GOING BACK TO SCHOOL
SHOCKED by the sudden death of his brother, Darren Manoharan was looking to revaluate his life.
After a successful career in manufacturing and engineering Darren, 37, from Croydon in South London, began to think he might take a massive pay cut and retrain as a teacher.
When the pandemic rocked the brick-making business where he worked, he took the plunge. Come September he was standing in front of a class teaching chemistry.
What sort of teacher are you?
I am doing my teacher training with Now Teach at the de Stafford secondary school in Caterham, Surrey, where I’m teaching chemistry to years seven to 10. I have a mentor and as much support as I need but otherwise I plan and take lessons myself.
How did you survive your first lesson?
It was a year eight group and I found it terrifying. My mentor told me I needed to get the first one out of the way as soon as possible. I was convinced the pupils could sense my fear but in truth it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, once I got going.
Reading the room with 30 kids was the hardest part but I got to grips with it once I got the nerves out of the way.
Why have you left it until now to become a teacher?
After doing a business and history degree I fell into a great job with a family friend turning landfill waste into biofuel. I became responsible for the processing and manufacturing side of things. It was a great job and I stayed for several years, learning a lot of chemistry as I went. I then switched to a company making foam for military use.
I worked hard and all the hours I could, missing a lot of my daughter growing up. I then switched to a brick manufacturing company. And then in the middle of 2019 my brother died very suddenly. It was a shock and made me question what I wanted to do with my life.
My wife Michlyn, a teacher, said don’t stick at what you are doing, do something you will love.
How did you make the leap?
I started the application process with Now Teach and had discussed with them what subject I should start teaching. Because I had learned so much science throughout my career they suggested this.
I was still working in brick manufacturing when lockdown came and my industry was crippled almost overnight.
I was furloughed on March 23 and started my online subject enhancement course – brushing up on chemistry – a week later.
What was it like retraining?
I was surprised that stuff I had learned at GCSE came back so quickly but there was a lot more to learn on top of it. Throughout lockdown we had Joe Wicks in the morning then I studied while my wife home schooled our daughter Gabriella.
I took over maths and science in the afternoons. It worked well. By the time schools opened in September I was ready to become part of one and start my teacher training – it was an extreme case of in at the deep end. I will be a newly qualified teacher (NQT) come this summer.
What advice do you have for anyone who wants to be a teacher?
If you think this is what you want, take the leap. I have genuinely never been happier.
GET INTO TEACHING
To follow in Darren’s footsteps check out Now Teach (nowteach.org.uk) which provides teacher training for career changers. You should also log in to Get Into Teaching (getintoteaching.education.gov.uk) to find one of the many ways you can train.
Tax-free bursaries up to £26,000 and scholarships are available in a range of subjects. You could also receive a Tuition Fee and Maintenance Loan to help fund your teacher training.
As a new teacher, you’ll start on a minimum salary of £25,714, or £ 32,157 in Inner London, depending on location.
Throughout January there are a series of virtual train to teach events around the country, including Hatfield (next Tuesday), Sheffield ( Wednesday) and Manchester ( January 19).
Check out the get into teaching site for more details.
I was terrified beforehand but my first lesson wasn’t as bad as I had feared