I am a teaching principal of a rural DEIS Primary school. I have found the position extremely difficult and stressful over the past few years. I teach a multigrade classroom with 3 different class levels of 32 pupils. Looking after their educational and pastoral needs, managing & leading teachers & SNAs, parental requests, Board of Management demands, ancillary staff issues & community demand is completely exhausting. The results are that my family are being ignored and state of my mental health is very concerning. I am researching leaving the profession and transferring my leadership skills to another sector completely where my experience will be valued and not abused. Where my pay reflects the HUGE amount of of effort and work done daily and is not considered to be done under the umbrella of “goodwill”. A huge amount of skills & experience will be lost as teaching principals everywhere like myself look for a way to escape this disastrous position and hellish combination of workload.
