What a week! (2?)

Hmmm, not exactly the most explanatory title I've ever written, but nevertheless quite appropriate. Why the (2?)? Well, it's the sort of title I have probably used before and short of looking through everything to check, I have just called it '2' in the hope that no one will question it. In fact, I probably would have got away without anyone questioning it, had I not just drawn attention to it. Anyway, enough about the title...

One of my new year's resolutions this year was to get a job.That might sound pretty straight forward, after all, "There's plenty of work out there for people who really want it," [northern accent essential for this to be effective]  I hear echoes from my dad's voice from when I was looking for a Summer job while I was at Uni. He's quite right of course, but that relies on the 'job seeker' being willing to do just about anything. We all have our excuses. Here's mine:

I spent 4 years at Uni and another two-years-crammed-in-to-one-year doing my PGCE having left a well paid job I was successful at. Why would I want to work hard to complete my training only to go on to do a job which pays even less than I was earning before? It would make no sense. I trained as a teacher and that's the job I want.

Many people who read my blog have followed my quest to find a permanent teaching post since completing my PGCE in 2006. By my own admission I have been neccessarily fussy when it comes to applying to schools. I need a school which will be understanding about the fact that I have a family; a school where the staff are supportive and help each other instead of talking about each other behind their backs; a school where I fit in and don't have to pretend to be someone or something I am not, and a school whose head has high expectations, yet also has respect for the staff and remembers what it was like to be on the frontline, appreciates how many extra hours teachers put in and frequently shows that appreciation. That's not unreasonable, I think, but it's astonishing how few and far between those kinds of schools seem to be.

Over the years I've had my fair share of interviews. Of course, interviews for teachers are not simply about turning up and answering questions. There is invariably a teaching observation and often other activities such as assessment of work. Some of the interviews have gone well and some not so well. It almost always comes down to who you are up against, so although a few of my interviews have resulted in me being offered a job, many have not. It's sometimes been because there was someone who performed better, less frequently because the other candidates and I were not what they were looking for and so they simply didn't appoint anyone, but most infuriating, it has often come down the the fact that I have been competing with hundreds of NQTs who are cheaper and usually younger with fewer home commitments.

The supply teaching work has been fantastic. It's flexible, pays well and I've met some great people and seen all sorts of things done in many different ways. It's been a different kind of experience to what I'd have had if I'd taken a permanent teaching job after qualifying. Unfortunately it has made me fussy about the type of school I wanted to work at, which I had begun to doubt I would ever get to work at, so recently I made a few decisions, fuelled by the lack of supply and therefore the lack of income. I began to look elsewhere.

It was not easy to decide to stop teaching. As I said above, why would I train so hard for so long simply to take a job outside of teaching, but having carefully considered the pros and cons and finally decided to give something else a try, within a short space of time I had 2 interviews lined up for this week. One paid considerably more than the other and I spent a lot of time deliberating about what to do if one offered a position before I had heard about the other etc. Finally thinking I had a firm plan of what to do, everything took an unusual turn.

Out of the blue, I had a phone call from a headteacher saying she had a position she thought I might be interested in and, having interviewed me last year, she would like me to go in for an informal chat. The following day after having another look around the school while chatting about the job, I sat in her officeand accepted the job. That was it. No further interview; no observation. Why can't everything be that easy?

Oh, did I say 'Easy'? I start after half term, which means I have two weeks to get up to speed and ready to go. Hmmm, 'Easy' was probably not the most appropriate word. It does seems to have happened quite suddenly, but also quite smoothly. So, what's the catch? Well, nothing. Oh, except the one thing I have come to expect now whenever I move schools (which has been quite a regular occurrence)... Ofsted are due any time. Oh well, it makes it interesting and 6 Ofsteds in 6 years is something not many teachers can say they've done.