A TES teacher poll paints a surprising picture of general well-being, with workload the only real bugbear of the profession, Biddy Passmore reports. Sue Learner talks to teachers around the country
Charlotte Gummer has been teaching for 13 years and looks after Year 5 at Tillingbourne junior school in Guildford, Kent.
The 46-year-old, who earns between pound;25,000 and pound;30,000, has been at the school for seven years and claims to “still get a buzz out of teaching”. She said: “I like the spontaneity - it is wonderful.” She is an arts co-ordinator and sees the job as being very creative.
The downside is the amount of paperwork: “We don’t need to be overloaded by extra paperwork.”
Asked about her pay, she said: “As a married woman it is not bad and I have gone over the threshold so it is all right.”
Mrs Gummer and her husband own their home and travel abroad on holiday once a year. It takes her 10 minutes to get to work in a 4x4 Mitsubishi Shogun which she admits she would not be able to afford on just her teacher’s salary.
