After 35 years as an engineer I’ve switched to teaching physics

ANDREW Winterbotham is among a raft of workers who have opted for a career in teaching since lockdown. Andrew, who worked as a mechanical engineer in Africa and Central Asia for 35 years, lost his job in December after his firm restructured.

He says he spent three months looking for another role in the industry but decided he had to look elsewhere when the pandemic caused a vacancy shortage.

Andrew, from Nutfield, Surrey, says he became interested in education because his daughter had just started secondary school.

Personal contacts put him in touch with Now Teach, which helped him find a training provider. The charity says there was a 70pc rise in applications to its training programme between March and

May this year. Andrew is completing a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course to familiarise himself with the physics curriculum, which he will be teaching when he begins his traineeship at a nearby secondary school in September. The oneyear programme costs £9,250 and he is applying for a bursary to cover living expenses.

Andrew says that although the move was foisted on him by the pandemic, he is happy to have made the change.

He adds: ‘I never thought teaching would be an option because of my age but it hasn’t been a barrier. With hindsight, I’m delighted to have found something new.’

He says his experience of speaking at conferences and working with people from different cultures should help him in the classroom.