get in at 7.15 and with a commute dropping kids off at childcare is just not possible.
• I love being a teacher. You need to have that love to keep going cos it is bloody hard and emotionally draining.
• I’ve had to hand my notice in as I can’t do my job and either pick ups or drop off at the moment. But I do have an hour’s commute. So from my POV it is not family friendly.

Basically other than the holidays it is not family friendly. The holidays are great though.

Don’t go into it cos you think it’s family friendly. Go into it cos you want to be a teacher.

TAs are usually working 1:1 with a child with special needs. They are saints and massively underpaid. It is not something I could do. General classroom TAs aren’t really a thing other than in reception.

Teaching - you’d still probably be putting your children in childcare the same amount of time apart from holidays and you do have to work a lot of every weekend and holidays.
TA - you wouldn’t take much home after paying childcare fees.

I would say if your kids are in school FT and you can be a TA either at their school or very locally or have lots of free childcare from family it could work.

Sorry to sound so negative, I’ve worked as both and have kids. It’s great for holidays but the stress is unreal.

Also - re your little boy in childcare. It’s so hard.

Btw I did go into teaching after 10 years in private sector. Pay cut was huge. I am happier. A lot happier. I’m gutted to have resigned from my current school but I need something more local hopefully. But I’m also poorer and more frustrated! But I love my colleagues cos teaching generally attracts people who want to help children and are not materialistic!

I get it OP - private sector is not family friendly either!

Would something like the civil service be a possibility? I’ve worked there too - now that is family friendly!

He currently in nursery 49/ 50 weeks of the year. Rather than 39 weeks

Sadly, you’d still be paying for 49/50 weeks of the year even if you didn’t use it. As long as you can still afford f/t nursery on £22000 a year and don’t mind never seeing your child’s nativity or assemblies, then go for it-we certainly need more teachers in the current retention crisis.

Why don’t you arrange a week’s work experience in a local school or arrange to go in on your 5th day?

Have a look maybe some of the threads of the staff room to give you an insight into the job.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_staffroom/3351965-primary-school-teachers-tell-me-about-your-day

I have always wanted to be a teacher / feel like I am making a difference. So it isn’t a quick decision. I wanted to be a teacher since I was a kid but my final year of uni wiped me out! I couldn’t do a PGCE from a mental and cost POV at the time. It’s always been at the back of my mind since.

I think you hit the nail on the with the types of people!! I sometimes don’t brush my hair and their are people with designer hand bags and having a blow dry every week. I have no designer clothing. If we had enough money i would love to do charity work with children but I can’t drop down to having no money coming in. Ahhhhhhh life and mummy guilt is horrible!

You say the move to teaching would be a massive pay cut; Could you do less days in your current job and have more time that way?

I am a teacher and it is definitely harder with kids than it was pre children. The holidays are great but unless you have ever really,
seriously considered becoming a teacher until now when your main motivation is holidays, then you shouldn’t really take the thought further. You need to really love the job.

Oh LM101 I don't mean to be patronising but teaching is probably the least family friendly career out there.

@LM101 This is very true! I'm a full time primary teacher currently on maternity leave. Yes, the holidays are nice, but I never have the entire holiday off, and throughout my career I have spent many evenings and weekends working. I am in school an absolute minimum of 9 hours a day, then often take work home to finish in the evenings. There are all the extras on top of this too - concerts, parents evenings, clubs etc. The pay isn't amazing either. I'm 10 years in to the job and earn £37k pa full time. Not a bad salary by any means, but not great. There's absolutely no way I'll be going back full time when my maternity leave ends, as I know I wouldn't be able to cope with the demands of full time teaching and having a child.

Being a TA is much more work/life balance friendly, but the pay is very poor (often minimum wage or not much more) which is an insult really, as TAs are amazing!

I worked as a general reception TA for a year before I retrained (to check it’s what I wanted to do). Maybe consider that?

Also I did the school’s direct route (salaried) so I got paid while I trained. But I was lucky and trained at an amazing school. This was pre kids though - your training and NQT year are HARD. But I did know someone who did it with a 3 yr old so it is possible!

I’d really look into the civil service OP though. People there generally have broadly similar values - not too many designer handbags! Part time is probably more likely as well.