Primary vs Secondary teaching

[MimiDaisy11]

I’m considering going into teaching. I’ve done volunteering before and ESL teaching abroad. I’m not sure about whether to go for primary or secondary. I’ve taught both age groups before and they have positives and negatives. Any opinions? Is there more paperwork with one or the other?

I think it is very personal.
Very few secondary teachers relish the thought of herding a class full of Reception children around , let alone teaching them for a whole day, and very few early years teachers fancy moving into a word where many of their pupils will be bigger than them.

There's a certain cross over at Middle school age, but the most obvious difference is whether you would prefer to work with one group of children across all subjects - and many find it difficult to be confident teaching art, PE, music, French, sex education, as well as the core subjects - or to stick with a subject you feel really confident in, but then having to teach many, many different children over the course of a week.

I think the amount of ridiculous, unnecessary paperwork varies with the HT and school managers school from school rather than being 'heavier' in different Key Stages.