So, you have made it to the end of another challenging school year and can at last now bask in the calmness of a much needed six-week summer holiday. For many of you, curriculum reform and the revolution of GSCE’s and A levels have made this year one of the most testing of your careers. You have survived the relentless pressure of the hothouse school system for the last 9 months, going beyond the call of duty to ensure positive outcomes for your pupils. So now is the time to focus on other areas of your life, a chance to de-stress, regroup, take stock and invest time in those other important people in your life; family and friends. Otherwise your success in school may start to become a pyrrhic victory.
We hope that you are able to take a holiday, a recent survey by Nuffield Health and the Tour Operator Kuoni identified a number of striking effects of not going on holiday. They found that those who didn’t go away for a break had higher blood pressure, didn’t sleep as well and had higher levels of stress. Although we have recently had the welcoming news of the abolishment of the public sector pay freeze it may be difficult for many of you to financially afford the privilege of travel abroad. One objective of Did Teach is to expose you to inventive and exciting ways to diversify your income so that family holidays become a realistic possibility. We know that there are many more lucrative and refreshing ways to increase your disposable income than the tried and tested and sometimes tedious exam board marking that many teachers find themselves doing. It is one of our key objectives to be make you more aware of these opportunities!
As the weeks roll by and the prospect of Autumn becomes a reality you didn’t want to contemplate at the end of July, we hope you don’t experience the return of the dreaded school nightmare. ‘Walking through never ending corridors, 2 hours late for a lesson with the infamous 11X only to find when you get in front of the class you are wearing nothing but underpants and are equipped only with a mask and snorkel’. It’s a common occurrence for teachers but there is a more worrying aspect to this! It hints at an underlying anxiety about the return to work, a menace at the very time when we should be getting blissful unburden rest. For secondary school teachers the serenity of the summer holidays is interrupted by A level and GCSE results. Two days, on which it increasingly seems your performance is measured. Good results and you can enjoy the last few weeks of summer, poor results and you start to question whether this is really the best career option for you! And this year more than any other the results are an unknown quantity burdening you with additional worry at the very time when you should be seeking recuperation from such pressures.
However, for many of you the classroom and the attritional nature of the of a school environment have informed your decision to leave the profession. Some of you in this position will have clear ideas about your next steps but for others you maybe finding yourself disorientated having become, to a certain degree, institutionalised by the school system. If you need support with career transitioning then Did Teach is running the second of our successful workshops in August. The course is delivered by 18-07 careers and offers teachers an unrivalled experience as this testimonial from Secondary School Teacher Jack O Dowd attests to; “I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to transition out of teaching as it has provided me with practical ideas and the confidence to search for an alternative career”.
Others maybe pondering what the skills you have acquired during your teaching career will have equipped you for. Well there is a bountiful world of opportunity out there for people from a teaching background. You are an excellent communicator, are adept with IT, possess bucket loads of resilience and can work both independently but crucially as part of a team. Equally your knowledge of the education sector means that you will be sought after by many educational charities, government think tanks and the rapidly burgeoning Ed Tech sector. The UK education sector has a market value of a £100 billion and there are also a whole myriad of organisations that require educators for outreach programmes including major Blue chips and universities. It is our mission at Did Teach to seek out these fantastic new careers and provide a united platform where you can gain exposure to them, rest assured by the fact these organisations really do value all of the experiences and skills that you have developed.
Have a great summer from the Did Teach Team!
