I’m gonna go out and bang a pan with a wooden spoon. Give me 10 minutes and it’ll be sorted.
We are facing a dangerous everything shortage.
We don’t pay public sector workers enough to make doing the jobs they do and dealing with that crap worth it.
Teachers, police*, nurses, paramedics, social workers, mental health workers, carers, you name it, it’s underpaid in this country.
It’s no wonder no one wants to do these jobs when they can make more money and an easier life in the private sector.
*Slight bias as I’m in the police but my point stands.
The present trajectory means it will only worsen. They (government) are after teacher pensions, withdrawing/limiting funding streams, yet asking for more from those who teach when quite often, such duties should be the role of a parent.
Even if we forget amount the terrible pay for amount of hard work they do…..
The school environment is horrendous now. It’s all based around exams. There’s no individualism or care.
Schools are way too overpopulated. Loads of kids to a class and no support for the teachers.
Kids that literally believe they are untouchable and show zero respect.
I wouldn’t want to work in that kind of environment.
Seems more in Secondary than Primary. Almost all Primary ads I’ve applied for have had a ‘large number of applicants’.
Or I’m not appealing
But there are secondary jobs everywhere
Teachers work incredibly hard for very little money and the government keep cutting their wages in real terms year after year after year.
Most teachers have university degrees and the good ones would be able to compete for highly paid jobs in pretty much any industry, but when you include the number of non-conracted hours some of them are working they’re barely making minimum wage.
They’re prepared to teach for less money than they can make in other industries, but they’re not able to teach for less money than they need to live.
I really cant think why. Oh hang on, could it be the lack of investment in education, maybe its the poor salaries, even the fact they cant punish any wrong doers any more.
Maybe its the fact that parents dont respect teachers anymore, or that the government keep lying about where the 5% pay rise is coming from, i will give a clue out of your kids school budget not the government coffers.
Yes they get 13 weeks holiday a year but that is out weighed by the weekends spent marking, the activities they do for the kids in their own time and the planning and prep that os done in their own time.
It’s not a “shortage” they exist they just aren’t teaching anymore
Partner is leaving teaching at the end of term after 15 years. He’s so exhausted.
It’s not only a loss of teaching skills, but social role modelling and demonstrating the joy in being passionate about your interest/subject.
We’re not sure what’s next, but at least there will be a next now.
I’m likely out after 16 years. I’ve handed in my notice and haven’t actively sought a new teaching job for September.
It’s not the kids so much that are the problem. But the stress just isn’t really worth it anymore.
It’s not just a recruitment crisis it’s a retention crisis.
I emigrated to Canada from the UK 8 years ago. I’ve seen adverts on Reddit for teaching in England here. Searching far and wide it seems.
I’ve worked as a TA through an agency for the last year. The agency does nothing, no support, no training, they don’t even help me find work over half term. All they do is suck the money out of schools and colleges. It’s a racket.
Teaching union needs to grow some balls. Work to rule, paid for 40 hours? Go home after 40 hours & demand overtime for any extra minute worked.
Worried about targets? Well if you can’t reach your targets in your given hours looks like your teachers need a new contract to reflect the demands of the job. Threat of dismissal for deciding to work to your given contract? Well then your colleagues need to band around you and strike.
I know someone that quit teaching and it is unbelievable what schools get away with under the guise of “if I don’t do it the kids will suffer”
Good luck getting us back too. I would love to teach but not for the pay, hours, and responsibilities I had before. I want to do what is best for the children, not hit arbitrary tickboxes that someone who has never been in a classroom thinks are important. I want to plan lessons that are fun and engaging, that encourage learning through play and exploration; I don’t want to plan lessons based around a single learning objective. I definitely do not want to spend more time on paperwork that makes the SLT look good but does nothing to help the kids. Being able to switch off at 5pm would be nice too.
If the government wants good teachers then it needs to create an environment that nurtures teachers. We need it just as much as the kids do.
I don’t get why this is always the headline, when just under half of us on my PGCE course don’t have a job yet as there are so few out there, and so many going for each job.
