Is this a bad idea?

AmIMad?

Going anonymous for this one if thats alright!

A job with my subjects has opened up closer to home. Its a fixed term contract, definite hours. I currently have a full CID for the last 10 years.

Currently it takes me at 50-55 minutes to drive to work each way, new place would be 20max.

Considering covid19, possible economic downturn, am I mad to be thinking about going for this job?

I should also say that my subjects are not in high demand and ive a family & mortgage.

Any advice would be welcome as I am completely torn about what to do.

Thanks

linguist

I don't think Covid-19 will have any bearing. They clearly can't increase the pupil teacher ratio and class size in light of it. All parties have come out against austerity too.

The more pressing issue would be to find out about the school's enrolment trends, subject uptake if the subjects are optional, any new schools opening nearby that might be competing for students in the next year or two etc.

Plenty of teachers have done what you are proposing. There are things over which you have no control however: you will have to be re-interviewed at the end of year 1 and you are at an albeit low risk of a teacher being redeployed into your post at the end of year 1 also.

You do have to think it through carefully however several colleagues of mine have done this over the past few years and it has worked out for them.

Treppen

It's a risk, but ignore every single assurance that you are given about your possibility of getting better security the following year in the new school, some principals will say anything to plug a gap for a few months. I've read a fair few posts over the years on the 'moving closer to home' dilemma that didn't pan out.

Then again it also might be down to family circumstances which you probably don't want to go into here.

I'd be thinking of moving back to the sticks in a heartbeat but as I'm urban based im going to hang on for a good while, so kids (i.e. me) won't have to pay rent for college in a few years time, after that it's a different story.

2011abc

Personally if I was a gambling person I’d say your odds of it ‘working out’ / getting CID are around 70/30 in favour .There are more and more stories of people leaving CIDs , some 5-8 years ago and being stuck in the hell of unpaid Summers desperately seeking employment .As stated principals will promise sun , moon and stars to get you there for a few months .One of the ‘senior managers’ on this forum said it last week or two that at least 1 out of 5 RPTs are not getting ‘Year 2’
In my opinion you would be under horrific stress for those 2 years .Is it worth it ?Most will say yes , maybe I’m just cautious by nature

AmIMad?

Thank you all for the responses. You have given me something to think about!

deiseindublin

The driving difference would have me jumping for the closer job.

Treppen

Could you love closer to the school you're already in?

Treppen

deiseindublin wrote: »

The driving difference would have me jumping for the closer job.

If it's any good, someone commented before that they just treated themselves to a better car to make the journey more bearable, and that satisfied them. Each to their own though I suppose.

mtoutlemonde

Is your school over quota? Are there teachers in the school with your subjects? If so, you could apply for voluntary redeployment.

Alex86Eire

I had just gotten my first CID and gave it up to work in a school that suited me a lot more. I have my current CID now for a few years and have absolutely no regrets.

Now, I was only at the start of my career and had absolutely no responsibilities so it was a no-brainer for me.

After I got the job I found out that the person I had replaced had done something similar the year before and was doing their re-interview so it obviously doesn't work out for everyone.

Bobtheman

Is the difference in the drive a half an hour only ? Not much. I'd stay put.
If you have kids that journey is the one place you get peace ðŸ™. Plus you can always say you're stuck in traffic if you want to pull over and have a nap 😴