Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

Hi, I am a early years teacher in UK I currently teach Reception. I can get a sponsored Visa to Perth as a Primary Teacher if I apply now. Although I had my hopes on Pre Primary Teacher in Brisbane but been advised PGCE wont cut it has to be 4 year Early Years Degree. I have had a look at the jobs in Perth for Primary Teacher and I can't seem to find any or work out what average salary is. I need to work out if we (Husband and 2 young kids) can afford to live comfortably (well better off). My husband is currently training as an Electrician and will be qualified in 2015. I will have 3 years experience by the time I go in 2015, does anyone know what sort of salary I could get and if the jobs come out at a certain time of year like they do in the UK? Also would I have to retrain for the Australian curriculum at all. Would be good to talk to anyone who has done it and found a job? Thanks

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

Hi there and welcome to BE :)

I've moved your thread to the main forum as you don't seem to be asking about visas, more about finding work in WA, salaries etc.

This link - http://www.sstuwa.org.au/news/195-kn...ule-a-salaries - was provided in a recent thread. A friend who's a teacher had to do some extra training to work in schools here, but that may be slightly different in WA as states are not always the same. Also, permanent jobs have just been advertised for contracts starting next school year. Hopefully some others can give you more advice on teaching in WA.

Your OH may find it difficult as a sparky and he'll need to look at all the rules surrounding getting his skills recognised in Australia, licensing, gap training, etc, - have a look here http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=97

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

The WA Government has just announced significant cuts in education funding, no new teaching jobs and cut backs in existing roles across the board. Industrial action is being discussed by teachers....

There are a large number of unemployed teachers in WA. A lot of teachers have left the industry as they cannot obtain permanent positions. Many graduates are left hanging, after the Government actively encouraged them to train a few years back because there was going to be a shortage. Didn't happen.
Primary school teachers are particularly in excess as we are moving across to our Year 7's moving into the High School system (out of the primary), seeing '00s of PST's with no where to go.

Public education is a not a happy place in WA at the moment and TBH, has not been for a while. I have many friends/family who are teachers/principals/ administrators in the public education sector here. My next door neighbour is a teacher - she is leaving at the end of the year. My husband was a teacher until the mid '90s but left - thank goodness... One of my closest friends is a High School Principal and she can't believe what is happening. Her husband was a teacher in the private sector and left at the end of last term...and so it goes on...

The word is that teachers will be returning to the bad old days of having to buy their own stationery supplies and having limited resources available.

If you are still keen - jobs are offered all year round.

These links will assist in your research

http://www.sstuwa.org.au/

http://det.wa.edu.au/careers/detcms/portal/

The DET site is very informative.

Positions are located under the JobsWA link on their site.
Teachers can apply for positions through centrally organised recruitment pools and also directly to schools through advertised vacancies on Jobs WA.

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

I know excellent 'teachers' who were not offered further contracts when theirs expired. Its NOT a good time in WA Education (nor Health) at the moment.

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

I'm a teacher in Perth and there are hardly any permanent jobs. There are some in my current school who have been on fixed-term contracts for 6 years! Every Oct/Nov/Dec they are worrying about whether they will have a job for the next year.

As the main earner in the family I'm not sure that it will give you much stability.

What you could do is go rural/country. If you do that for 2 years you are more likely, but not guaranteed, to get permanency.

I've been on contract for the past couple of years, no permanency yet. In fact, because I work part-time I'll probably never get permanency.

Things are not looking good for the teaching sector at the moment, there are huge cuts this year and more forecast for next year.

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

Just wanted to say that I agree. A friend of the family is a fully qualified teacher and keeps her licensing up to date. She can only find sub teaching, here and there, and is working part-time doing casual childcare to make ends meet.

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

My BIL is a primary teacher. He has just obtained permanency due to agreeing to teach for 2 years at a school classified as "hard to staff" i.e. the kids/parents/location is/are less than great... and seeing it through...

Irony is, there are no permanent positions available at the school. They are only allowed X number of permanent to allow for Y number of contracts so he has to find himself a job somewhere else...

How ridiculous is that?

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

And don't think that newly qualified Drs have it any easier... too many first proper job seekers chasing too few first posts

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

Hi thanks for the replys it sounds crazy that wa are sponsoring teachers!? Anyway I have been advised if I am unable to find work I will be free to move around Australia to find work. Also I came to the conclusion last night that I should be able to work as a Pre primary teacher and am going to try to apply for that visa first which would allow me to go straight to eastern Australia where there are more jobs. By the way I was hoping my husband would be the breadwinner expecting his salary to be approx $70k and mine $60k is that not realistic? Thanks for your replies its great to find somewhere to talk this through :)

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

There is a thread in the immi section on early years teaching with lots of info - http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=803731

You really should have a look at the electricians forum for advice regarding working as an electrician. Your husband will need to get his skills assessed - either in the UK with Vetassess if he is main applicant, for which he will be issued an OTSR, or an application for ARTC in Australia with TRA. If he has a successful assessment, he will need to undertake gap training in Australia, and also complete up to 1 year of supervised work before being issued a full license. Not the easiest process!

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

Thanks I am not sure how to go to the electricians forum? Thanks

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

You can use this link - http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=97 - which is the same one from earlier.

Alternatively, if you click on 'Forum Index' on the left of the peach coloured bar above, and then scroll down, you will come to 'Working Abroad by Profession' and amongst those, you'll see the Electricians forum :)

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

Thank you sorry hadn't clicked on previous link, does anyone know if the salary I put is realistic (if we do conversion courses so we are fully qualified teacher and electrician etc) as looking at the long term goal of a better life for the children am happy to persevere through all the processes etc. but just want an overall picture of how well off we will be in the long term? Thanks

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

For your OH, I would think that would be realistic to start, but should go higher depending on where he works, and what type of work he does :)
Not sure how easy it will be to find work though, but there are some WA sparky's in the Electrician forum.

Can't help on teaching wages in WA though :)

Re: Primary School Teacher moving to Oz
 

The link provided by Old Sparkles in her first post was one I provided for another thread which shows salaries for WA teachers.

You can google salaries teacher Aus and find out for every state. Electricians I have no idea but quite possibly same scenario - just google.

Your comment on plenty of jobs for teachers in other states - I seem to always be the bearer of bad news just lately - but - don't hold your breath...If you are prepared to go and live in the middle of nowhere, you may have some luck. Plus - being a specialised EC teacher doesn't mean that's what you will do. Plenty of teachers I know are trained in one area and have just been thrown in to teach in another.