It shouldn’t come as a great surprise really considering they’re underpaid and frequently get abused.
Who the hell would want to be a teacher? Crap pay, crap conditions and Ofsted breathing down your neck.
The government has bought this crisis on themselves after decades of underfunding and cuts.
We’re in a Tory crisis. Labour needs to raise taxes on the wealthiest and raise wages for public sector workers.
No wonder. It only takes one or two kids in a class to make it impossible to teach a class and all the extra shit lumped on top makes it impossible to recharge.
I dread my kid getting put in the wrong class as he grows up.
I lasted 11 years as a primary teacher, had countless amounts of therapy throughout my career, ended up on anxiety meds for panic attacks and at the end of my career almost had a nervous breakdown. I now run my own company and would never, ever go back into teaching. The education system is so broken.
Terrible work conditions ✅
Long hours ✅
Low Salary ✅
I wonder why there is a shortage of staff?!
I mean, for alot of us, we work to live, not the other way around.
Why would I do a job that has such extreme working conditions that would destroy my mental health when I can find an equal or better paying job with better hours elsewhere that has a more managable workload and semi-decent working conditions?
Not surprised who wants to teach when it pays so little and requires so much additional time over the given paid working hours.
Teaching is a bigger problem stretching back a lot longer than the current set of crisis.
I did it for 5 years. It was awful. I sometimes wake up in a panic 12 years on thinking about it.
The kids were largely alright. The teachers, senior leaders, parents and insane work load made it a job I was happy to quit. Most new teachers don’t last 3 years
I’ve said it so many times, if a school was run like a business they would have teachers…teaching and administration dealing with the paperwork.
It’s madness to put all those skills and roles onto one person.
45k starting salary and the shortage will dissappear. Yeah let me train for years to work long unpaid hours with disrespectful and unappreciative and abusive little shtits who’ve no respect and have been soft parented their whole lives so can do no wrong, let me do all this for about the same as supermarket workers without a care in the world, so I can’t even afford to live where I work.
[deleted]
Left teaching a few years back & it was the best thing I ever did – now I’m paid more for doing around a quarter of the workload I had as a teacher. (Along with now having Flexi time & many other perks)
I really miss teaching my subject but the demands were quite frankly ridiculous & nearly always had a toxic work environment with poor senior leadership. You’re also on your feet for pretty much the entire day which is exhausting.
The accountability & stress in teaching is insane – I’d regularly work 50-60 hour weeks (including marking at weekends & evenings). The last straw for me was when I sat down and actually worked out how much I was being paid for doing such a stressful job & it came to something ridiculous like £5 an hour – I’d have been better off stacking shelves…
Teaching doesn’t have a recruitment crisis, it has a retention crisis – we’re only human and can only take so much before we realise the job simply isn’t worth it. Pouring money into recruitment is like plugging a hole with a sieve.
Im not surprised. There were a very high percentage of teachers who were suicidal last year, I imagine it is the same or higher this year!
A lot of schools are now having to get rid of support staff so the pressure on teachers will be a lot more come September. It is a massive shame for everyone involved.
I’m just finishing my teacher training in 2 weeks.
I recieved no money in bursary for my subject speciality so just had to get a new loan. So I had to move back in with my mum to save on money.
I can literally work 10 hours a day or more and there would still be things I needed to do.
I am anxious to some degree or another before every lesson.
And that is not to say that there aren’t people to turn to, everyone does their best to help one another, but everyone is overworked.
I taught abroad for a number of years before trying to teach here and the difference in stress and workload has been intense.
We are of course directed to be inclusive in everything, but at times that can mean extra hours of work tailoring worksheets every lesson for specific students with varying needs.
It’s just a hard job. All the time.
And I’m forced to go through 2 years more of ECT until my degree is actually official, so retention can be increased by withholding a qualification for another year.
Who’d be a teacher when many of the kids don’t listen, are insolent and often violent. They’re dumb and proud to be dumb. They also know that if the teacher reacts they can get them fired in 2 minutes. Why put yourselves through it? Personally I’d bring back corporal punishment, but I imagine that’s going to be met much wailing and gnashing of teeth so let’s just carry on until there are no teachers left shall we?
