Hi all,
I have just returned from maternity leave to a role in leadership and the classroom within school. Teaching has always been really really hard (despite the bad reputation we seem to have amongst the general public!) but the good, and passion for the job, has always outweighed the bad parts.
Long hours, endless work being dumped on us, loads of pressure from government and our SLT Teams to constantly change/ improve/ adapt in our day to day teaching. Lack of money, staffing & resources and increasingly difficult children entering mainstream schools who clearly need specialist support are just a few! Anyway... I will get to the point!
I have returned off maternity to a role both in class and on the leadership team. Before I stepped foot in the door I was already being hounded by staff and parents!
I, like many others, joined the profession because we love working with children and teaching them. Sadly the teaching part of our job is only a tiny bit of the role now. Im finding the demands of the job, children, staff and parents far too much to cope with whilst trying to not let my own home life collapse, and it feels like it already is. Getting home gone 6, house is a tip, work to mark and other school bits to sort, getting 45 mins with my children before it's bed time. It's not great 😣 and that’s after a really hard days work where I’ve had violent children physically and verbally attack me whilst trying to keep up with the curriculum and needs of the other children in my care.
Instead of moaning about it though, I want to be brave and make a decision so that I can stop feeling like I'm failing in all areas of my life. I drive to work feeling sick and with a lump in my throat, the chest pains start the minute I walk in the door and I cry on most of my drives to and from work - which I am well aware is not okay.
Who has moved out of teaching and into what other profession? Any tips or advice?
I have a psychology degree from a top university and have been in the profession for 10+ years. I have 2 LO's who are 1 and 3, so holidays have always been a positive of the job. Having a happier mum overall is better than the holidays though!
Please don't make this a bashing post... everything is feeling really overwhelming at the moment as it is so please just be kind, or say nothing at all.
I work ridiculously hard and am happy to put in loads of hours once my children are in bed. I can also work PT or FT so am fairly flexible in that respect. Just looking for options and good stories from others to give me some hope and inspiration.
Thanks x