What next after school administration?

[Needanewadventure2021]

I'm not going to pretend I like my job because I absolutely hate it. It's the kids who keep me there as I keep telling myself everything I do is for their benefit, but my god I have never ever had a job that drains your soul like this, and nothing is ever enough!

I wish I had listened to posts on here previously as it seems to be similar across the board but I feel I'm at the end now as it's just not worth the poor treatment and relentless ever expanding workload that ends up being taken home as it's always being offloaded last minute, which then means an already poor pay is even poorer.

I'd love to stay in a school as it benefits my child BUT it's not a deal breaker if I leave the term time only world because I hate how I am left feeling beyond drained at then end of each day.

I guess I'm hoping someone will come along who has been in a school administrator job and let me know what they did next? Looking for some inspiration

T.i.a

Charity admin?

I'm glad you posted this because I always thought school admin sounded like a good job; clearly it isn't.

@LightSpeeds you will never be able to describe the job until you are in it. It is hell. You are treated like crap and the level of responsibility you have does not reflect the pay!
For anyone who thinks it is an easy job it is far from. You are expected to do the job of multiple people, on one person's time and salary.
It's a real shame as I get to be involved with the pupils quite abit and it's a part of my job I absolutely love but the operations side of my job I absolutely hate because the demands on you are so unreasonable

Yes, I heard this too from another source and have now crossed 'school administrator' off my list of preferred jobs.

It sounds nice in theory though...

I feel you @Needanewadventure2021

I've just spent tonight finishing my compulsory training from the inset at the start of term

I'm knackered and we're only 4 weeks in!

I do get paid quite well but sometimes I wonder if the stress is worth it. No one appreciates what ops do. Except everyone else in ops 😂

How about the same but in the private school sector? I made that move and I bloody love my job now. Still very busy, and I do take work home, but I'm now well-paid, properly-valued, work in a nice office, have more autonomy, have interesting colleagues who actually occasionally have the time to chat and aren't all permanently stressed out of their minds, and (believe it not!) an actual lunch break - with free lunch! But I still get the pleasure of working with and for kids.

@SausageAndEggSandwich you've reminded me. I have some to get finished too but I really begrudge doing it at home.

I spent last school year and the first 3 weeks of this school year taking work home everyday working till nearly midnight most nights just to get things done for the next day, only for it to happen again, EVERY DAY. It has never been a case of poor time management, it is simply an impossible workload to manage. And it often seems those you are waiting to get the work from leave it until the last minute to pass it on but they don't care the difficult position that leaves you in. Deadlines dont seem exist, nor processes but we are bound to stick to them strictly or we will be disciplined. I also swear most of our staff believe we are sat there waiting for work to come in. What does a break actually feel like as I haven't had one in so bloody long

I had to make the decision to stop working at home as it was ridiculous. I guess I just reached a point where I wasn't prepared to work my arse off, take time away from my child for not even a thank you

Earlier in the year I hated my job so much I was looking to move on. But I didn't apply for anything as I felt so much guilt when I thought of the pupils. But I've realised now just how miserable it is making me and as much as the kids are my favourite part about my job, my own son is getting an overworked, burnt out, irritable Mum back at home and it's not fair on him.

I'd absolutely love to continue working with kids and families as I love being a support but just not in a school admin role. Which is a shame as without a functioning admin/ops team the school wouldn't run. But until people realise that it will never change

Yeah taking work home is a trap. I've fallen into it a bit this term. Most days working 7-7. Only like you say another set of impossible tasks is given to you the next day so you never catch up.

I don't know the answer. A new job most likely. It does feel worse this year. The workload I have is crazy and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. There's always some crisis/ last minute emergency/ whatever that takes me away from my planned work so I get even further behind.

Have you only done the job at one school? It might be worth trying the same job in a new and different type of school before you give it up completely. A larger school with more of a team perhaps?
Or how about a special school?
Support staff are in high demand just now so if you moved you stand a chance of negotiating a better salary.
If the part of the job you love is the kids would you consider being a TA, learning mentor, family support worker? Have you any transferable skills for these roles?

I don't work in a mainstream setting.

I've looked into a family support worker and mentor roles and both are something I think I'd enjoy

I work in Uni admin, we have quite a few people coming to us that were working in schools previously. I quite like it, and imagine there's a fair few transferable skills. It's not term-time only, but there's definitely corresponding peaks and troughs, especially if you're in student-facing roles.

I am a learning mentor. Was considering going back to admin for all the reasons you list above. Sounds like a move from the frying pan into the fire. And vice versa. Sorry OP.

I do school admin, I used to be a GP Receptionist which I really enjoyed (or you can go into admin at a doctors surgery).
I'd love to go back to doing what I used to do, but I have to stick out the term time job for the sake of childcare

TA here and had enough.
Rubbish money.
Too much to do.
TAs used as " cover staff"

Combine that with menopause and health issues. I'm done!

@Swanhilde blimey, thanks for the warning. Possibly I need to think out of a school now then.

Term time working suits for my own SN son as I can be around for all the holidays BUT there are too many downfalls of school working and it's really getting me down now.

I see so many unhappy people working in schools. And I agree about TA's and cover, it's terrible but im also finding teachers no longer want to work in the profession either.

People think 'oh you get all the holidays' but the pay for me doesn't allow me to enjoy the holidays. I am a single parent with no help from the other parent, I work full time and still have to claim a top up from the government, and then get screwed over with the backdated pay you get which means I end up being worser off. But more than anything it is the relentless workload. It makes me ill

I'm a Learning Mentor
I've loved it for a long time but I think I'm over working in schools.
Feel a bit stuck as don't have admin skills but I need to do something 🤷‍♀️

The trouble is, the more you cope the more you're expected to cope with. That often goes hand in hand with bring undervalued and, per hour, underpaid for the job you actually do vs what the job was advertised/described as.

Sadly we're often driven by guilt as well as trying to be conscientious and we, and our families come off worse. 🌹

I’ve worked in a number of schools and unfortunately I think this is the culture - because teachers work way beyond their hours there is a baked in expectation everyone will do the same. Despite really liking the school holidays (and also having Sen dc) I’m looking outside of education. I think with school budgets being what they are there is no where in non private schools I wouldn’t be overworked and underpaid.

@Sundaefraise totally agree with you.
Same goes for TA staff. You feel obliged to go the extra mile each and every day. Except, the financial reward is appalling. A completely unsustainable wage.

@marmitegirl01 same.
Zero admin, but done with schools.
Wracking my brains trying to work out what to do.

How about admin in a college or university? The annual leave and benefits can be pretty decent and you can work your way up if you wish.

Seems like alot of us are done with schools then.

It's sad as I feel everyone in a school has such an important job, but the level of work is just insane and it makes you miserable