Who’d want to be a teacher? Your kids will abuse you, and boomers will want to kill your for teaching kids facts and real history.
I’ve had a history of teaching, I have been teaching in some form since I was an army cadet. From extreme sports, to basic life skills, in activity centers, in schools, in youth centers, and more. I’ve taught somewhere in the region of 10,000 young people. And more adults.
I’m now working in research and development for the semiconductor industry.
I’d love to teach computer science. I know I love the work, and can engage people in different subjects, and have a huge amount of life experience to impart.
I’ll never consider that wage, those hours, or the stress teachers have to go through.
It used to be a profession, with good wage, and decent perks. Now, it’s a job, paying almost the bare minimum and attracting only people who know 100% they’re happy to waste their professional prospects, in return for a rewarding career, which often ends up rewarding them with burnout and breakdowns.
The same can be said for most public services in the country. Until that changes, our fate will remain the same.
Work in the primary education sector and oh man it is awful.
What people don’t realise is that as the shortage gets worse, so does the retention. Add in that teachers are underpaid for the number of hours they do or stress they have to deal with… Ekkkkk.
What’s made it worse is that alternative provision, pupil referral units and senco school places have been utterly destroyed by the Tories. Not only do they face a shortage but now they are also having to face dealing with lockdowns or possible broken bones due to explosive behaviour from students who should not be in mainstream settings.
I know of students and staff with permanent jaw damage, nerve damage, broken wrists and more from kids in year 1 or less.
The current government is making things constantly worse.
Recently the sector has been pulling together after a head teacher committed suicide due to an Ofsted visit. They have already been coming together over the strikes but it really is on shaky ground. We are going to have more strikes for a long time and I think come September, it will only get worse.
There are real physical and mental health safety concerns with being a teacher and more than often it comes down to conservative decisions.
The majority of public sector work shortages can be solved up by giving all public sector workers a 40% pay rise. You’ll instantly get more applications because gone are the days where you get to do jobs just because you like the career. Now it’s all about just being able to pay bills
My son just completed his primary teaching degree with qts status and has decided not to go for a teaching job due to the amount of pressure, stress and long hours involved. He’s observed this during his practice placements. He has decided instead to work as a higher level teaching assistant and do private tutoring after school. This means he earns a lot more than he would as a newly qualified teacher and has no pressure or stress. He gets to do the teaching he loves without all the paperwork and leaves school at 3:30 instead of 7pm. Something is very wrong!
The biggest problem is private sector has hybrid/remote jobs, mainly women stayed in teaching for the holidays and that made it worth it. However, there’s no point now with private sector having hybrid/remote work.
I work hybrid, I’m in office 1 day a week and 4 days wfh. My line manager doesn’t like going office that much, in turn which means I’m not expected to go that much either. One of my colleagues is fully remote as he’s too far and guess what? Does school runs on a full time salary!!
I also work school hours pretty much, so 8-4. I don’t have kids but if I did decide then it wouldn’t make sense for me to give up my job as 80% of the time I’m home anywayand by the time I have kids the free 30 hour childcare will be extended to 9 months old.
I also work in technology and STEM, I’m the only girl in my direct team (the men in my team are lovely – no complaints there).. I’m genuinely happy in my job, the flexibility helps so much.
In addition, I get to go gym in the morning before work, then I drive home and just work on laptop. No work commute to worry about!
I’m a teacher, I work in a multi academy trust and it’s awful. There are four levels of management above the headteachers of the schools, most are paid at least 6 figures and although I’m sure they do have some important responsibilities (not that sure tbh), a lot of what they do seems to result in changing policies every 5 minutes with no purpose other than to justify their paychecks. They are obsessed with data so we are constantly testing which is not only detrimental to students’ learning and mental health, but means we can’t really teach anything properly as we are either ‘revising’, doing the test or feeding back.
