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.

You can disagree all you like about my view that the hours and holidays (and pension, sick pay, job security, maternity pay etc) are good in teaching.

So me another job that matches the pay for those hours…

teaching Annual Leave is THIRTEEN WEEKS PLUS BANK HOLIDAYS. so over 15 weeks. The rest of the working world have 4 weeks per year.

Yes there’s not flexibility, but if you have children you generally have to take your annual leave in school holidays anyway as who else will look after them?!

15 weeks per year vs 4 weeks is incomparable. Plus the pension job security and contracted hours allowing for you to do school drops etc.

There was another thread recently where the OP did the calculations (including pension etc) and realised she could not match it at all…. It’s basic maths.

PS my husband in finance or brother who is a surgeon can’t take random days off. Neither can he do drop off, pick up or all of the school holidays. It’s common in many industries.

Oh and my brother hasn’t been able to have the last 3 years of Christmas Day off. Despite having two children under 5. Surely that is more to complain about?

oh, but I’ve never heard him complain.

definitely go and find another job that offers you all the perks and pay… once you do, let us know as we will all be signing up.

I don't understand how any of these other job options are going to help.
If your husband is in Vietnam or wherever during the week and your child is ill, you would be cancelling whatever other work you have and if that's self employed that's more difficult, particularly in terms of reputation and reliability. Also if he is away during the week how would you work evenings? I wouldn't be paying an online tutor who has to keep dealing with her toddler getting out of bed.

There aren't many employers who are just fine with you being off whenever and will offer the exact part time hours you need.

This isn't just your problem it's also your husband's problem, what is he doing to accommodate your children?

@Proudestmumofone1 the holidays and pension are good, but I disagree about the hours! When I was full time, I earned under £2k a month for working 60 hour weeks. That was top of the pay scale as well. It's a myth that teachers work 9-3 (or even 9-5). Please don't comment on the hours unless you have direct experience. I'd never comment on the hours of someone else's job, as I don't have the knowledge to be accurate.

@Proudestmumofone1 allowing you to do school drops?! 🤣🤣🤣 I use wraparound care so I can be in school for 7.45! I'd be late doing school drop offs! Which teacher do you know who does school drop offs?!

Oh and @Proudestmumofone1 my DDs get picked up at 6pm. How on earth could a teacher do school pick up? Genuinely, how?!

We can never book days off - Because you get 13-15 weeks off every year! Average is around 33 days outside education.

We can never work from home - This is true for most people.

We can never come in an hour late while we wait for the plumber and so on - Again this is true for most people, this would require booking holiday of which we have very little.

I don't deny teaching would be stressful and there is a lot of responsibility involved, but the way so many teachers bang on about how awful it is, I just think they wouldn't last 5 minutes outside of education.

You get paid for 10 months but you spread them over 12 so you still get your salary whilst you are off. You get paid for 5.6 weeks of holiday like everyone else.

Yet all the people I know who career changed into teaching left because it was worse than private sector. Anyone I know who left teaching hasn't come back either.

Agreed, I'll be first in line for this unicorn of a job.

What jobs did they go on to do after teaching then?

All sorts. Civil service, childminding, quality control, police, LA/Council, SALT, tutoring, marketing. Those are the ones I can remember, there's more!

Part time. I need part time. No part time positions are advertised.

This isn’t a ‘teachers have a hard time’ thread. The thread is ‘i am having a hard time and I happen to be a teacher.’

@DorsetHornet

As you’ve clearly never worked as a teacher, I don’t think you can really comment on the hours or flexibility.

Most teachers I know have also worked outside of teaching before becoming teachers, so we are aware of how the world works outside of school. This patronising attitude that none of us would last five minutes in the ‘real world’, as if teaching isn’t the real world, and isn’t a really challenging and demanding job, is all based on jealousy over our perceived perk of long holidays, which again, are great, but when you’re working incredibly long and intense days, often late into the evening, you bloody well need them. And we do spend a good proportion of those holidays working - as we’re preparing for the next term.

I actually think this ‘wouldn’t last five minutes outside of education’ schtick is laughable - it’s you lot outside of education who wouldn’t last five minutes in our jobs. You try keeping 30 kids safe, entertained and engaged while also teaching them academic subject content, monitoring their progress, anticipating who is struggling or who needs more challenge and intervening in a timely manner, responding to loads of questions, managing behaviour and interruptions, and so on, on the hour every hour. It’s an exhausting job that takes an enormous amount of energy, intellect and empathy. Most jobs simply do not make those amounts of demands on people all at once and teachers are actually pretty incredible human beings for being able to juggle all of that cognitive and emotional load.

