From Teacher to VA

I have always fancied writing a blog but I’ve always had the classic ‘I’ve got nothing to say’ thought and pushed it right to the back of my mind. Maybe nobody will read this or maybe it might help others to know my journey and resonate with it and maybe it will help somebody along the way. So what the heck…I’m going to write it anyway!

Where do I begin? I feel like I need to begin with what came before becoming a VA. 14 years ago I went on a school trip with my eldest son. It was this opportunity that led me to the most fulfilling decade of my life so far. From this one trip, I decided to pop into his school and see what it would be like working in a school environment. I loved it and the TA in my youngest son’s class asked me to come in and help on a regular basis. I did and soon this led to becoming a full time Teaching Assistant and then train to be a High Level Teaching Assistant. During this time I thought about training to teach but I had no degree. There was no way around getting one, so I signed up to complete a Psychology degree with the Open University. I loved studying, it gave me a passion for learning that I had lost or maybe never even had. It also gave me an understanding of people and relationships. This passion still continues to burn inside me today. I still love learning new things. I decided to complete the last 2 out of the 6 years in one so I was done around my 40th birthday - an important psychological milestone for me. On achieving a First Class Degree, I started my teacher training the year of Covid which was a whole other challenge as you can imagine including teaching online (which involved puppetry!!)

So now I was a teacher, a dream and a goal that I had been working towards for 8 years by this point. My first year teaching was still during Covid but I loved it nonetheless. I was teaching children to read and write and this was such a privilege! Fast forward 6 years…

July 2025 I find myself as the interim Assistant Headteacher running the school for the last 2 weeks of the year whilst the Headteacher recovered from illness. I was Deputy Safeguarding Lead, an ECT (Early Career Teacher) mentor, Maths Lead (covering a maternity role), English Lead, Staff Governor and teaching 3 days per week, oh, and studying for a National Professional Qualification in Senior Leadership. This was all at the end of a stressful year which had included a down-graded Ofsted inspection and September was bringing in the 4th Headteacher in 4 years too.

2 weeks into the new academic year, I knew I had to leave teaching. I had taken on too much, too soon and was burning out and falling out of love with the Education System massively. I started looking for full time jobs but nothing was right or people just saw ‘teacher’ and couldn’t see that I had so many transferrable skills. It was then that I happened to watch a webinar run by Jo Howard from Adventures After Teaching (Thank you Jo!). It was explaining how well teachers transition to VA work with all the many skills we have. It reignited my passion for all things admin, organisation and systems which is always something I have loved. As a TA and Teacher, I was always organising, always looking to put in systems to make things easier for everyone. I signed up to the course right then! I realised, if I could manage all of that, I could certainly help others in the same position.

My notice was in and all I had to do was get through to the end of the term…this was easier said than done but I made it with my sanity just about in tact! My skills have just moved from the classroom and found a new home!

If this is you on the verge of burnout, or already burnt out, you don’t have to carry on this way, there are people that can help. I can help.

So what’s the next chapter looking like so far? How am I finding setting up my own business and how I plan to help others with tips and tools? Check out my next blog post to find out more.