Hi everyone
Are there any teachers out there?
I was made redundant and now fancy a career change -primary school teacher.
My MS is now SP and l have to use a chair. Am I being daft, would teaching be too much for me?
Any advice would be great.
Thanks.
Paula
I was a primary teacher before I retired 10 years ago. Since then I’ve been a governor at a local primary school.
I do think you need to consider the move carefully - teaching is a tiring and demanding job but also very rewarding. Schools have differing disabled facilities and certainly our local one would be unsuitable for chair users. Best of luck whatever you decide.
My wife is 52, healthy and hates her job as a primary school teacher. The classroom bit is the only part that makes it worthwhile but the 12-16 hour days are burning out the best of the teachers. It’s all the planning, data, politics and arse-covering which takes the time. With reduced mobility and fatigue a real risk, I wouldn’t consider it for a second. Sorry 
I’m 34, have taught for almost ten years and I’m in reasonably good health with my MS (currently signed off though due to a relapse). I am 90% sure I’m going to leave the profession and have started looking for alternative careers. It’s the most rewarding job I can think of but it’s incredibly demanding, long hours, very stressful and is undoubtedly affecting my health. My workplace have made reasonable adjustments (after a fight from me which led to time off due to stress) but they are unable to decrease my workload - I currently have a very small class of 12 children but that still equals an average of 48 books a day to mark, on top of all the daily planning, preparation, assessment, supporting families, and just the day to day life of managing a room full of children. I have no teaching assistant to help with marking etc. I also reduced to working 4 days, which has helped massively but hasn’t solved the problem, if anything it just gives me an extra day to recover from the week!
My MS nurse, consultant and GP all agree that it’s too demanding and more than I can cope with. It breaks my heart as this is what I’ve always wanted to do, but I’m coming to terms with the fact that it might just not be doable.
I wish you luck but honestly, I’d steer clear of teaching. I hate to say it but it’s only getting harder. The pay is good if you work out the hourly rate for what you’re contracted to do, but if you divide the pay by the hours you actually do, it’s not. As in insight, I’m contracted to work 26 hours a week but most weeks it’s closer to 40. This is because I don’t take work home with me - I just about manage to keep on top of things by working 8-6 Monday-Thursday.
I’m sorry to be so negative, I really am. It breaks my heart but I need to be honest. If it wasn’t for my health, I’d stay in the job for the love of the teaching. I adore the children and helping them learn and grow. But my health needs to come first.
Thank you for coming to my ted talk 
Private tutoring or teaching English as a foreign language?
Hi
Thank you for your honest reply. I was beginning to think teaching might be too much for me.
MS is a cruel cruel illness, i wont start moaning so all the best for you in wharever you do.
Paula
Thank you for your reply
Thanks for the insight
Thank yoi
Thank you for your reply. On reflection, I was having a really rough day when I wrote that. I am sorry if it came across as ranting.
I hope you are okay & stay well. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do x