You come and do it for a week or two, and then judge. If it’s such a cushy job, how come there’s such a major shortage?

Your primary problems seem to be your H not sharing weekday parenting, not having back up childcare & perhaps the location of where you live. Your manager / employer seem secondary problems IMO.

Re part time, most people I know who are PT applied for FT posts. It's rare to see PT advertised.

I agree- I was HOD English for 8 years. Some mornings I'd go in and have 2/3 staff to set cover for- between me and my team we'd sort it and help each other out with emergencies like you describe in the unlikely event that cover couldn't be found by the cover manager.

So it very much sounds like a toxic school which is the problem as well as a DH who is not stepping up.

My dh and I would take it in turns when kids were unwell, but I agree with previous posters that in most cases this phase of them being constantly unwell is short lived.

@feb190225 As many of us have told you, apply for the full time jobs anyway and tell them at interview you want part time.

Many schools will be prepared to consider this as they need good teachers and they will be flexible if they need to be to get the right candidate.

I know several people who got their part time jobs by applying for roles that were advertised as full time.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. You need to just start applying. There will be a better school out there. You’re an experienced English teacher in an area where there are several job vacancies. Schools are going to be biting their hands off to take you. I teach in a fabulous independent school that pays well above the state pay scales and we only got about two decent candidates applying for a job in my department last year. Really and truly, the ball is in our court when it comes to job hunting right now so take advantage of that and put yourself
out there. Who cares if the job ad says full time? That might be their ideal, but actually a lot of schools will be grateful for someone who wants fewer hours as it saves them money, and there’s always someone under timetable somewhere in the school who can take a class of Year 8 English on a Friday afternoon if it means they can get a great teacher who wants to only work 4 days or whatever.

Just apply and see what happens!

@DorsetHornet interesting about the 'not lasting 5 minutes' comment. I know plenty people who have left (around 20 over the years) and haven't returned. Why is that?

Ahh @feb190225 I see. I'm PT, and you're right, it is harder to come by PT teaching jobs. Keep looking. Wish you all the luck in the world finding a PT position! Your school sounds incredibly inflexible.

I would try using a childminder - mine were rarely ill at that age & I think it’s because it was a much smaller setting. They mix with fewer people & if they're feeling unwell then they tend to cope ok (as long as it's nothing contagious).

We're both teachers & school I work in has always been difficult about taking time off. When a new academy trust took over they brought in the rule that carers leave is unpaid.

They’re working us so hard now that lots of staff are off ill themselves (never mind their children being ill!) I was ill recently & had to set a day cover while I was being ill all night with D&V.

I think it's the inflexible nature of the job - if you're off lessons can't just be cancelled. It’s really hard with little ones at home. I was constantly stressed about getting them up & out & getting myself to work on time. It does get easier & obviously you have the advantage of school hols once they are older.

OP sadly these early years are just really hard workwise unless you have family who can step in last minute or a partner who has a lot of work flexibility. I had neither but managed to sustain my career through the early years but it was tough. I did encounter one Manager who just couldn’t understand that if my child had a fever or was vomiting or whatever then I couldn’t get in and i left that role for another with a more understanding manager. I was always willing to go the extra mile or try to make hours up so it worked both ways.

@Proudestmumofone1

I don't think OP is complaining about being a teacher. It’s more the logistics of it all & the fact that DH seems to work away during the week.

Btw I don't know where you get the holiday allowance from. Bank holiday are always during school break. Except May Day. Lots of jobs have decent holiday (pretty sure I saw nursing has a good allowance, local council, civil service, some industry jobs where people can get TOIL up to 2,days/month for overtime).

I think OP is looking for practical advice rather than someone telling her how lucky she is!

What do you earn currently/what do you need to earn?

@DorsetHornet

OP hasn't said that she's stressed or doesn't like teaching. It’s just the fact that it's difficult to manage family illness & last minute appointments. Unfortunately children aren't always ill during school holidays. I was lucky (or unlucky) mine tended to be ill on my day off or in school hols. Otherwise I would have had the same stress.