To teach or not to teach?

After spending the morning in my daughters year 3 class my husband pointed out that our local university seems to have vacancies, through clearing, for the PGCE/SCITT course. When I was younger I always wanted to be a teacher, apart from a brief spell of wanting to be a RAF pilot, (they had just started training women as pilots!). Even after graduation I still wanted to teach but at the time the government were not offering any form of financial assistance and with a large overdraft and a student loan I decided to move back home for a year to get some money behind me then try and get a place on a PGCE course. Of course this never happened as I liked having a salary, met my husband and had children! Since then the government has made training to teach far more appealing with tax free bursaries, student grants and loans available. However the PGCE is a very intensive, full time, nine month course with teaching practice, assessments, presentations and 4000 word assignments, but you do gain 60 points towards a Masters.

Considering all this it is only nine months disruption and the money whilst training is good. There are days when I still think that I would love to be teacher, although I am torn between Primary and Secondary, as I like the appeal of the variety in Primary but like the idea of specialisation in Secondary. I also have spent several years helping in Primary classrooms so would be of more benefit when applying.

Obviously the benefits of the job are great, long summer hols, pension, job security but I am still not 100% convinced this is a good choice for me as I have five children who all do various after school clubs, although they are limited to 2 activities each, and child 5 is not school age so doesn't do anything as yet! The logistics for me to be a teacher and a mother of five children are very complicated. Then that guilt gene kicks in as my youngest child would have to go to nursey on the days my husband has lectures and I have always been at home for the other children so would she hate me for not being there for her in her early years?

As regards to todays question - To teach or not to teach? - I think I will wait to decide until September when the next rounds of applications begin, as there weren't really places available, the clearing website got it wrong!

For more information on training to teach visit

www.teach.gov.uk

Student finance
www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk

You can apply for a maintenance grant, maintenance loan, fees loan, parents learning allowance, childcare grant, adult dependant grant (if you have an adult who is financially dependant on you), child tax credits aswell as receiving a tax free bursary. You are also eligible to apply for housing benefit or Local Housing Allowance and Council Tax benefit.