Class sizes are growing and more and more kids have behavioural or send needs. We’re not given the resources to support them properly yet we’re still expected to improve our results year on year. The actual teaching is the easy part, it’s the mountain of admin and the expectation of doing more and more with less and less that is the hard part. I could go on but I’ve already rambled enough!
All the people that said teaching are just babysitting, now is your time to rise and get on that easy money.
My wife – amazing teacher got treated really unfairly – ended up in a tribunal – left teaching, so pleased she’s out. Treat people like shit they are going to leave.
Jesus everything in this country is in crisis
NHS
TEACHING
DENTISTS
TRAVEL
RETAIL
It’s all going Pete Tong
Every teacher I have known over the years was on the verge of a mental breakdown of some sort.
One of my friends ex partners had this routine where she would drive to school but park in a layby on the way and cry for 10 minutes before work, put her makeup on and drive to school ready to face the day and on the way home she would sit in the car and cry for 10 minutes before going home. She did this for two years as a ritual. I never believed it until I saw her car a few times when I drove home from work in the layby.
Someone I know had to go on a course because two lads were mucking around at the back of the class and one jokily said “Miss he’s touching me tell him to stop” she told them to pack it in. It got reported as a safeguarding issue and it could have been potential abuse at home so it was investigated. Not once did the kid say I was only messing about. So time wasted on a refresher course at spotting signs of abuse, marked as a safeguarding issue and investigated. So yeah there’s that.
Who was it in the government who said if doctors/nurses/teachers want more money, they should find another job.
Pretty much fuck around and found out time now.
The teachers are only doing what people keep telling them to do when they’re striking “if you don’t like it – go elsewhere”
Same as the nurses
UK society is a joke. We are already the laughing stock of Europe and the world. Recently, Australians have been mocking us about the fantastic “trade deal” we negotiated! More like the classic Ben Dover trick at school!
I used to work in private banking and I found it ridiculous how the ultra rich are held on a pedestal.
The media treats investment bankers and retail bankers as jobs that you should be proud of on the basis of those roles which make above average salary.
However, it all boils down to people in the financial sector making money for ultra net worth individuals/groups that absolutely do not need that wealth, usually in the form of property, business or equity (shares).
Guess who has to suffer pay cuts as companies are unable to “afford” above inflation-linked pay rises? Mostly the average person working in a company with a salary – that’s who!
Private sector because they need to appease the rich shareholders.
Public sector because of the disdain felt by the rich and Tories who do not want to reward teachers, nurses and other people who they applauded during covid! The utter cheek!
I am a homeowner and it’s a complete joke how house prices have risen greatly. Houses and flats are a commodity for the rich. Bank earn billions from mortgages due to house prices rising and this has impacted our youth. Society cannot function with our disillusioned youth who work just to survive.
Unfortunately, every bad decision has a knock on effect and many negative issues are connected together in a web of incompetence. Unfortunately, our country has had more than our fair share of ridiculous choices and this needs to stop.
I work in Education. I work with Ofsted, Councils and Heads/SLT.
I hate to say, it, but Teaching is an awful job and I would not recommend it. Box ticking exercises, full-on intense days dealing with pupils that are increasingly hostile, indifferent and problematic.
Teachers are pressured to jump through hoops and are heavily reliant on learners behaving like human beings. I’ve had teachers breakdown at home, their car, in school. I’ve seen teachers deal with absurd accusations from malicious and vicious students and parents.
Teachers have had their careers ended by SLT stepping on them as they work their way up the ladder.
The most pressing point is that every Teacher that took the step to leave the job didn’t have any regrets. I know it’s hypocritical as I work in Education – but I’ve always been honest with aspiring Teachers and told them what to expect. Once they get a feel for it during Training – they realise it’s worse than I said.
The government can throw insane money at Teachers, it won’t make a difference. The job is not worth it and the system is fundamentally broken.
I was a teacher, I quit. It destroyed my health completely. Not only is the pay pittance for the amount of work you do, you’re expected to pick up the slack for the decimated mental health services, all whilst being constantly slated by the press and the government. Loved working with the kids, but it’s not a sustainable career as it stands.
