Primary School Teaching - Tell Me About It

So I'm interested in changing career and primary school teaching appeals for a number of reasons. I would only need to do a one-year Grad Dip which is fab.

So tell me about your experiences, particularly:

1. How many hours do you spend teaching each day and how many hours prepping?
2. At what point in your course did you start in the classroom and were you thrown in at the deep end or was it a gradual immersion?
3. How easy was it to find a job as a newly-qualified teacher?
4. What's good/bad about it?

Subscribing. I am interested as I will be studying Primary teaching next yr too (i hope!!).

DD2 is doing this at the moment and is loving it. She is on placement and is having a ball. The next lot is in Sept. As you can see placement is about May/june and again Sept. The first placement you are not thrown in the deep end but by the 3rd week should be able to take the class pretty much on your own. Last placement I think you will need to show you can pretty much teach on your own

Your first year teaching you will have a mentor to help which is a great help. DH is a teacher and has mentored many grads. You will spend a fair amount of time doing prap but that is because you are new and haven't learnt the short cuts.

Getting a job will depend on what is going within your area or you are willing to travel or move.

My DH loves teaching but not the admin. It is long hours during report time, interviews or camps. You don't get extra pay for these it is just part of the job.

I'm currently studying my Bach. of Ed - Primary Teacher and am enjoying it a lot. I had my first lot of placements in May and was leading the class by the middle of my first week, having said that, I have been in a classroom environment before and felt very comfortable being there and doing so. Even just on placement you can see just how rewarding it is seeing the kids learn and grow, yes it's tiring work but so so worth it.

Because you are doing a Grad Dip, I dare say you will be thrown into the deep end a little in regard to your placements. Good luck! :D

Im a primary teacher, This is my 6th year out of uni and have been teaching ever since though with a bit of time off on maternity leave.
I am currently working 3 days part time job share on a class. The actual teaching day for me is from 8:20-2:40 however, most days I get to school between 7-7:30 and I leave about 4 sometimes later and I sometimes take work home.

My pracs were good in the sense that each semester we were expected to teach more and more, but as your only doing a 1 year course I suspect you will be thrown in the deep in quite quickly!

It all depends on where you live in regards to how easy/hard it is to get a job.

The good - It is great that I have so many holidays to be with my dd. Even when I am totally stressed I can count down the weeks till the next break as the longest term is about 10 weeks sometimes as short as 8 weeks.

As a teacher, you can choose to work casual, parttime or fulltime so you can work around your family.

It is a lot of paperwork - I had nooo idea how much was involved, there is no way you can get it all done in the "school hours" however, you can stay at school to do it or take it home and work after your kidlets hve gone to bed.

Any more questions, feel free to ask.!

1. How many hours do you spend teaching each day and how many hours prepping?

I was a classroom teacher for a couple of years and then I was a behaviour management specialist.

When I was a classroom teacher, I taught most of the school day - 9am to 3pm roughly depending on the school. There were lunch breaks but sometimes I had duty, sometimes I didn't. I usually only took one break a day. If I didn't have duty I stayed in the classroom to get stuff ready for the next session. I arrived at school by 7.45 each morning to get stuff set up for the day and often didn't leave until 4pm. I did most of my planning at home in the evenings (usually a couple of hours each night depending). My second year out was no where near as bad as far as planning time and unless it was report card time, I could do most of it while I was at school. There were non contact hours but these were in half an hour blocks a couple of times a week - usually enough time to check my email and do some photocopying, but not much time for anything else.

Usually there was one staff meeting a week after school unless we had extra meetings (like in first year because I was still on probation). Also sometimes I had meetings with specialist teachers/admin staff if students in my class needed extra help or resources.

I stopped teaching and went to teacher aiding at a special school for students with behaivoural difficulties because I didn't enjoy it very much. I was only a teacher aid for a couple of weeks before I got casual work there as a teacher and that turned into a contract lasting 2 years. I moved after two years and got a job as an SEU teacher part time as I couldn't get work as a full time behaviour management specialist. I didn't like SEU teaching - not because I didn't like the kids or the work but because SEUs aren't very well run or integrated into the rest of the school and I felt like I was battling everyday against classroom teachers who didn't want kids with special needs in their classrooms.

2. At what point in your course did you start in the classroom and were you thrown in at the deep end or was it a gradual immersion?

I was undergraduate so my first prac was in first year and it was very supported. It eased into more teaching slowly over four years. Post grad is different. They do a 12 month course here to for a Grad BEd and from what I understand, they are in the classroom from day dot.

