An Unusual Journey
My journey ‘in to’ and back ‘out of’ education is an unusual one.
I was born to be a footballer but, as is the case for most young people dreaming of sporting stardom, it was not to be.
I often say that this was due to the frequent breaking of my remarkably dainty ankles (my wife is genuinely quite jealous of them) but the truth is that I wasn’t good enough.
So I Got A Job As A Bingo Caller Instead
Although I was more than good enough at bingo calling to make it a lifelong career, my then girlfriend (now my wife!) encouraged me into teaching. Without her support and guidance, there’s no way that I would have been accepted onto a 4 year teaching degree, nor stuck at it long enough to graduate and get a job.
I Loved Teaching EYFS & KS1
My first class was a Reception class and I loved it so much that I spent the next 12 years working in EYFS and KS1, including the last 5 years as a headteacher.
It turned out that the school I took on had very deep rooted problems and a huge amount of change quickly followed my arrival; our first Ofsted report concluded that the school had experienced a period of ‘significant turbulence’.
Leading this school on its improvement journey taught me that you need the support of other schools to rapidly improve your own.
Our second Ofsted report concluded that we were a solidly ‘Good’ school; we’d quadrupled academic standards inside three years.
I underwent that second inspection whilst serving my notice and left the school three weeks after the report was published.
Set Up An EdTech Company
I left to set up an EdTech company because I could see how technology could be harnessed to enable all schools to improve as we had done but in a sustainable, positive way.
People sometimes say that I was brave to walk out on my career, especially as I knew nothing about tech!
For me though, it never felt like a particularly brave thing to do.
Concerns About My Health
For the final year of my headship, I was working three days a week due to concerns about my health. The 100 hour weeks (I worked Saturdays and Sundays in school for much of my headship) had taken their toll and I was heading for a heart attack, a stroke or both.
So taking the leap and founding an EdTech company seemed quite a simple task.
As it has turned out, building tech platforms, especially for education, is very far from easy.
Work With Fabulous Schools
However, I’ve stuck at it and been lucky enough to work with fabulous schools, developing ways to share teaching and learning across the system – mainstream, special, deaf, hospital, AP, FE – all working and improving together.
When I left headship, I never imagined this is what I would end up working on but I guess that’s the joy of taking the leap – you never know where you’re going to land.
Anyway, enough about me.
Leaving Education
The fact that you’re reading this suggests that you too are thinking of taking the leap and leaving education. I have no great words of advice I’m afraid, but here’s some bits I’ve picked up along the way that might be useful to you.
The first thing to say is that if you leap, it’s guaranteed to be a journey that you can’t see today. No matter what you choose to do, no matter how much you plan, surprising challenges will crop up along the way. As Mike Tyson said “Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face’.
Don’t fear this though. As a teacher, you have the most enormous set of knowledge, skills and attributes to draw upon and you most definitely can roll with the punches and still succeed.
The second thing to say is that it’s best to accept that it won’t always be easy. But let’s be honest, few things in life are.
Thirdly, there’s no perfect time to begin. So if not now, when?
And finally, the biggie – how to start?
Well, these really helped me get started:
A Thought
One day soon you’ll be lying on your deathbed. Aim to regret only the things you did, rather than the things you didn’t.
A Mind Trick
Don’t talk about how old you are, talk about what you’re ‘halfway to…’.
As it stands right now I’m ‘halfway to 96’ and, given that I’ve had a very hard paper round, there’s literally no chance of me getting anywhere near old age!
So the clock’s ticking and I don’t have much time left.
This head-shift gives me the courage to crack on with the work I’m meant to do.
I hope you find the same courage and I wish you every success.
Paul Rose is a lucky husband, proud father and the founder of YouTeachMe – a new, truly inclusive approach to education that, amongst other things, supports teachers in ways that mean that soon they won’t have to walk away from the job they love to protect their mental and physical health.
Paul can be found in all the usual places and would love to talk to anyone about anything!
