Stay or Change School

redguywhy

Hi,

I have a CID - 22 hours in a school in Dublin and an AP1 post. I've grown tired of the school and I've seen a new school advertising that looks ideal for me. However, it would mean starting back at the bottom and taking a pay cut if I got it.

Concerns - I want to get a mortgage. I'm early 30s and getting a mortgage in Dublin is near impossible as a single person, paying rent etc. I think I might be able to afford an apartment in another year. Can I afford to give up my AP1 and my CID and then wait another few years before buying becomes a possibility? Or is life too short and should I try move now and just continue to rent for the foreseeable. I feel a bit like I've climbed the ladder in a school I really liked but it's changed over the last few years and it doesn't feel like it's the same school now.

Any thoughts welcome!

derb12

That's a really tough one. I have an AP1 and am finding myself less enchanted in my school by the day, so I have applied for other teaching jobs and would be happy to ditch to AP hassle and just teach my classes in a different school.

However, I'm at a totally different stage .... older and have years of experience and my mortgage well under control.

I don't know if you've looked at educationposts.ie, but there are a lot of new ETSSs hiring for next year at the moment in all sorts of subjects. They don't list the jobs as permanent, but unless you mess up, permanency would be a safe bet.
You might have to postpone mortgage/permanency etc for no more than a year or two. At your age, I would think that is a good bet and much better to be in early in a new school.

redguywhy

derb12 wrote: »

That's a really tough one. I have an AP1 and am finding myself less enchanted in my school by the day, so I have applied for other teaching jobs and would be happy to ditch to AP hassle and just teach my classes in a different school.

However, I'm at a totally different stage .... older and have years of experience and my mortgage well under control.

I don't know if you've looked at educationposts.ie, but there are a lot of new ETSSs hiring for next year at the moment in all sorts of subjects. They don't list the jobs as permanent, but unless you mess up, permanency would be a safe bet.
You might have to postpone mortgage/permanency etc for no more than a year or two. At your age, I would think that is a good bet and much better to be in early in a new school.

Thanks for that. I actually have thought about ETSS. I have no experience of those schools and I’ve always heard such mixed opinions of them. But yes I’m wondering if I should wait to buy and then move school or just move and start fresh. Hard to know but lots to think about.

killbillvol2

redguywhy wrote: »

Hi,

I have a CID - 22 hours in a school in Dublin and an AP1 post. I've grown tired of the school and I've seen a new school advertising that looks ideal for me. However, it would mean starting back at the bottom and taking a pay cut if I got it.

Concerns - I want to get a mortgage. I'm early 30s and getting a mortgage in Dublin is near impossible as a single person, paying rent etc. I think I might be able to afford an apartment in another year. Can I afford to give up my AP1 and my CID and then wait another few years before buying becomes a possibility? Or is life too short and should I try move now and just continue to rent for the foreseeable. I feel a bit like I've climbed the ladder in a school I really liked but it's changed over the last few years and it doesn't feel like it's the same school now.

Any thoughts welcome!

If the new school is in Dublin moving makes no sense.

If it's down the country then, even with the pay cut, you'll be better off financially.

And if it's a new school you'll have a good chance of picking up a post there anyway.

redguywhy

derb12 wrote: »

That's a really tough one. I have an AP1 and am finding myself less enchanted in my school by the day, so I have applied for other teaching jobs and would be happy to ditch to AP hassle and just teach my classes in a different school.

However, I'm at a totally different stage .... older and have years of experience and my mortgage well under control.

I don't know if you've looked at educationposts.ie, but there are a lot of new ETSSs hiring for next year at the moment in all sorts of subjects. They don't list the jobs as permanent, but unless you mess up, permanency would be a safe bet.
You might have to postpone mortgage/permanency etc for no more than a year or two. At your age, I would think that is a good bet and much better to be in early in a new school.

Thanks for that. I actually have thought about ETSS. I have no experience of those schools and I’ve always heard such mixed opinions of them. But yes I’m wondering if I should wait to buy and then move school or just move and start fresh. Hard to know but lots to think about.

beveragelady

I left a job in Dublin, was briefly unemployed and then got a spot in a school on the other side of the country. I didn't have an AP1 but everybody thought I was mad all the same. I was on 12 hours with the new school at first and it took me a while to pick up full hours but I never regretted the move. Sometimes I think about how close I came to settling in Dublin, probably buying a house somewhere unpleasant, or a tiny apartment, and living on rice and baked beans because the mortgage would have been impossible.

I still pay special attention to the traffic reports in the morning as I whizz into work on an empty motorway. I get a little warm glow thinking that I will never have to sit fuming in traffic like that again!

Unless there's something to keep you in Dublin, like an interest in the theatre or something that can only be satisfied in the city, make the move.