Any teachers?what evidence of employment experience did u give?
Apr 20th 2005, 8:51 pm
#31
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Re: Any teachers?what evidence of employment experience did u give?
Originally Posted by YFitz
Have agreed with everything Larissa said. My hubbie and I are both teachers although due to us having 3 young children only he has gone through the registration procedure. It has been much harder to get work here than we expected- and that's with good qualifications/references and 10 years experience.
Here's our experience.
Before you can register with the Ed dept. here in W.A you need to become a member of the College of Teachers (WACOT) Along with all the paperwork you will have supplied to NOOSER they also do an Ozzie police check (in our case we had only been in the country 48 hours but they still had to do it) This took a few weeks then they give you your number and you can apply to the Ed dept. They arrange for you to go on a 2 day compulsory course (as far as I am aware this applies to everyone- primary/secondary/new/experienced- a Head with 16 years UK experience was on hubbies course) My hubby was originally told he would be on this course at the end of Jan. although when he phoned close to that time he was told they hadn't got round to processing his paperwork but he'd be on course at beginning of March. He spent this time touting his CV around loads of private schools- however from the application forms given to him from many of the religious schools (of which there are many) it would appear they are more interested in your views on "the discipline of the bible", homosexuality and marriage along with your involvement in your church and references from your parish priest, rather than your qualifications/teaching experience. The private schools also have a central pool which he registered with. Anyway, after the 2 day Dept. of Ed. course he had to find 10 days supply off his own back- 5 of those days had to be in the same school. Only then would he be put on the Departments list to be allocated a post if and when one came up- and it could be a term here, half a term there, finding own supply in between when there is no work etc. He also found that when he went round schools to offer himself for supply work they already had lists pages and pages long of other supply teachers.
I don't want to put a complete dampner on teaching here but what I'm saying is make sure you have the finances to see you through as the whole job situation is very different to the UK. With our house sale falling through just before we came we have had to keep up a mortgage on an empty house, pay rent here and have no income- yikes!
Thankfully things are BEGINNING to go right for us- a school he got supply work in has offered him a 1 term contract (it's a merit select school ie a school which has been given the power to hire and fire their own staff) so fingers crossed things are picking up (and we accepted an offer on house over the weekend- won't get excited 'til money in the bank though)
Oh, one last thought, it also seems to be the case that the Dept of Ed. has gone through some changes recently with the WACOT thing and the registration procedure and we sometimes found that we would be told different things on different days by different people. Maybe things will become clearer and faster with the whole registration thing soon but I guess that won't change the job prospects.
Hope I haven't put you off because otherwise things are great here
Good luck
Yvonne
Here's our experience.
Before you can register with the Ed dept. here in W.A you need to become a member of the College of Teachers (WACOT) Along with all the paperwork you will have supplied to NOOSER they also do an Ozzie police check (in our case we had only been in the country 48 hours but they still had to do it) This took a few weeks then they give you your number and you can apply to the Ed dept. They arrange for you to go on a 2 day compulsory course (as far as I am aware this applies to everyone- primary/secondary/new/experienced- a Head with 16 years UK experience was on hubbies course) My hubby was originally told he would be on this course at the end of Jan. although when he phoned close to that time he was told they hadn't got round to processing his paperwork but he'd be on course at beginning of March. He spent this time touting his CV around loads of private schools- however from the application forms given to him from many of the religious schools (of which there are many) it would appear they are more interested in your views on "the discipline of the bible", homosexuality and marriage along with your involvement in your church and references from your parish priest, rather than your qualifications/teaching experience. The private schools also have a central pool which he registered with. Anyway, after the 2 day Dept. of Ed. course he had to find 10 days supply off his own back- 5 of those days had to be in the same school. Only then would he be put on the Departments list to be allocated a post if and when one came up- and it could be a term here, half a term there, finding own supply in between when there is no work etc. He also found that when he went round schools to offer himself for supply work they already had lists pages and pages long of other supply teachers.
I don't want to put a complete dampner on teaching here but what I'm saying is make sure you have the finances to see you through as the whole job situation is very different to the UK. With our house sale falling through just before we came we have had to keep up a mortgage on an empty house, pay rent here and have no income- yikes!
Thankfully things are BEGINNING to go right for us- a school he got supply work in has offered him a 1 term contract (it's a merit select school ie a school which has been given the power to hire and fire their own staff) so fingers crossed things are picking up (and we accepted an offer on house over the weekend- won't get excited 'til money in the bank though)
Oh, one last thought, it also seems to be the case that the Dept of Ed. has gone through some changes recently with the WACOT thing and the registration procedure and we sometimes found that we would be told different things on different days by different people. Maybe things will become clearer and faster with the whole registration thing soon but I guess that won't change the job prospects.
Hope I haven't put you off because otherwise things are great here
Good luck
Yvonne
it sounds pretty similar to QLD then! I can't comment on other states but as I posted before be prepared to struggle and not get a permanent job unless you are willing to move to Mt Isa or somewhere similar for 3 - 4 years. The Aussie teachers will not sympathise because they all had to do it too.
The system here sucks for immigrant teachers but they have to do it or half of the bush schools would be empty I suppose. I just wish they would tell you this before you emigrate. Saying that though I have done well with work as I have good experience and high qualifications, others I know, many Aussies from other states have got no supply work at all.
Like the other poster said make sure you have cash back up as you will need it.
Apr 20th 2005, 10:00 pm
#32
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Scotland
Posts: 7,949
Re: Any teachers?what evidence of employment experience did u give?
