Civil Service??

[ilovepinkjelly]

Hi,

I relocated to Manchester with my family during my maternity leave earlier this year, and had to quit my job as an assistant headteacher and SENCo in a large inner London primary school.

I have a 3 year old and a 10 month old and looking to get back to work. Much as I love being a SENCo and the fast pace of being in a school, I feel like I need a change. Did the NASENCo (it's equivalent to half a masters in special needs coordination) qualification a few years ago and loved carrying out research and all the critical thinking involved. Quite fancy the idea of a civil service job, working in Department for Education. Anyone have any words of advice? Is it a pipe dream? How would I go about finding a job and would I be looking at a huge pay cut (was on £52,000 but pro rata as only went back three days following my first maternity...)

I’d think carefully about working for DfE if your passionate about education - as a civil servant you’re there just to carry out and enact the policies of the government of the day, especially so in a ministerial department like DfE. If you disagree with the current govt’s educational policies then you may very well find it difficult as you could find yourself being told to introduce changes that you fundamentally object to. Some Civil servants are able to bypass their morals to get the job done but equally some aren’t. I am a long time CS and also a school governor and I personally would never work at DfE because I disagree with a lot of the policy coming out of it at the moment. Obviously I have happily worked for other departments without the same problem! Ive once come up against policy that didn’t sit well with me and I graciously moved on to another post (easily done in CS).

Your previous career will have given you a lot of transferrable skills - we get lots of ex teachers applying successfully so don’t limit yourself to DfE, there are lots of depts in Manchester. CS is great for family flexibility. Happy to help with applications if you PM me.

Maybe look at the exam boards, they often have research type roles. Not sure if any are based in Mancs though.

Thanks so much for that reply - it's really helpful and lots of food for thought.

I will definitely open up and have a look at some other departments. Having had a look at the jobs on offer I think policy is something I would be good at and would enjoy. I am massively interested in education, and special educational needs and I guess I was naively hoping I could do more to influence from the inside but realise that is a bit optimistic...

What kind of level do you think I could realistically apply to with my level of experience? I'm happy to take a bit of a pay cut, partly because it sounds as the progression opportunities are good, and I think I've progressed as much as I'd be happy to in my school role (headteacher just seems to be a nightmarish job to me...)

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but what about fast track paths? I'm never able to find something that I fully fit the description.

I wondered about this but it's a big drop in salary and I'm not sure it'd offer as much flexibility as a stand alone role might?

I did actually apply about 15 years ago and didn't get through... and then I ended up in teaching...

I think they're future proof and there no age limit...

With your experience I’d go for an SEO or G7.

Re the fast tracks I wouldn’t bother with them personally, direct entry is easier and you can have just the same career.

@VanGoghsDog

Maybe look at the exam boards, they often have research type roles. Not sure if any are based in Mancs though.

AQA are in Manchester. That said your salary as an assistant head in a London school will be higher than a new career in Manchester.

Thanks so much this has all been super helpful and I feel so much more confident about applying for some roles!