Do you work in education?

[Belle Lettre]

Dear God, Pete, why didn't you just train as a teacher?

[The Modernist]

Money's alright for my job. Been on the incremental scale since 1995. With a TLR (a bonus for taking on an area of extra responsibility), a special needs sub and London fringes allowance it comes to about 43 grand.

That's the sort of line I need to get into!

I was being paid a pittance ay my last place, despite succesfully course leading two subjects with a team of teachers..but that's FE for you, it is woefully underpaid compared to the rest of the sector.
Yours is an area I've been looking at getting into, but I don't think I've got the specialist qualifications required. But I could see about getting my foot in the door somehow, perhaps through volountary work.

[Chuck]

Money's alright for my job. Been on the incremental scale since 1995. With a TLR (a bonus for taking on an area of extra responsibility), a special needs sub and London fringes allowance it comes to about 43 grand.

That's the sort of line I need to get into!

I was being paid a pittance ay my last place, despite succesfully course leading two subjects with a team of teachers..but that's FE for you, it is woefully underpaid compared to the rest of the sector.
Yours is an area I've been looking at getting into, but I don't think I've got the specialist qualifications required. But I could see about getting my foot in the door somehow, perhaps through volountary work.

You can get into it with qualified teacher status - nothing specialist required. If you offer your services for nothing to get your hand in, most PRUs I know about would bite your hand off!

I don't really know what the future will be for services like ours however - Gove doesn't like us much. We are expensive to run, due to our staff:student ratio. They could employ more younger teachers instead of fewer grey ones like me, but the experience helps. It is a demanding job, trust me!

[Diamond Dog]

Dear God, Pete, why didn't you just train as a teacher?

I prefer a challenge.

[Chuck]

Dear God, Pete, why didn't you just train as a teacher?

I prefer a challenge.

What do you do, DD?

[Diamond Dog]

Dear God, Pete, why didn't you just train as a teacher?

I prefer a challenge.

What do you do, DD?

I'm a Delivery Office Manager in Royal Mail.

As I said, I prefer a challenge.

[Polishgirl]

Money's alright for my job. Been on the incremental scale since 1995. With a TLR (a bonus for taking on an area of extra responsibility), a special needs sub and London fringes allowance it comes to about 43 grand.

Will you marry me?

3 of my friends who did PGCEs within the last 10 years and went into teaching have now left it because the working conditions and pressures became untenable. I do genuinely admire any decent teachers who can stick at it these days.

[Chuck]

I'm a Delivery Office Manager in Royal Mail.

As I said, I prefer a challenge.

I guess that must be a tough role. What do you see as the chief challenges in your position?

[Leg of lamb]

Well, I'm about to dip a toe into it properly. I've got a new job helping on the 'intervention team' at an academy, i.e. looking out for all the students who are struggling to get over the 5 GCSE (A*-C) magic line, giving them extra tuition, a bit of pastoral help. This after a year of doing what Mimsy's doing.

I feel quite excited at the prospect, though I'm glad that I've not sold myself to the profession completely. It's never really been a vocation for me: I started volunteering at a school in Harlem when I was studying in NYC because I had a contact and wanted to do something helpful; I drifted into personal tutoring because I was running into grief trying to find a 'proper' job; now I've landed upon this because it was a full-time job on OK pay that I had the experience to stand a chance in getting. When I rehearse this story, I get a bit disheartened - it reads as though I've been slowly reduced to working in education - but it's alright really. My real vocation is writing and that's coming along OK - I just need a day job to support me, at least for now, and I'd rather it was something ethically sound and fulfilling.

That said, for this job I don't get the usual cushty school holidays. Gotta do 'intervention classes' all through the summer.

[Chuck]

Well, I'm about to dip a toe into it properly. I've got a new job helping on the 'intervention team' at an academy, i.e. looking out for all the students who are struggling to get over the 5 GCSE (A*-C) magic line, giving them extra tuition, a bit of pastoral help. This after a year of doing what Mimsy's doing.

I feel quite excited at the prospect, though I'm glad that I've not sold myself to the profession completely. It's never really been a vocation for me: I started volunteering at a school in Harlem when I was studying in NYC because I had a contact and wanted to do something helpful; I drifted into personal tutoring because I was running into grief trying to find a 'proper' job; now I've landed upon this because it was a full-time job on OK pay that I had the experience to stand a chance in getting. When I rehearse this story, I get a bit disheartened - it reads as though I've been slowly reduced to working in education - but it's alright really. My real vocation is writing and that's coming along OK - I just need a day job to support me, at least for now, and I'd rather it was something ethically sound and fulfilling.

That said, for this job I don't get the usual cushty school holidays. Gotta do 'intervention classes' all through the summer.

Is that a newly created role? Schools now have to pay for the alternative provision for their excluded students. I expect they'll be investing more in trying to keep them in their existing mainstream settings.

Don't be downhearted. When your input yields successful results, you will feel a lot of satisfaction!

[Leg of lamb]

Is that a newly created role? Schools now have to pay for the alternative provision for their excluded students. I expect they'll be investing more in trying to keep them in their existing mainstream settings.

Don't be downhearted. When your input yields successful results, you will feel a lot of satisfaction!

It's pretty new, yeah - I think it might be because this is quite a swanky academy that they've got the money to do it. But I've mentioned it to a few other people working in normal state education and they've heard of it. Maybe it'll catch on.

And thank you: I'm not really downhearted. I'm totally stoked just to have a job, and I do like working as a teacher. It wasn't the dream, but what is?

[Goat Boy]

Nice one, LOL! Good stuff.

[the hanging monkey]

I failed my PGCE, by the way. 1996/7. Was the only one (out of 30-odd). I don't know if I've mentioned that here.

How on earth did you manage that? Did you thump a kid or something?

[Diamond Dog]

I'm a Delivery Office Manager in Royal Mail.

As I said, I prefer a challenge.

I guess that must be a tough role. What do you see as the chief challenges in your position?

Don't get me started! lol.

I'll fill you in sometime.