Going from being a student to a classroom teacher was a huge adjustment. I found it really overwhelming because being on prac with someone else who is responsible is so different to being in the classroom on your own.

3. How easy was it to find a job as a newly-qualified teacher?

If you are male, very easy. I had to do contract work and never got a permanant position.

4. What's good/bad about it?

I loved behaviour management. I enjoyed the case work I did and getting to know the kids and their families so well. I found a lot of success in that job.
I like classroom teaching but found it hard to balance everything because I think teachers are stretched in a million different directions. I found it lonely in the classroom all day with very little adult interaction. I didn't realise how hard it would be to be with only kids all day.
I never got a job teaching the older grades (5, 6, 7) but they were my preferred ages. I taught grade 3 and grade 4 which I didn't really like. I taught older grades on prac and found them much easier because I understood that age group better and planned much more stimulating activies. I never really understood the grade 3/4 age group and I struggled to plan stimulating and age appropriate activities. My class was also well below other kids their age nationally and it was a constant struggle to try and catch them up. My class was oversized and the kids needed a lot more attention individually than I was able to give them on my own. I found it frustrating.


I have left teaching as a profession and I doubt that I will go back. I thought I enjoyed working with kids but now I have my own, I don't think I would be terribly patient with them if I was with other people's kids all day long. My hat goes off to teachers who teach all day and go home to families at night. I have never had to balance the two and I don't know that I could.

It is a great job!! I am a Kindy Teacher this year - they will throw you in the deep end but slowly.... to be honest it's the only way to get the experience. Prac's can be crap or great depending on your supervisor!

The holidays are great - I became a teacher due to the "family friendly" hours. However, if I had school ages children they would need to be in before and after school care as your day usually starts at 7.30-8.00 and I usually finish at 5.00 - sometimes earlier sometimes a lot later. There are heaps of meetings at my school that take forever plus you need to do professional development courses. Plus in your first few years you have HEAPS of planning to do.

The best thing is it's a job that matters and there little faces are soooo beautiful - but you can get some horrors!! hehe I am glad I became a teacher I couldn't imagine doing anything else... also it is EASy to get work in the ACT however, metro Sydney is another story... depends where you live

1. How many hours do you spend teaching each day and how many hours prepping?


I am part-time Performing Arts so will answer in my capacity as a specialist, as well as when I was a f/t teacher.
I teach 6 lessons at 45 mins each and get 30 mins prep time each day. I get to school before 8 on the 2 days I work (and did that when I was f/t -if I was later than 8 I felt like I was running late!) and now my first class is at 9:30 so I get an hour and half to prep. I then stay back after school for meetings one day a week until 5:30 and on the days with no meetings am usually there until 4:30-5 depending on how much I have going on.
As a f/t teacher it would vary but usually around the same. You generally get around 3 hours a week of APT (free blocks) while kids have ART etc. so you can photocopy and prep. It's pretty full on but still great. I also do a fair bit of planning at home on top of all this and when I was f/t would do correction at home.

2. At what point in your course did you start in the classroom and were you thrown in at the deep end or was it a gradual immersion?
Uni's tend to ease you in - first lot of rounds is observation but I would recommend getting in there and get involved as much as you can - you may not "teach" a lesson but don't sit back and do nothing either - the more you get involved in all aspects of rounds the better off you will be! As you progress through the course you take on more and more until 4th year where you are expected to take full control of lessons and behaviour - with the teacher there all the time helping you of course.

3. How easy was it to find a job as a newly-qualified teacher?
I was lucky because the school I did my rounds at gave me a job - I know some wonderful teachers who found it difficult though so it varies depending on where you are and what vacancies are like.

4. What's good/bad about it?
Good - holidays, making a difference to kids lives (sounds corny but true - best thing I have done in my years of teaching was running a breakfast club for kids who were coming to school with empty bellies - that was ace but still sad to see) I love being a specialist and running my own program but it's not for everyone.
Bad - kids who are difficult, parents who are difficult, long hours, not being recognised for a job well done at times, the pay isn't great, huge curriculum expectations at times, bureaucracy is at it's worst at times at schools but even with all that it is a wonderful job.

I'm studying teaching at the moment :)
My DH is a teacher and it is great. Alot of ppl think teachers have it easy, that they work 9-3 every day but it's not the case. Hubby usually gets to work around 7-7:30 and leaves around 4:30-5. There is a fair bit of planning, report time is really busy and there are lot's of other extras required that you don't get paid for but the holidays are fantastic and if you love kids then you will love it. Good luck :)