The Pit Pony Podcast - Life After Teaching

In this episode, Sharon and Sarah are joined by Danielle Crossland, a former secondary maths teacher whose story offers a refreshingly different perspective on leaving the classroom. Danielle taught for ten years after starting her career in 2012, working in both high schools and sixth-form colleges. Teaching was something she was good at, something she enjoyed at times - but it was never her vocation. And crucially, she knew that early on. In this honest and wide-ranging conversation, Daniel...

Today, Sharon and Sarah sit down with someone many of you already know from the Life After Teaching community - David Fountain, the teacher-turned-educator who has made understanding the Teachers’ Pension Scheme his personal mission. After 27 years in the classroom, teaching maths, science, IT and computer science, David reached a crossroads. Caring responsibilities, exhaustion and the constant reinvention of curricula pushed him to rethink his path. But leaving teaching wasn’t simple - not e...

This week, Sharon and Sarah sit down with the brilliant Elaine Mackechnie, known to many as Maths with Mrs Mack - a tutor whose journey out of the classroom has inspired hundreds of teachers to rethink what’s possible. After 26 years in education, spanning roles from Joint Head of MFL to Head of Year, Head of Key Stage and eventually 2nd in Maths, Elaine found herself pushed, pulled and reshaped by a system that never quite knew what to do with someone who could teach anything. What followed ...

Part 2 of this re-released conversation follows David through the most painful stretch of his journey - and into the life-changing transition that brought him back to himself. In this episode, Sharon and Sarah explore: The collapse of trust in leadership and the moment he was accused of lyingHow long-COVID, brain fog and exhaustion collided with a punitive support planThe emotional punch of being prescribed antidepressants - and the shame teachers so often carryThe union rep who finally said ...

In this powerful two-part replay, Sharon and Sarah revisit one of the Pit Pony Podcast’s most talked-about episodes - the story of David Myers, a maths teacher whose experience captures both the brilliance and the brutality of modern teaching. Part 1 traces David’s journey from a creative, psychology-driven teacher who thrived in supportive, visionary schools, to the moment everything changed. He shares: His early success at High Tunstall - where creativity, curiosity and student-centred thin...