The Adventures After Teaching Podcast

This week, we hear from the wonderful Selini, a former primary school teacher who has made an inspiring transition to become a Community Education Coordinator for a large international charity. Selini shares her journey out of the classroom and into a role that allows her to continue making a real difference in the world on a much wider scale. As an Academy member, Selini embraced the support and...

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Former Primary Headteacher Adam, loved the job but wanted to move on before he reached the point of burnout. Securing an interesting ‘lifeboat job’, he quickly realised how valuable his skills could be to the world outside of the microcosm of teaching.  After taking part in our free Summer Bootcamp event, Adam joined the Academy and started to dive into all th...

“It’s given me my life back.” Head of Drama Lauren loved many aspects of teaching but found that the out of hours working expectations were simply unsustainable, sometimes hitting 12 hours a day for 6 days a week! After taking a few months off to rest and have fun, she spent some time freelancing and then started her job hunt for a full-time role.  Now a Project Manager for an education research c...

“I didn’t realise it … I think I was slowly burning out.” Reception Teacher Georgi followed her passions into the world of education, but felt numb and burnt out by her last year in the classroom. Stumbling upon the Adventures After Teaching Academy, she loved the supportive community, practical resources, and tools to navigate all the ‘what ifs?’ of career change.  Leveraging the power of LinkedI...

Once a Secondary Drama Teacher and Head of Drama, Serena felt frustrated with the “other elements” of teaching and wanted more time to focus on the “important stuff” with her students. Returning from maternity leave, and battling exhaustion both at work and at home, she was driven to seek a new role that better aligned with her values and passions.  Initially taking on her job search alone, Serena...

“I’ve got to try something different.” Former History Teacher and Assistant Head, Simon remembers “running on empty all the time”. Following a conversation on the playground, Simon experienced a moment of realisation that teaching was no longer sustainable for him or his family, feeling “a weight off” after handing his notice in.  Now an Account Manager for Unifrog Education, Simon’s new role invo...

“It had taken over my entire life.” Associate Assistant Headteacher and Head of Geography, Victoria found her ‘4 day working week’ became a 50-60 hour commitment, frequently working 12 hours on a Sunday. Struggling with feelings of not wanting to let people down, she eventually gave herself permission to move on to a new adventure.  Now the Deputy Director of an education charity, Victoria enjoys...

“It was fantastic until it wasn’t so fantastic anymore” Primary Deputy Head Giselle took a lot of positives from her teaching career, spending 23 years working in the same school with a “lovely team and a lovely community”. But, as a self-confessed people-pleaser, she eventually found herself wearing too many hats and, with increasing classroom commitments, the workload became unsustainable.  Now...

“It wasn’t a choice anymore … I had to go.” After 21 years of teaching in Secondary schools, Lucy found herself falling out of love with the job. Throughout her career she’d tried different role and different schools, but no longer felt the same passion for the profession that she once had. “I just didn’t feel like I was myself anymore,” she shares in this episode.  Now a Teacher Resources Product...

“I can’t be in this position next year.” Primary teacher Vicky loved so many things about teaching but, after 20 years in the classroom, she found that the scope of her role had increased so much from when she first started her career. Regularly working until 9pm just to feel prepared for the next day, she felt like she was missing out on being present with her own family and knew that it was time...

“I wouldn’t go back.” Special school Assistant Head Clare was always taking care of others around her … not realising the impact that burnout was having on her own life. After finally giving herself permission to stop and being signed off sick from work, she started to explore other options outside of teaching - daring to dream of jobs that might combine both a healthy  work-life balance and align...

“I can’t do this anymore.” Secondary Science teacher, Susanna, was done with the classroom - but not with teaching! Still with a great passion for learning and for her subject, it was the commute, the pressure, and all those extra duties that were really taking a toll and brought her to the realisation that it was time for something new.  Now a STEM educator for neurodivergent learners with online...

