How hard is teaching?

[planAplanB]

I'm heading back into full time teaching after a break (stayed in education though). I have two children aged 7 and 9. Also just started divorce proceedings this week. I'm worried that I won't cope. Any teachers here? How much work do you do on top of a regular 8 hour a day?

Oh sorry, you meant 60 to 80 hours. That is crazy

Op - don't underestimate the emotional toll of the divorce, especially if it is not amicable and becomes protracted. It's not unusual for one party to be v difficult and entrenched and then you are looking at a lengthy court route. Mine took me 5 years and at times I was on my knees trying to get through it, protect and support my kids through the fall out and juggle a f/t teaching role (secondary) which regularly saw me pulling 70 hour stressful weeks. There was no allowance made in school for what I was dealing with and if anything they just piled the pressure on. I ended up at the GP and on AD medication to get me through and avoid going off sick (prob what I should have done!). It took a huge toll on me and I consider myself pretty resilient generally. So be kind to yourself and give yourself a bit of breathing space if you can. I eventually switched to in house long term supply - paid to scale, TPS and I get to leave at 3:30. No parent evenings etc. and I can take a day off if needed (not paid though). It's worth considering as a half way house. There are downsides (no holiday pay/ no inset days/ not having guaranteed days or work, behaviour, not having regular classes to build student relationships etc) but for me the positives outweigh this. UC kicks in when salary falls below a certain amount due to school hols and there is CMS. I can properly be there for my kids and I'm better off than I thought I would be. The peace is utterly glorious. It makes it all worth it. Honestly be kind to yourself but also prepare for it to be gruelling and get all the support you can. You will come out on the other side though.

@planAplanB I did this.
Split in 2005 when my kids were 3 & 5 (they are men now)

I worked/taught full time, sold the house and moved without his help whilst going through a divorce.

I coped. It was very hard and I drank a lot of wine and cried a lot of tears.

He's now someone I call a friend.

That does sound incredibly stressful! We have to keep our phones in a locker on the other side of the school, so trying to even speak to estate agents or solicitors would be a nightmare in term time.

You have your phones removed during the school day? There's no way I could do that.

^this!

@planAplanB I say the majority of schools don't permit you to have/use your mobile during the teaching day (except at lunch and away from the students) due to safeguarding. This is the case in the school I teach in.

Where did you put your phone when you worked in a school before?!

That’s pretty typical in schools nowadays.

This!

Phone in my bag or pocket. Close by so if it rings, my watch rings too. I've had my kids school call me before about collecting them when they are unwell.

Most of our staff have kids attending schools/nursery. This sort of thing obviously still happens, but they would phone our school office and a message would be passed on.

When did you last teach?

We can keep our phones in handbags in our storerooms, we 're just allowed to have them around the children but can use them at lunch/break.

If you're seen with your phone out in the company of children that would be a serious breach of safeguarding. You can only access your phone when on a break in a part of the school that children don't access.

The phones thing must vary between schools. We certainly don’t have to hide our phones, although no one would use one in a lesson.

No wonder people think teachers are martyrs who lack experience of the world when they post this.

This 😢

You'll teach in class all day (so around 32 hours of teaching) which YOU have to plan and prep for. So on top of that, another minimum of 30 hours work. Don't think I've managed less than a 60 hour eek EVER, but it's usually around 70 hours to be honest. This is primary..my secondary friends say they work around 60 hours regularly, but never less than 50.

It's brutal.

I think she might mean ‘literally’ in the sense of ‘not actually’ in the way that kids say they are ‘literally just starting their homework’.

it is a bit of a mental job in term time, and is unusual in that you have to work at home to prepare for your working day - you can’t always get everything done in working hours, but you can’t just leave it.

and people do say thank you, occasionally!

I'm in primary. I'm contracted to work 2.5 days, but usually do an extra half day every week unpaid to get marking etc done, so more like 3 days (but paid for 2.5).

As a non teacher can I ask- what is the barrier to schools just repeating the same lesson plans year on year to save teachers having to plan from scratch? Surely there must be companies that create full sets of lesson plans from the national curriculum? This is not a goady question ( although possibly a silly one if there are obvious barriers I’m not aware of) - I’m honestly interested because it seems that would save teachers loads of time and help retention/ prevent burn out.

Lapalma - you can, that’s why teaching gets easier after a few years. The problem is that you always have to tweak for your particular class and plan work for individual pupils (this massively adds to planning time - if you have a number of children with very specific needs it could easily add 1 hour planning per lesson). Topics change and as teachers we always reflect on what went well and try to improve things each time. New ideas and educational strategies are implemented and have to be incorporated. Or you might decide to change exam boards and have to re-write schemes of work.

I’ve done it for 30 years full time and am a single parent. When my kids were small it was terrible! Sleep deprived (their dad left before second was born and is NC), out all day so struggled with keeping on top of washing etc. the. They had clubs in the evening and I ended up marking & planning whilst they swam/danced/played and I would stay up late to try and be prepared. I’m more senior now, with one adult child and one at school with me. I think the key is not to waste a minute at work- have clear boundaries about what you will do at home and try to totally switch off from work for some of the weekend. Also, keep at least part of the holiday just for you and your family. I used to hang onto the fact that, although I felt like the shittiest mother ever in term time, there is only ever 7 weeks without a break (unlike my friends in industry, although they can afford to leave the country!) and that time has to be precious and focused on family. If you have to work in the holidays, try to be regimented with your time. I try to actually go into the building to work so that home stays home. It isn’t easy but great colleagues and school management makes the difference; especially when you get the dreaded call from nursery in the middle of a lesson! Good luck

I do 3 days a week (go in 7:30 - leave at 5)
My school day ends at 2:50 but there is always after school activities or meetings so that time til 3:30/4 is not my own.
Then there's the admin stuff - including phone calls to parents
I would say I do 2 hours a night minimum and at least one whole day on one of my days off.
I have found it's not the teaching side that's difficult but the behaviour management / office politics that is draining!
I am leaving at the end of this term!

Honestly, I get into work for 7am and work until 11pm most nights. I have two kids in primary and I leave school at 5pm spend time with the kids (feed them, read etc) then I work from 8-11pm. It is relentless. Short staffing, assessments, data, marking, learning walks. But I live for the holidays and make a point to do one solid day of work in the holidays then spend the rest of my time with my children. It really depends on the role you go for and the year group. I'm SLT so I have a lot of extra stuff. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I love teaching and I love my job but it is highly demanding and stressful.

@pplanAplanB

When did you last teach? Teaching has become impossible since the pandemic. I'm in an amazing school with very little planning or marking and more PPA than most. It's the pastoral and behavioural side of things that is crippling me.