Teachers pay and conditions

[Guest55]

I agree - I prefer just teaching one subject but planning takes just as long. Some groups are preparing for different modules so multiple lesson plans for just one group.

[mystery]

each year group had its swings and roundabouts and we all have government hurdles to climb eg the phonics check in year 1 , especially with children who may not even speak English. The marking in the lower classes is not as much, but the school day is full on, 30 pairs of hands tapping you and demanding attention immediately.
I am KS2 trained and I find Reception exhausting, the record keeping is phenomenal everything. Has to be backed up bŷ photographic evidence and the children have to be observed and a writte transcript of their play or answers to questions kept. a Ta is not such a luxury whe you have 30 children shouting out at once!


I think it maintain be a good idea for all teachers to see what the others have to do. I have only worked with R to year 7 and the spread is huge.

Yes, every year group is different. Different people probably find different year groups exhausting depending on skills, experience and interest. Too much bending down in primary!

The phonics check in year 1 shouldn't be a problem with children who can't speak English though - it is about pronouncing words according to pronunciation rules for each grapheme ( letter or group of letters making a single sound) which children are taught during reception and year 1. It is not necessary to understand the words so it does not depend at all on children's English vocabulary. The analysis of test results shows that it isn't an issue either. All that excessive recording in reception isn't necessary either unless your school has an unreasonable policy about this or they follow the advice of some misguided early years adviser.

This, I found, was one of the biggest downsides about teaching. When you are teaching in a particular school you are very much bound by their way of doing things, or at secondary, the departmental way of doing things. Sometimes it can be a bit silly and now that schools are more responsible for teacher's pay and progression than they were in the past it can be more important to toe the line than it was. This can be very frustrating. But, in this respect it is no different from any other job where you could land up in an organisation which has a frustrating, crazy, or stressful way of doing things and where one could be judged unfairly.

The main thing I would say is that if you get great satisfaction from teaching a group of children no other job will provide that same satisfaction. If you don't get that satisfaction, the downsides of the job could well be overwhelming. It is difficult to know if one would get that satisfaction though. It's the age old problem of finding a career - how do you work out what your own personal likes and dislikes are from an armchair? Gut feeling helps, but maybe the high drop out rates from teaching in the first few years are partly caused by this self-discovery?

[yoyo123]

Ah, but it does help if the child you are testing can actually follow the instructions!

[mystery]

Agreed!! But then maybe that's a stress factor to add in for teaching right the way through - are you the type of person who will cope with the various communication difficulties that can crop up with pupils including some children being new to the country and having very little English for a short while?

It took me a long time to understand what the children were saying in my teaching practice school in Birmingham! They seemed more adept at understanding me.

[silverysea]

It doesn't sound that terrible a life really. Why the next strikes?

[wonderwoman]

It doesn't sound that terrible a life really. Why the next strikes?

It's not a terrible life at all. Very briefly, the reasons I supported the strike last year was were: changes to my pension and employment conditions and I really don't support pay linked to results.

I'm quite old and have been teaching a long time now, the job in the classroom has actually changed very little to be honest, but during my career I have introduced the National Curriculum and SATs, the literacy hour, numerous changes to the curriculum, level 6 SATs, no level 6 SATs, new level 6 SATs, topic based curriculum, subject based, cross curricular, major changes to SEN and the constantly changing priorities of Ofsted (to mention just a few of the changes I can think of off the top of my head) and so it goes on. I'm not at all convinced that all the changes have been necessary or good for education. TBH I'm all for research led initiatives and I have no time for teachers who do not aim for the very highest standards, but I have given up trying to keep up with Ofsted. If they ever come in and tell me I'm rubbish I will up and leave.

Does that answer the question?

[Peridot]

What I like about teaching is a) the fact that, compared to other jobs I have had, I feel I am doing something that actually makes a difference to children's lives and the adults they will become, and b) the lovely, intelligent, interesting and caring colleagues I have who feel the same way.

[yoyo123]

What I like about teaching is a) the fact that, compared to other jobs I have had, I feel I am doing something that actually makes a difference to children's lives and the adults they will become, and b) the lovely, intelligent, interesting and caring colleagues I have who feel the same way.

You have put into words exactly what I was thinking! I love my job, it has its hurdles (as do most jobs. I didn't become a teacher until I was 37) but my work environment is the best I have encountered..the children, my colleagues - teaching and non teaching - and the families just make it the best job ever. I can even put up with Mr Gove to be able to do a job which makes me happy (most of the time.) What more could ask of a profession?

[moved]

I've taught nursery (help!) to adult (lovely people, who do what they are told) - I'm currently teaching both primary children and their teachers. The job is exhausting; I am very experienced and I am still in work from 8am until 7-8pm every day. Most of my teachers are in from 7am and leave near 7pm. There is a lot of pressure from local authority visits as well as OFSTED. I appraise teachers termly through formal lesson observations, I review their marking half-termly and I often walk around the school to see how everything is going. The schools I work in are inspected termly by the local authority, despite all of them being good or outstanding. My teachers are now so used to being observed that they don't bat an eyelid. Demands are made with very short time scales, much shorter than the non-school world.

I found secondary easier and A level by far the most pleasant, I'm now back in primary trying to make great primary maths teachers, whilst working in a school environment.

I totally understand why many leave - I have in the past, but I have a real passion for education and I've never left that!

I'm always shattered. We've just had a two week 'holiday' in which I spent the first week putting together a bid for funding and the second preparing resources. I tend to view the holidays as time to work from home!

Warn her that children are NOT cute. That is the biggest mistake of the young!

[silverysea]

I don't find kids cute either mostly, prefer animals, I'm not sure what started this for dd but she has more tolerance for little kids except her sister, but I think it's more to do with being impressed by some of her teachers and not feeling drawn to specialise in a single subject.