Work unsustainable (teacher) and I’m not sure what to do

[feb190225]

I work as a teacher, three days a week, and have two children aged 4 and 1 and a half. I’ve been back at work properly since the beginning of this academic year and I’m really struggling with the inflexibility of the job - I know it isn’t unique to teaching.

I am trying to work out what option is best. Leave and come back to it in a few years - but surely things won’t have improved when my children are at primary school? Look for another role - but what, and what about school holidays? Just feeling a bit lost and fed up.

Have you talked to your line manager about it? That should probably be first port of call.

Definitely not - she’s a huge part of the problem.

I agree, don’t talk to your line manager. You have to work out what is best for you:

1. carry on as is.
2. Move schools
3. move sectors- state/independent.
4. be a SAHM for awhile.
5. change industries

This in a nutshell are the options. I know it’s really hard, I remember feeling like you and now with DC in upper primary I have actually moved school and increased hours. I would have cried if someone suggested that to me 1 year post maternity though.

What do you actually want?

Well - I want to leave, to be honest.

But. Butbutbut. Money in both the short and the long term are an issue. I really wish there was a simple answer, ideally I’d just be a SAHM and maybe pick up a bit of work at night or the weekend but I’m not sure how realistic that is.

Primary or secondary? What about supply teaching?

The problem with supply is the sporadic nature, if I’m at a school miles away I wouldn’t be able to get back in time to pick my own child up. It may be an option, it depends how much work is available I think.

Childminding. This is what I switched to. At home with your kids, you can take on as little or as much as you want.

Assuming your hours are 7.30 - 5.30, 3 days per week?

Those hours will be inflexible, but what problems is that causing you?

I switched roles and now work in the education department of my local council. Such a positive move, I feel so different about work now and it's term time only!!

Not quite - I am contracted to start at 825, but obviously actually getting there then is not ideal. I can leave any time after 4. It isn’t really that causing the problem.

The problem is more that if time is needed for an unwell child or for any other issue it causes a huge drama at work; they do it on purpose to try to make us feel bad. Next year my children will be in different settings as well and that’s going to be tricky to manage.

Lots of schools are absolutely desperate for supply teachers. I did supply for a while. Not through an agency, but directly for altwo particular schools who knew me. I told them exactly when and on which days I was available and they gave me plenty of work. That was secondary though. I'm guessing it's not so easy to do parts of days in primary supply.

Funnily enough this was something I vaguely looked into because there aren’t any by us. I’m not sure how successful it would be though as we’re quite remote so I’d either have to take the children I minded out and about a lot or I’d have to have them in the house and garden most of the day.

I am secondary - did you find you had schools pressuring you to take fixed term work?

Oh, well that sounds specific to that school tbh. I've been a teacher for 30 years in a lot of schools and I've never worked in one with that attitude (even though some of the schools had plenty of othe issues!).

No, not at all. I was able to totally dictate when I worked and turn down work on spec if I wanted. They still kept coming back to me. I was doing some other work in between (peripatetic primary MFL teaching), so they knew there were times I just wasn't available.

I’d love that - it just seems so risky in a way!

For teaching, those are hours are reasonable. I don't think you'll find better in mainstream teaching.

This is a childcare problem, and you'll have this issue with any teaching job. Or any job with little flexibility about work hours.

One possibility is supply teaching, so that you can say no on the day if an emergency arises. But even supply companies will stop ringing if you say no frequently or do not turn up to a job last minute.

What are you emergency childcare arrangements?

I have two young children and teach 4 days, it is blinking hard work so I feel you.

What stands out to me though is it seems to be the inflexibility/employer’s attitude to your child commitments etc which are more of a problem - so I’d suggest changing schools first, or looking for a supply post.

It isn’t the hours, it’s the lack of flexibility that’s so draining and stressful. We don’t have any emergency childcare.

Tutoring evenings and Saturdays. £50+ an hour. Way better than supply in every way. Older kids prefer online. Advertise on local Facebook pages.

Changing schools is possible. The problem is I never see part time posts advertised. It’s worth putting applications in for full time roles and seeing if they’d consider fewer hours but even then I’d have to tell people I was looking and it’s a big risk.

I don’t know what to do to be honest. I’ve been really unhappy ever since I went back really.

That would be amazing if I could build up a client base.

What are the problems making it unsustainable?

Any job has pros and cons so it depends what your specific issues are and where you can compromise.

I work flexible hours which is amazing for school runs (and assembly's, plays, parents evenings or whatever else comes up) but don't have enough annual leave for all holidays so me and dh don't have much time off together, my mum helps out and we use holiday clubs- it gets expensive!

It also means I do work a lot of evenings to balance out leaving early on days I pick up.

I know @CriticalOverthinking - this is the problem, all jobs have their ups and downs. And I don’t want to make long term decisions based on temporary problems. Just the same I do think it’s going to be really challenging when my own children start school and I need to start thinking about how to manage this.

Don't both. A day out and then a day doing crafts, baking, playing in the garden. By the time you factor in naps, meals, snacks etc you'll find that you get into a routine pretty quick.

I work part time now but another childminder I know does 7.45- 6pm 5 days and is making enough to out her kids through private school.