Richard Main

Name: Richard Main
Area of work: primary education
School: Bourton Meadow School 
Local authority: Buckinghamshire
Qualifications: BA accountancy studies, University of Exeter (1995); graduate teacher programme, Bourton Meadow School (2001)

I considered teaching from an early age, inspired by a classics teacher at school. He had such passion for what he did that I could sense even then the satisfaction his job gave him. I overlooked all this to study accountancy at university, a field which I considered much more lucrative. It then took me ten years to realise that financial reward is only a small part of what you need from a job. I felt unfulfilled and fell back on my earlier ambitions. I still teach at the primary school where I trained.

Teaching ten-year-olds and leading the year group

As a year group leader, I am ultimately responsible for the attainment of all pupils in the year group and the management of the two other Year 5 teachers. I am also subject manager for PE and games, responsible for the delivery of an exciting and varied PE curriculum. As a class teacher I work towards my class of 27 ten-year-olds achieving the highest levels of progress possible.

I am at school for 7.00 am every day and usually leave between 5.00 pm and 6.00 pm, and also work at evenings and weekends. I would like to go down the management route and a deputy headship is possibly the next logical, though major, step. My accounting and budgeting skills should be useful within senior management and I’ve found ten years of life experience invaluable even though specific skills may not be directly transferable into the classroom.

The joys of teaching outweight the perks of accountancy

My previous job as an accountant taught me that a beefy salary is no contest for the joys of teaching. The sense of satisfaction I feel now when I drive to school rather than the numbing dread I used to experience is worth its weight in gold. This is one of the most rewarding jobs I can think of and I have never looked back to my accountancy days. But enter teaching for the right reasons and have clear expectations about the challenges you may face as well as the rewards you will experience before you embark on what is probably the most exciting journey you will take in your lifetime.