Thinking about change.. any secondary school teachers

[BarbarianLaurie]

There is a local event and i always wanted to work locally in a job where i am not under constant threat of redundancy.

Can you tell me what its like being a secondary school teacher? Is it worth taking a permanent massive pay cut for?

I am 37 with 2 primary age kids. A related 2.1 but not direct degree in maths (the subject id go for). I'm terribly lazy and not a people or children person - like my dad who was a decent secondary teacher. Mum was an uptight and 'proper' successful primary teacher and i am totally unlike her.

Tbh this is probably my 10th idea as i feel stuck in my well paid but dead end + unfulfilling flexible job that leaves me little time to enjoy my kids.

I'm not a teacher, but I do a lot of careers work in secondary schools and the teachers are under quite a bit of pressure, so make sure it is the right thing for you (which you are trying to to with this post, obviously). There is real demand for maths teachers though, so your chances would be good. I'm assuming you mean some kind of teacher recruitment / information event. I would just attend and find out a bit more there. If there is any option for you to spend some time in a school shadowing teachers and talking to them about the work and pressures, do it! It's not really a job you just "leave at the office door" for most people. Although the times you have to be physically in school may not be that long, keep in mind marking, prep work, parents evenings, GCSE extra prep (most of the schools I work with run extra sessions after school for year 11s to prepare for exams, particularly in Maths and English).
I know it can be really hard considering changing careers. But on the plus side you are starting to actually do things that can move you forward. Even if you might decide teaching is not it, that's a step forward.
Hopefully you'll get some teacher responses on here too.
If you'd like a bit more general inspiration, I recommend the two links below as starting points:
www.16personalities.com/
www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree

I've also started a little Facebook page with tips / inspiration around career change, if you'd like to have a look it's www.facebook.com/cheerfulcareers

Good luck!