48 comments
I’m gonna go out and bang a pan with a wooden spoon. Give me 10 minutes and it’ll be sorted.
We are facing a dangerous everything shortage.
We don’t pay public sector workers enough to make doing the jobs they do and dealing with that crap worth it.
Teachers, police*, nurses, paramedics, social workers, mental health workers, carers, you name it, it’s underpaid in this country.
It’s no wonder no one wants to do these jobs when they can make more money and an easier life in the private sector.
*Slight bias as I’m in the police but my point stands.
The present trajectory means it will only worsen. They (government) are after teacher pensions, withdrawing/limiting funding streams, yet asking for more from those who teach when quite often, such duties should be the role of a parent.
Even if we forget amount the terrible pay for amount of hard work they do…..
The school environment is horrendous now. It’s all based around exams. There’s no individualism or care.
Schools are way too overpopulated. Loads of kids to a class and no support for the teachers.
Kids that literally believe they are untouchable and show zero respect.
I wouldn’t want to work in that kind of environment.
Seems more in Secondary than Primary. Almost all Primary ads I’ve applied for have had a ‘large number of applicants’.
Or I’m not appealing
But there are secondary jobs everywhere
Teachers work incredibly hard for very little money and the government keep cutting their wages in real terms year after year after year.
Most teachers have university degrees and the good ones would be able to compete for highly paid jobs in pretty much any industry, but when you include the number of non-conracted hours some of them are working they’re barely making minimum wage.
They’re prepared to teach for less money than they can make in other industries, but they’re not able to teach for less money than they need to live.
I really cant think why. Oh hang on, could it be the lack of investment in education, maybe its the poor salaries, even the fact they cant punish any wrong doers any more.
Maybe its the fact that parents dont respect teachers anymore, or that the government keep lying about where the 5% pay rise is coming from, i will give a clue out of your kids school budget not the government coffers.
Yes they get 13 weeks holiday a year but that is out weighed by the weekends spent marking, the activities they do for the kids in their own time and the planning and prep that os done in their own time.
It’s not a “shortage” they exist they just aren’t teaching anymore
Partner is leaving teaching at the end of term after 15 years. He’s so exhausted.
It’s not only a loss of teaching skills, but social role modelling and demonstrating the joy in being passionate about your interest/subject.
We’re not sure what’s next, but at least there will be a next now.
I’m likely out after 16 years. I’ve handed in my notice and haven’t actively sought a new teaching job for September.
It’s not the kids so much that are the problem. But the stress just isn’t really worth it anymore.
It’s not just a recruitment crisis it’s a retention crisis.
I emigrated to Canada from the UK 8 years ago. I’ve seen adverts on Reddit for teaching in England here. Searching far and wide it seems.
I’ve worked as a TA through an agency for the last year. The agency does nothing, no support, no training, they don’t even help me find work over half term. All they do is suck the money out of schools and colleges. It’s a racket.
Teaching union needs to grow some balls. Work to rule, paid for 40 hours? Go home after 40 hours & demand overtime for any extra minute worked.
Worried about targets? Well if you can’t reach your targets in your given hours looks like your teachers need a new contract to reflect the demands of the job. Threat of dismissal for deciding to work to your given contract? Well then your colleagues need to band around you and strike.
I know someone that quit teaching and it is unbelievable what schools get away with under the guise of “if I don’t do it the kids will suffer”
Good luck getting us back too. I would love to teach but not for the pay, hours, and responsibilities I had before. I want to do what is best for the children, not hit arbitrary tickboxes that someone who has never been in a classroom thinks are important. I want to plan lessons that are fun and engaging, that encourage learning through play and exploration; I don’t want to plan lessons based around a single learning objective. I definitely do not want to spend more time on paperwork that makes the SLT look good but does nothing to help the kids. Being able to switch off at 5pm would be nice too.
If the government wants good teachers then it needs to create an environment that nurtures teachers. We need it just as much as the kids do.
I don’t get why this is always the headline, when just under half of us on my PGCE course don’t have a job yet as there are so few out there, and so many going for each job.
