Becoming a teacher made me 'a lot happier'

An ex-fireman in Nottingham has described this week how switching to a career in teaching has made him "a lot happier".

42-year-old Ian Lovett served as a fireman for 14 years, before giving it up to take up a career in teaching.

He has been working at Seagrave Primary School in Strelley, in north-west Nottingham, for a year, after training with Nottingham City Primary School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT).

The Hucknall resident told the Nottingham Evening Post that both his careers have been inspired by a desire to help people.

"I had done courses for Scouts and Guides and I always volunteered to do the things in schools because I enjoyed it so much… What I really liked about it was that you were teaching children something that would be useful to them and inspiring them," he explained.

"So when it came to the time that I was thinking about change, it seemed like a good idea."

The government has been keen in recent years to recruit people from other professional backgrounds into teaching, particularly scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs.