about to qualify as a teacher.....

[CAROLINE4]

Hi all, as the title suggests im about to qualify as a primary school teacher. does anyone have any tips when flying in school holidays regarding price?

Im also considering doing the odd one week holiday as we LOVE october, how would this work in regards to jet lag?

Do any fellow teachers have any tips on getting as many days in disney as possible before back to work?

 

[Magic Megadegs]

Hiya and congratulations, that's great news x October half term should be possible for you. I haven't seen many evening flights to try and get out there on a Friday but you can definately go Saturday to Saturday so you get back on the Sunday ready for school, lol. Only done that once (I teach too) but sucked up the jet lag because the trip is soooo worth it, lol.

To be fair though for some reason I never sleep well the night before school so the jet lag makes little odds! Your class will love to hear all your Disney tales of magic!

Easter and Xmas I think are a little more pricey compared with the summer and I believe the US schools go back mid way towards the back end of August so prices can be a little lower then than July. Have you checked out prices for next year just to see the difference?

 

[Kath2003]

Hi all, as the title suggests im about to qualify as a primary school teacher. does anyone have any tips when flying in school holidays regarding price?

Im also considering doing the odd one week holiday as we LOVE october, how would this work in regards to jet lag?

Do any fellow teachers have any tips on getting as many days in disney as possible before back to work?

Fly indirect. We paid £425 for our 2012 Easter flights and £417 for our 2013 flights.

Would never do a week in October, May or Feb - no way could I teach well with jet lag! Easter, Christmas and summer are the way forward. You can also save a fortune on flights by chopping off a few days (9-12 nights seem to work out the cheapest). Look for midweek flights instead of Saturdays.

My honest advice, though, is see how it goes once you're in your NQT year. Only that will give you a picture of how much work you'll need to do in the holidays and therefore will determine whether you want to go away for the entire time.

 

[CAROLINE4]

Fly indirect. We paid £425 for our 2012 Easter flights and £417 for our 2013 flights.

Would never do a week in October, May or Feb - no way could I teach well with jet lag! Easter, Christmas and summer are the way forward. You can also save a fortune on flights by chopping off a few days (9-12 nights seem to work out the cheapest). Look for midweek flights instead of Saturdays.

My honest advice, though, is see how it goes once you're in your NQT year. Only that will give you a picture of how much work you'll need to do in the holidays and therefore will determine whether you want to go away for the entire time.

yes thats what i was thinking, maybe wait and see what the workload is like! im just worried as a family of 6 we will be priced out of our florida holidays! xx

 

[Kath2003]

yes thats what i was thinking, maybe wait and see what the workload is like! im just worried as a family of 6 we will be priced out of our florida holidays! xx

Well I guess that depends what your other income is...but even on the cheap, a holiday to Florida for 6 on an NQT's salary will be

 

[CAROLINE4]

Hiya and congratulations, that's great news x October half term should be possible for you. I haven't seen many evening flights to try and get out there on a Friday but you can definately go Saturday to Saturday so you get back on the Sunday ready for school, lol. Only done that once (I teach too) but sucked up the jet lag because the trip is soooo worth it, lol.

To be fair though for some reason I never sleep well the night before school so the jet lag makes little odds! Your class will love to hear all your Disney tales of magic!

Easter and Xmas I think are a little more pricey compared with the summer and I believe the US schools go back mid way towards the back end of August so prices can be a little lower then than July. Have you checked out prices for next year just to see the difference?

i think im going to have to book in advance and do 9-12 days rather than 14! lol xx

 

[CAROLINE4]

Well I guess that depends what your other income is...but even on the cheap, a holiday to Florida for 6 on an NQT's salary will be

hahaha! Thanks! yes well my salary will be used for extras as i have been a student FOREVER so the hubby's salary covers bill, food ect so quite lucky i suppose. Even so i'm always on the lookout for a bargin!

 

[Kath2003]

hahaha! Thanks! yes well my salary will be used for extras as i have been a student FOREVER so the hubby's salary covers bill, food ect so quite lucky i suppose. Even so i'm always on the lookout for a bargin!

We go at Easter for 10-11 nights most years and come in at under £1000 with everything (even sorting kennels for the pets!). It can be done! We stay on IDrive, use the buses and do Universal not Disney. Oh and we fly indirect.

 

[CAROLINE4]

We go at Easter for 10-11 nights most years and come in at under £1000 with everything (even sorting kennels for the pets!). It can be done! We stay on IDrive, use the buses and do Universal not Disney. Oh and we fly indirect.

That's a great price! x i think indirect will be the wat to go1 we went in May for £213 p/p direct with Monarch booking 2 weeks before, i know i will never get offers like that again! thanks for sharing! x

 

[janiebubble]

Now I'm a teacher who would vote for half term can be worth it! We went this Feb and I did it in 2008 too, we've been lucky-ish that I work in a area that's gone to standard spring break holiday first two weeks in April so sometimes we can avoid peak Easter times. Personally I won't go in July/August its too busy too hot and too wet for me plus way too expensive, so I'm a Feb or April devotee!

 

[CAROLINE4]

Now I'm a teacher who would vote for half term can be worth it! We went this Feb and I did it in 2008 too, we've been lucky-ish that I work in a area that's gone to standard spring break holiday first two weeks in April so sometimes we can avoid peak Easter times. Personally I won't go in July/August its too busy too hot and too wet for me plus way too expensive, so I'm a Feb or April devotee!

Janie i think i will be in your camp! Hopefully I will be fully employed for my NQT year, i have to say i will be looking at term dates straight away so i can get booked!! just waiting for the jobs i have applied for to get back to me! xx

 

[luke]

Fingers crossed for you getting that job. The amount of NQTs who finish training and don't get that first post is frightening!