It shouldn’t come as a great surprise really considering they’re underpaid and frequently get abused.
Who the hell would want to be a teacher? Crap pay, crap conditions and Ofsted breathing down your neck.
The government has bought this crisis on themselves after decades of underfunding and cuts.
We’re in a Tory crisis. Labour needs to raise taxes on the wealthiest and raise wages for public sector workers.
No wonder. It only takes one or two kids in a class to make it impossible to teach a class and all the extra shit lumped on top makes it impossible to recharge.
I dread my kid getting put in the wrong class as he grows up.
I lasted 11 years as a primary teacher, had countless amounts of therapy throughout my career, ended up on anxiety meds for panic attacks and at the end of my career almost had a nervous breakdown. I now run my own company and would never, ever go back into teaching. The education system is so broken.
Terrible work conditions ✅
Long hours ✅
Low Salary ✅
I wonder why there is a shortage of staff?!
I mean, for alot of us, we work to live, not the other way around.
Why would I do a job that has such extreme working conditions that would destroy my mental health when I can find an equal or better paying job with better hours elsewhere that has a more managable workload and semi-decent working conditions?
Not surprised who wants to teach when it pays so little and requires so much additional time over the given paid working hours.
Teaching is a bigger problem stretching back a lot longer than the current set of crisis.
I did it for 5 years. It was awful. I sometimes wake up in a panic 12 years on thinking about it.
The kids were largely alright. The teachers, senior leaders, parents and insane work load made it a job I was happy to quit. Most new teachers don’t last 3 years
I’ve said it so many times, if a school was run like a business they would have teachers…teaching and administration dealing with the paperwork.
It’s madness to put all those skills and roles onto one person.
45k starting salary and the shortage will dissappear. Yeah let me train for years to work long unpaid hours with disrespectful and unappreciative and abusive little shtits who’ve no respect and have been soft parented their whole lives so can do no wrong, let me do all this for about the same as supermarket workers without a care in the world, so I can’t even afford to live where I work.
[deleted]
Left teaching a few years back & it was the best thing I ever did – now I’m paid more for doing around a quarter of the workload I had as a teacher. (Along with now having Flexi time & many other perks)
I really miss teaching my subject but the demands were quite frankly ridiculous & nearly always had a toxic work environment with poor senior leadership. You’re also on your feet for pretty much the entire day which is exhausting.
The accountability & stress in teaching is insane – I’d regularly work 50-60 hour weeks (including marking at weekends & evenings). The last straw for me was when I sat down and actually worked out how much I was being paid for doing such a stressful job & it came to something ridiculous like £5 an hour – I’d have been better off stacking shelves…
Teaching doesn’t have a recruitment crisis, it has a retention crisis – we’re only human and can only take so much before we realise the job simply isn’t worth it. Pouring money into recruitment is like plugging a hole with a sieve.
Im not surprised. There were a very high percentage of teachers who were suicidal last year, I imagine it is the same or higher this year!
A lot of schools are now having to get rid of support staff so the pressure on teachers will be a lot more come September. It is a massive shame for everyone involved.
I’m just finishing my teacher training in 2 weeks.
I recieved no money in bursary for my subject speciality so just had to get a new loan. So I had to move back in with my mum to save on money.
I can literally work 10 hours a day or more and there would still be things I needed to do.
I am anxious to some degree or another before every lesson.
And that is not to say that there aren’t people to turn to, everyone does their best to help one another, but everyone is overworked.
I taught abroad for a number of years before trying to teach here and the difference in stress and workload has been intense.
We are of course directed to be inclusive in everything, but at times that can mean extra hours of work tailoring worksheets every lesson for specific students with varying needs.
It’s just a hard job. All the time.
And I’m forced to go through 2 years more of ECT until my degree is actually official, so retention can be increased by withholding a qualification for another year.
Who’d be a teacher when many of the kids don’t listen, are insolent and often violent. They’re dumb and proud to be dumb. They also know that if the teacher reacts they can get them fired in 2 minutes. Why put yourselves through it? Personally I’d bring back corporal punishment, but I imagine that’s going to be met much wailing and gnashing of teeth so let’s just carry on until there are no teachers left shall we?
