I AM coming to the end of my first year as a teacher, although there isn’t really an end to anything in FE. We just go on and on. I am exhausted and wonder if it might have been better to work in the school sector where you get the summer off. We are expected to return in mid-August. How on earth does one keep up?
FE staff do have shorter holidays, but just as much pressure, student contact and paperwork. Beware! A principal at a college where I once worked said that if he could he would be open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day so as not to miss out on a single customer’s requirements. The first year is always exhausting. It gets better. Switching to secondary education might mean adding to your teaching qualification.