Originally Posted by Larissa
Hi Billy
I'm not that sure about the Eastern States, it might be worth asking OzTennis - he's teaching in Melbourne and is an Aussie teacher. As for worrying about permanent jobs, it's getting rarer in the UK to land a permanent contract as it is. I think the best bet would be do to supply and get yourself known. If you get placed in a teaching pool you have to take the job allocated to you, but if you're willing to travel perhaps that won't be too bad?
Also, don't underestimate the value of your experience and quality of training. The Aus system is overloaded with NQTs and there will be need of guys like you. Maybe it's a question of getting in, but once you're in you'll be appreciated.
Take care
Larissa
Try pming OzT, he's a nice guy but isn't coming on here so much so might not see the thread.
I'm not that sure about the Eastern States, it might be worth asking OzTennis - he's teaching in Melbourne and is an Aussie teacher. As for worrying about permanent jobs, it's getting rarer in the UK to land a permanent contract as it is. I think the best bet would be do to supply and get yourself known. If you get placed in a teaching pool you have to take the job allocated to you, but if you're willing to travel perhaps that won't be too bad?
Also, don't underestimate the value of your experience and quality of training. The Aus system is overloaded with NQTs and there will be need of guys like you. Maybe it's a question of getting in, but once you're in you'll be appreciated.
Take care
Larissa
Try pming OzT, he's a nice guy but isn't coming on here so much so might not see the thread.
I'm actually from Melbourne but teaching in Scotland presently (my wife moved out from Scotland to teach in Melbourne, we met through tennis and we reversed the brain drain by moving to the UK
).Teaching, in Victoria anyway, always required 4 years of tertiary education. This was either via a 4 year combined degree and teaching qualification or a 3 year degree followed by a 1 year post-graduate diploma. The system used to be that you paid your way through university or you got a scholarship from the government to pay your fees and receive a small living allowance or you got a studentship from the education department who paid your fees and gave you a much larger living allowance.
In return for this you were 'bonded'. This meant that they could send you wherever they wanted for the first 3 years and it was how they staffed schools in country areas and 'less desirable' parts of the metropolitan area. That's just the way the system has developed, so, as much as people don't like the idea of being 'owned' or pushed around it is how they cover staff shortages. It is so much easier to shift a migrant to a difficult to staff school than a local - a migrant is more mobile and has less friction than a local. Ignorance can be bliss as well - we're sending you to Mildura High School. 'Sounds good' says the recently arrived teacher (no offence to Mildura intended).
I got a Commonwealth scholarship and an Education Department studentship but because of the 'bond', I did my 3 year degree (Commerce) on a Commonwealth scholarship, worked in industry for a few years and saved up to go back and do my Dip Ed - both courses at the University of Melbourne. This meant that I wasn't 'bonded' and could apply for positions which were gazetted (the department advertises vacancies in a newsletter). We both wanted a move to Bendigo so I eventually ended up teaching in the TAFE College in Bendigo (and my wife had a job at a private school in Bgo). In those days you registered separately to teach in the state, private and TAFE sectors (and I was registered with all 3) but they have since combined this into a single registration board.
When we moved to the UK I had to do the reverse and register with the GTC for Scotland. I had to provide transcripts of my degree, evidence of employment history and so on. Would you believe they would initially only register me provisionally because I didn't have typewriting in my degree or Dip Ed. Long story but I'm a Business Studies teacher - Accounting, Economics, Business Management and I.T. but I had to be able to teach typewriting/word processing to get a job in a Scottish secondary school. I had to go to a college here to learn how to type. This was so I was qualified to teach Secretarial Studies or Administration as it is now known. Anyway, I was given full registration after 1 year rather than 2. I must say though that being able to touch type is about the most useful skill I have ever acquired.
I could probably write a book on comparing teaching in the 2 countries (and might do one day) but I won't bore you all with the details.
OzTennis
Apr 20th 2005, 10:24 pm
#33
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Scotland
Posts: 7,949
Re: Any teachers?what evidence of employment experience did u give?
A further thought is that people will be coming from a highly decentralised system in the UK to a centralised one in Australia. By that I mean there are LEA's in the UK but State Education Departments in Australia. Staffing practices will necessarily be different as a consequence.
Being used to the Australian system I was staggered when arriving here to find a separate education authority (police, fire brigade, health board, housing etc, etc) in each county or region. Given that the UK will fit into Victoria, how many LEA's are there? In Scotland alone there used to be 9 in the days of regions but this has been increased with the removal of one tier of government. I couldn't be moved 40 miles away because it is a different authority (although I could apply for positions in schools there).
So, 6 states and 2 territories for 40 times the area of the UK, how many LEA's for 1/40 the area of Oz? Of course the population is nearly 3 times greater in the UK (perhaps more with all the illegal immigrants of which I'm not one )
OzTennis
Being used to the Australian system I was staggered when arriving here to find a separate education authority (police, fire brigade, health board, housing etc, etc) in each county or region. Given that the UK will fit into Victoria, how many LEA's are there? In Scotland alone there used to be 9 in the days of regions but this has been increased with the removal of one tier of government. I couldn't be moved 40 miles away because it is a different authority (although I could apply for positions in schools there).
So, 6 states and 2 territories for 40 times the area of the UK, how many LEA's for 1/40 the area of Oz? Of course the population is nearly 3 times greater in the UK (perhaps more with all the illegal immigrants of which I'm not one
)OzTennis