Who’d want to be a teacher? Your kids will abuse you, and boomers will want to kill your for teaching kids facts and real history.
I’ve had a history of teaching, I have been teaching in some form since I was an army cadet. From extreme sports, to basic life skills, in activity centers, in schools, in youth centers, and more. I’ve taught somewhere in the region of 10,000 young people. And more adults.
I’m now working in research and development for the semiconductor industry.
I’d love to teach computer science. I know I love the work, and can engage people in different subjects, and have a huge amount of life experience to impart.
I’ll never consider that wage, those hours, or the stress teachers have to go through.
It used to be a profession, with good wage, and decent perks. Now, it’s a job, paying almost the bare minimum and attracting only people who know 100% they’re happy to waste their professional prospects, in return for a rewarding career, which often ends up rewarding them with burnout and breakdowns.
The same can be said for most public services in the country. Until that changes, our fate will remain the same.
Work in the primary education sector and oh man it is awful.
What people don’t realise is that as the shortage gets worse, so does the retention. Add in that teachers are underpaid for the number of hours they do or stress they have to deal with… Ekkkkk.
What’s made it worse is that alternative provision, pupil referral units and senco school places have been utterly destroyed by the Tories. Not only do they face a shortage but now they are also having to face dealing with lockdowns or possible broken bones due to explosive behaviour from students who should not be in mainstream settings.
I know of students and staff with permanent jaw damage, nerve damage, broken wrists and more from kids in year 1 or less.
The current government is making things constantly worse.
Recently the sector has been pulling together after a head teacher committed suicide due to an Ofsted visit. They have already been coming together over the strikes but it really is on shaky ground. We are going to have more strikes for a long time and I think come September, it will only get worse.
There are real physical and mental health safety concerns with being a teacher and more than often it comes down to conservative decisions.
The majority of public sector work shortages can be solved up by giving all public sector workers a 40% pay rise. You’ll instantly get more applications because gone are the days where you get to do jobs just because you like the career. Now it’s all about just being able to pay bills
My son just completed his primary teaching degree with qts status and has decided not to go for a teaching job due to the amount of pressure, stress and long hours involved. He’s observed this during his practice placements. He has decided instead to work as a higher level teaching assistant and do private tutoring after school. This means he earns a lot more than he would as a newly qualified teacher and has no pressure or stress. He gets to do the teaching he loves without all the paperwork and leaves school at 3:30 instead of 7pm. Something is very wrong!
The biggest problem is private sector has hybrid/remote jobs, mainly women stayed in teaching for the holidays and that made it worth it. However, there’s no point now with private sector having hybrid/remote work.
I work hybrid, I’m in office 1 day a week and 4 days wfh. My line manager doesn’t like going office that much, in turn which means I’m not expected to go that much either. One of my colleagues is fully remote as he’s too far and guess what? Does school runs on a full time salary!!
I also work school hours pretty much, so 8-4. I don’t have kids but if I did decide then it wouldn’t make sense for me to give up my job as 80% of the time I’m home anywayand by the time I have kids the free 30 hour childcare will be extended to 9 months old.
I also work in technology and STEM, I’m the only girl in my direct team (the men in my team are lovely – no complaints there).. I’m genuinely happy in my job, the flexibility helps so much.
In addition, I get to go gym in the morning before work, then I drive home and just work on laptop. No work commute to worry about!
I’m a teacher, I work in a multi academy trust and it’s awful. There are four levels of management above the headteachers of the schools, most are paid at least 6 figures and although I’m sure they do have some important responsibilities (not that sure tbh), a lot of what they do seems to result in changing policies every 5 minutes with no purpose other than to justify their paychecks. They are obsessed with data so we are constantly testing which is not only detrimental to students’ learning and mental health, but means we can’t really teach anything properly as we are either ‘revising’, doing the test or feeding back.