“I’m not prepared to give up any more of my personal life”  After spending 12 years teaching in special needs schools, Assistant Head Rachel loved working with children and young people but found herself frustrated by the lack of resources available to support them and overwhelmed by the impact of teaching on her home life.  Joining the Academy in April 2023, Rachel went on to land herself a part-...

One of our earliest Academy members, Laura joined Adventures After Teaching three years ago. After 17 years teaching Secondary Maths whilst also dealing with a chronic health condition, she enrolled in our free Stay or Go workshop and began to dream of new possibilities outside of the classroom.  Laura landed herself a new role as a Digital Skills Trainer and embraced a life of remote working and...

“I do love teaching … but I do not like the system.” Primary Teacher and Outdoor Learning Lead, Pauline was struggling with serious burnout. She tried a change of key stage and reduced hours but continued to feel like teaching was “just not the same anymore.” Pauline’s new adventure started with an idea … gardening! Over the last year, she has turned this passion for outdoor learning into an every...

Former History Teacher and Head of Sixth Form, Kirsty loved her school but was fed up with the constraints of teaching … working long evenings and regular weekends, as well as having no flexibility around holidays.  Now working in Consultancy (with an epic job title that you won’t want to miss!), in this episode Kirsty details her journey out of the classroom, from “feeling my way around in the da...

With so much love for her school and all that she’d achieved in her teaching career, Co-Headteacher Charlotte made the difficult decision to pursue a career change after “feeling depleted rather than energised.”  Now in a brand new (recently promoted!) role as ‘Assistant Director, Programme Leader’ for a leading educational CPD organisation, Charlotte shares her journey to experiencing joy and pas...

After losing her passion for teaching, Michala left her role as Head of Humanities and whole-school Teaching and Learning Lead to become a Training Programme Delivery Manager for a national charity.  Rather than being triggered by one thing, Michala talks in this episode about a build up of lots of little struggles that eventually motivated her decision to walk away from teaching. Despite feeling...

After 14 years as a Drama Teacher and Subject Leader of Performing Arts, Nicola moved away from the classroom and set up her own business as a Virtual Assistant, specialising in all things systems and tech.  Nicola shares her experience of struggling against an ever-changing educational system, “working harder, but feeling worse”, before deciding to step away to pursue a new passion. In this episo...

A former Assistant Headteacher with 13 years teaching experience behind her, Amandeep transitioned out of the classroom and into an interesting new role as a Senior Education and Development Officer within the NHS.  She shares her experience of stumbling upon the job advert (whilst on holiday!), nailing the interview and thriving in this position where her skills and expertise are valued and trust...

Join me this week where I’m chatting to Cathie about her empowering secondment into the role of Specialist Teacher for Inclusive Practice with her Local Authority.  Cathie shares her experience of burnout after 27 years of teaching, and talks of re-discovering her passions in this new role where she’s able to use her transferable coaching and mentoring skills, alongside her extensive knowledge of...

Join me as I chat to Rachael about her move from leading Maths to finding a rewarding new role leading communications and administration in a Franciscan Missionary. Rachael was looking at operations and project management roles when she found this unique role! Rachael looks after the Sisters supporting with logistics, reporting, communications, helping them to have worldwide impact with their miss...

Caroline was a Secondary History teacher who has successfully transitioned out of the classroom to become an Administrations and Systems Officer for a local charity.  Her journey out of teaching took a year and she reflects on her need to take the time to explore her value and skills - the result making her comfortably able to showcase why she was the best person for the job! In this episode we al...

Lee was a Secondary Geography teacher with additional responsibility for careers, who has successfully transitioned into Programme Management. He shares with that even though he already changed careers when coming to teaching later in life, he still had a lot to learn about “de-teacherfying” his CV and navigating the world of recruitment.  In this episode, we also explore: Mapping Lee's varie...

Academy Alumni Ruth was a Deputy Head with experience as a Designated Safeguarding Lead and SENCO, who is now working for a Local Authority as Domestic Abuse Liaison Officer (Schools).  Ruth was able to combine her safeguarding knowledge and transferable leadership skills to successfully secure this role, allowing her to make a difference while not taking her work home with her. She shares her exp...