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Hi thanks for the responses and the PMs. I only have access to the Internet on my phone at the moment. I don't want anyone to think I'm ignoring them I just don't find it easy typing long replies on my phone. I will respond in more detail next week.

 

---------- Post added 08-06-2015 at 15:23 ----------

 

One of the courses I was interested in is no longer running. Received some information/prospectus from the OU and will be looking through that when I get time.

 

I will have a rethink about the OU. I will need to find out about course fees though - I thought you could only get help with them if you studied full-time not part-time. I know OU do full-time courses as well, so will need to look into along with the new courses that Hallam are running too.

 

Thanks for all the advice - so many things to think about at the moment - the holiday was meant to be relaxing but got spoilt a bit and now things are weighing on my mind. Life is never easy.

 

Going to the Hallam Open Day on Saturday though - hopefully this will help clear things up a bit for me.

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Its all on the OU website, including what you can and can't get help with, thresholds for 'help' etc.

 

Nothing is easy once you have passed those first few years as a young adult with no responsibilities. I did a lot of my study day release running my own home and working full time from the age of nineteen. You have to be determined and committed. Just don't take too much on for the first year so you can see how you can get on with juggling. Break it down into smaller goals which won't over-face you. Good luck.

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Just thought I would provide an update.

 

I thought about being a Teaching Assistant but could not find a placement even though I was volunteering at a school. The school I was volunteering at wouldn't take me on because my son was there which is understandable but as it is in a partnership with 2 other schools I was disappointed they could take me on at one of the other 2 schools. The other schools I contacted either didn't get back to me or said they didn't have room to take me on for a placement.

 

So I thought about being a Teacher again.

 

I can only getting funding for another 2 years of study leaving me with having to pay the first year of a 3 year course. Even with OU this is not cheap. Sheffield Hallam over £9000 for the tuition fees.

 

I then considered topping up my HND, both Hallam and the OU was ruled out as I qualified many years ago and my HND wouldn't be accepted.

 

I then found a BA Graphic Design top-up course at the Sheffield College it is accredited by Sheffield Hallam but run by the college. It is only a year long and it would mean after completion (assuming I don't fail!) I would have a BA in Graphic Design. I could then later apply for a PGCE. Also because it is only a year long course I can get a tuition fee loan to cover the fees.

 

When enquiring about the course it turns out one of my old lecturers is running it and he said that I could apply even though my HND is over 10 years old.

 

So I have applied and I have been working on a portfolio for interview. Haven't heard anything yet but I applied after the first UCAS cut off so they have up to 15th July to respond.

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Sorry to hear you have had so much trouble. When I first started reading your post I did wonder about time gap for transferring credit. I finished my HNC in 1987 but could transfer my credit when I started with the OU in 1996. I did a diploma first then topped it up to honours degree. I think it took until late 2001 for me to do enough study part time to get enough units for honours degree. My HNC credit was accepted.

 

Hope you get something sorted. It sounds like you have tried all options.

 

Good luck.

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Thanks Chez2.

 

I think if I can't get on the top-up course then I will probably put the teaching thing to bed unless I have a wind fall of cash!

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Thanks Chez2.

 

I think if I can't get on the top-up course then I will probably put the teaching thing to bed unless I have a wind fall of cash!

 

Screaming out for teachers and people like yourself cannot get any help is simply bewildering.

Good old UK policies!!

Good luck with whatever you decide to go for.

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I`ve been teaching for over 20 years, secondary, abroad and now special ed. I do still really enjoy my job but a word or two of caution. The work load as a primary teacher is massive (think 50 hour weeks minimum), riddled with pointless paperwork and a massive emphasis on preparing for tests, starting with the phonics test which I think is in year one.

 

My OH is also a teacher (part-time secondary but usually works 60+hours a week) and we have found it very difficult to afford childcare and to get enough time with our young children. It is a great job but increasingly for `family-free` staff, I`m afraid, and the conditions at the moment are causing a recruiment and retention crisis of massive proportions. Most new teachers don`t seem to stick at it long, in secondary at least.

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Thanks jemson.

 

Your story is not unfamiliar. I'm not going to lie hearing stories like yours did put me off and I did think about becoming a Teaching Assistant instead.

 

I don't intend on doing the PGCE straight away - I have heard this is very intense and I think with 2 young child, the youngest is 2 now, I'm not sure it would be manageable.

 

I have thought to myself what is the worse that could happen, if I don't like teaching then I don't have to teach. Or should I say if I don't like the paperwork, most Teachers seem to enjoy the teaching but it is everything else which is the problem.

 

I have read about people who don't finish the PGCE and some decided instead of dropping out they will finish it in case at a later date they did decide to become a Teacher. I read that if you drop out of the PGCE then you don't get a second chance. But many of these people even once they had finished the PGCE went onto something else sometimes related - private tutoring, Teacher Assistant and sometimes something completely different.

 

As see this as the first step. As is stands whether I want to become a Teacher or not I cannot at the moment because I don't have a degree. With a degree I have the option to apply for a PGCE.

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Some good points. My OH does some of the mentoring of student teachers (albeit in secondary) and the Uni`s to really try to get folk through their PGCE or similar because there are so many who drop-out, even to the extent of trying to `pass` some who just don`t have the skills to survive. Sorry, to sound so negative ; teaching really is a great job.

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Some good points. My OH does some of the mentoring of student teachers (albeit in secondary) and the Uni`s to really try to get folk through their PGCE or similar because there are so many who drop-out, even to the extent of trying to `pass` some who just don`t have the skills to survive. Sorry, to sound so negative ; teaching really is a great job.

 

It makes wonder how bad to be before you fail? I have read about people passing their PGCE but fail their NQT year. So pass them on their PGCE only to fail their NQT, what is the point? Once they fail their NQT they can no longer work in any maintained and non-maintained special schools. Which of course means for many they are never going to work as a Teacher again. But I'm sure some with the right support could have gone to be good teachers, to be fair as it stands even just acceptable would do. If a school has a choice between no Teacher or an acceptable one what choice is better?

 

I have read so many times that they can't train enough teachers, the ones they do often leave within the first 5 years and many experienced ones are leaving because its changed so much for the negative since they started teaching.

 

I think I might have to stop writing before I change my mind about being a Teacher!

 

There are problems within education not just at primary and secondary level and I do think things will change simply because they have to. I don't think the current system we have will continue.

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I thought I would give another update for anyone who might find this thread useful. Particularly students with children and mature students.

 

I applied for the Parents Learning Allowance and Childcare Grant. I only found out a couple of weeks ago that I'm not entitled to either.

 

This means that any extra childcare I need beyond the 15 hours free my youngest gets I have to pay for. It should still be manageable, I hope, as I do get the normal Student Living Loan. But if he had been younger I wouldn't be entitled to 15 hours free. Having to pay for childcare for all of the course hours out of my loan would have made things at lot tighter, possibly not manageable especially as the younger the child the more nurseries charge.

 

So I would say to anyone who has children and is thinking about returning to study just beware that although the .gov website calculator says you can get help with childcare it doesn't mean you can.

 

Unless you or your partner are on a low wage, I was told by an advisor at Student Finance that she thought the cut off was £15,000 a year, you won't get help with childcare.

 

It is something I wish I had known sooner.

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