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I’m one week into my secondary SCITT but want to change to primary. Is this possible?

Hi all.

I’m one week into my secondary SCITT but have this gut feeling that actually I should be in primary. I worked as a primary TA previously and LOVED it. The picked secondary before I started my primary TA role as I thought I’d prefer secondary. This was mainly because I’d get to teach just English rather than lots of different subjects. However, one week into my secondary SCITT and I’m overwhelmed and confused. I’ve had a hard week of lessons with difficult teens who don’t want to be there/learn and who are verbally abusive. All I’ve been thinking is - I wouldn’t get this with primary children. Or at least not the majority of them! I’m really conflicted as I have landed a good secondary SCITT with a salary and my PGCE fees paid for. However, all I can think is I wish I’d done a primary SCITT. I’m now considering finding a clearing primary PGCE and financially struggling through doing it. I’d have to get a part-time job alongside a PGCE to do this. Alternatively, the academy chain I’m doing my SCITT through also have primary trainees. I’m very tempted to ask whether I could move within the academy to primary but I’m naturally worried that if the response is “no”, I will have revealed that I may not be as passionate about teaching secondary English as I have made out to secure the job.
Does anyone have any advice or experience of what to do? And if there would be any possibility of switching? Please help and thank you! X

Reply 1

Falcrestfallen

Hi sorry to hear it didn’t start well. I don’t want to be a negative Nancy but as it’s the 14th of September you won’t likely be able to change now. PGCEs don’t have clearing anymore - that was possible with UCAS. Your options are basically 1. see if things change or 2. leave. I would see how it goes. A week or two is not long enough unless you are 100% sure. If you reveal you regret your choice, it will be taken badly. They will feel you strung them along and wasted their time. You need to get to know the kids, to set your expectations and model the behaviour you expect. It will take time. Use everything at your disposal: talking to the naughty pupil, calling home, detention, other staff and get others in the class on side… Don’t just suffer. The kids and the other staff will think you’re not cut out for teaching and may then just leave you to dig your own grave. Good luck!

Reply 2

hotpud

Original post by Eveparker

Hi all.
I’m one week into my secondary SCITT but have this gut feeling that actually I should be in primary. I worked as a primary TA previously and LOVED it. The picked secondary before I started my primary TA role as I thought I’d prefer secondary. This was mainly because I’d get to teach just English rather than lots of different subjects. However, one week into my secondary SCITT and I’m overwhelmed and confused. I’ve had a hard week of lessons with difficult teens who don’t want to be there/learn and who are verbally abusive. All I’ve been thinking is - I wouldn’t get this with primary children. Or at least not the majority of them! I’m really conflicted as I have landed a good secondary SCITT with a salary and my PGCE fees paid for. However, all I can think is I wish I’d done a primary SCITT. I’m now considering finding a clearing primary PGCE and financially struggling through doing it. I’d have to get a part-time job alongside a PGCE to do this. Alternatively, the academy chain I’m doing my SCITT through also have primary trainees. I’m very tempted to ask whether I could move within the academy to primary but I’m naturally worried that if the response is “no”, I will have revealed that I may not be as passionate about teaching secondary English as I have made out to secure the job.
Does anyone have any advice or experience of what to do? And if there would be any possibility of switching? Please help and thank you! X

I appreciate what you are experiencing but the idea that secondary school children are horrors and primary school children are all sweet darlings is sadly a myth. Primary school teachers also have to deal with extreme behaviour and quite often there is less support to help deal with it. In addition, you are stuck with that child all year rather than a few lessons a week.

Teaching is teaching regardless of what year group it is. It is extreme giving of your mental and emotional energy and it is exhausting. But the rewards both in terms of personal achievement and in seeing your students grow is wonderful and more than compensates for the challenges. If you make teaching about you, you will never enjoy it. If you make it an act of constant giving regardless of the behaviour you will get there.

Just remember, behaviour is merely an unspoken cry for a need that has not been met.