Class sizes are growing and more and more kids have behavioural or send needs. We’re not given the resources to support them properly yet we’re still expected to improve our results year on year. The actual teaching is the easy part, it’s the mountain of admin and the expectation of doing more and more with less and less that is the hard part. I could go on but I’ve already rambled enough!
All the people that said teaching are just babysitting, now is your time to rise and get on that easy money.
My wife – amazing teacher got treated really unfairly – ended up in a tribunal – left teaching, so pleased she’s out. Treat people like shit they are going to leave.
Jesus everything in this country is in crisis
NHS
TEACHING
DENTISTS
TRAVEL
RETAIL
It’s all going Pete Tong
Every teacher I have known over the years was on the verge of a mental breakdown of some sort.
One of my friends ex partners had this routine where she would drive to school but park in a layby on the way and cry for 10 minutes before work, put her makeup on and drive to school ready to face the day and on the way home she would sit in the car and cry for 10 minutes before going home. She did this for two years as a ritual. I never believed it until I saw her car a few times when I drove home from work in the layby.
Someone I know had to go on a course because two lads were mucking around at the back of the class and one jokily said “Miss he’s touching me tell him to stop” she told them to pack it in. It got reported as a safeguarding issue and it could have been potential abuse at home so it was investigated. Not once did the kid say I was only messing about. So time wasted on a refresher course at spotting signs of abuse, marked as a safeguarding issue and investigated. So yeah there’s that.
Who was it in the government who said if doctors/nurses/teachers want more money, they should find another job.
Pretty much fuck around and found out time now.
The teachers are only doing what people keep telling them to do when they’re striking “if you don’t like it – go elsewhere”
Same as the nurses
UK society is a joke. We are already the laughing stock of Europe and the world. Recently, Australians have been mocking us about the fantastic “trade deal” we negotiated! More like the classic Ben Dover trick at school!
I used to work in private banking and I found it ridiculous how the ultra rich are held on a pedestal.
The media treats investment bankers and retail bankers as jobs that you should be proud of on the basis of those roles which make above average salary.
However, it all boils down to people in the financial sector making money for ultra net worth individuals/groups that absolutely do not need that wealth, usually in the form of property, business or equity (shares).
Guess who has to suffer pay cuts as companies are unable to “afford” above inflation-linked pay rises? Mostly the average person working in a company with a salary – that’s who!
Private sector because they need to appease the rich shareholders.
Public sector because of the disdain felt by the rich and Tories who do not want to reward teachers, nurses and other people who they applauded during covid! The utter cheek!
I am a homeowner and it’s a complete joke how house prices have risen greatly. Houses and flats are a commodity for the rich. Bank earn billions from mortgages due to house prices rising and this has impacted our youth. Society cannot function with our disillusioned youth who work just to survive.
Unfortunately, every bad decision has a knock on effect and many negative issues are connected together in a web of incompetence. Unfortunately, our country has had more than our fair share of ridiculous choices and this needs to stop.
I work in Education. I work with Ofsted, Councils and Heads/SLT.
I hate to say, it, but Teaching is an awful job and I would not recommend it. Box ticking exercises, full-on intense days dealing with pupils that are increasingly hostile, indifferent and problematic.
Teachers are pressured to jump through hoops and are heavily reliant on learners behaving like human beings. I’ve had teachers breakdown at home, their car, in school. I’ve seen teachers deal with absurd accusations from malicious and vicious students and parents.
Teachers have had their careers ended by SLT stepping on them as they work their way up the ladder.
The most pressing point is that every Teacher that took the step to leave the job didn’t have any regrets. I know it’s hypocritical as I work in Education – but I’ve always been honest with aspiring Teachers and told them what to expect. Once they get a feel for it during Training – they realise it’s worse than I said.
The government can throw insane money at Teachers, it won’t make a difference. The job is not worth it and the system is fundamentally broken.
I was a teacher, I quit. It destroyed my health completely. Not only is the pay pittance for the amount of work you do, you’re expected to pick up the slack for the decimated mental health services, all whilst being constantly slated by the press and the government. Loved working with the kids, but it’s not a sustainable career as it stands.