Personally anything less than two week wouldn't be worth it for me, so we always try to do summer. Especially giving me time off after to recover.
Next year we are doing Easter and arrive back the the day before term restarts. I'm scared!!

 

[joolz1910]

Luckily I am a job-share so I am able to go for two weeks this October! My job-share partner is covering for me. The Head and Governors agreed to it. I know that this is a one-off and that I will be restricted to the Summer holidays in future. I can remember my first year in teaching (back in the day) and found I had to work throughout the half-term holidays in order to keep up with the workload.

 

[Kath2003]

Luckily I am a job-share so I am able to go for two weeks this October! My job-share partner is covering for me. The Head and Governors agreed to it. I know that this is a one-off and that I will be restricted to the Summer holidays in future. I can remember my first year in teaching (back in the day) and found I had to work throughout the half-term holidays in order to keep up with the workload.

I agree - it eats your life. I'm about to start my weekend marking (three hours' worth) then check my planning for tomorrow (about another hour). My holidays are spent catching up on sleep, marking, planning for the next term etc. Price aside, one of the reasons why we go for 9-12 days at Easter is to give me that time either side of the trip to do some marking/planning. This year I have 3 days before the trip and hope to get all my work done before I go.

 

[janiebubble]

I agree - it eats your life. I'm about to start my weekend marking (three hours' worth) then check my planning for tomorrow (about another hour). My holidays are spent catching up on sleep, marking, planning for the next term etc. Price aside, one of the reasons why we go for 9-12 days at Easter is to give me that time either side of the trip to do some marking/planning. This year I have 3 days before the trip and hope to get all my work done before I go.

That is a really good point - one I'd forgotten - when I first started teaching (part time I might add!) I didn't know how anyone could manage full time the amount of time I spent planning, preparing and marking. As time goes on it gets easier - and I now have a management role that means I don't teach a full timetable (in fact last year when we went at half term I was only teaching 0.4 of a timetable). We've booked for Easter - we finish on Maunday Thursday but don't fly till Easter Monday - so I have 3 full days to sort myself out before we go, and we're coming back on the following Friday giving me Sunday to get over things.

I've also been to Florida and California for a week at Easter - many people would say its not worth it - but to me it is

 

[ElleBelle88]

I'm in my second (academic) year of teaching now and was going to wait until August 2014 but suddenly the opportunity to go this October for the one week over half term came up and eventually I decided to just go for it!
We fly Sat27thOct and get back the morning of Sun4thNov ready for school the next day. Having always worked through the holidays just to keep my head above the mass of work, this time I've just decided to work my socks off before I go and actually (shock horror) have a whole week off!
Of course only time will tell but having just watched a video for the Food and Wine Festival I'm currently very pleased with my decision and very excited!
I'm sure as with any job though only you are able to decide what is best for you and your family. My vote is to go for it though!

 

[CAROLINE4]

Fingers crossed for you getting that job. The amount of NQTs who finish training and don't get that first post is frightening!

this is the problem exactly! i have just heard there is a programme called 'Teach first' which my current mentor works on that gives you qts and guarantees you a NQT post! i wish i had done it because we get no such deal with Edgehill Uni! keeping my fingers crossed for the ones im waiting on and applied to two in St Helens last night.

 

[CAROLINE4]

That is a really good point - one I'd forgotten - when I first started teaching (part time I might add!) I didn't know how anyone could manage full time the amount of time I spent planning, preparing and marking. As time goes on it gets easier - and I now have a management role that means I don't teach a full timetable (in fact last year when we went at half term I was only teaching 0.4 of a timetable). We've booked for Easter - we finish on Maunday Thursday but don't fly till Easter Monday - so I have 3 full days to sort myself out before we go, and we're coming back on the following Friday giving me Sunday to get over things.

I've also been to Florida and California for a week at Easter - many people would say its not worth it - but to me it is

Oh Janie i would go for 1 week! i must admit i currently have zero life in this final placement im teaching 80% of the timetable, i love the teaching so much but all the paperwork is horrendous. i was asked by a part time teacher the other day why did i want to be a teacher with 4 children at home? i had to think! hahaha i love the kids and the interaction and seeing them progress through my teaching are all the things which keep me going and im sure after battling through the first couple of years things will become second nature. hopefully!

 

[CAROLINE4]

I'm in my second (academic) year of teaching now and was going to wait until August 2014 but suddenly the opportunity to go this October for the one week over half term came up and eventually I decided to just go for it!
We fly Sat27thOct and get back the morning of Sun4thNov ready for school the next day. Having always worked through the holidays just to keep my head above the mass of work, this time I've just decided to work my socks off before I go and actually (shock horror) have a whole week off!
Of course only time will tell but having just watched a video for the Food and Wine Festival I'm currently very pleased with my decision and very excited!
I'm sure as with any job though only you are able to decide what is best for you and your family. My vote is to go for it though!

well i must say i think you are entitled to a full week off!! cannot wait to hear how you cope with the jet lag in school the following day! will you let us know so i can see if i would cope next year! xx

 

[janiebubble]

well i must say i think you are entitled to a full week off!! cannot wait to hear how you cope with the jet lag in school the following day! will you let us know so i can see if i would cope next year! xx

oh you can cope the next day, you just do it ... in fact I think having to do something makes it easier than fighting to occupy yourself to keep awake. After I booked to go in Feb in 2008 they altered parents evening dates so not only did I fly home Sunday morning I then had to work till 9pm on the Monday - I'm not saying I wasn't tired, but I did it! (having said that I don't have 4 kids to cope with too!). This year I slept better than I've ever managed and was fine in work on the Monday (good job as we got the Osfted call on the Friday so it was a manic few weeks - I actually think Florida got me through Osfted - I'd had a proper break, week of sunshine, came back in a great mood)