Matthew Daly

Does anybody on this forum currently work as a teacher in a South Australian school through a 'Special Authority to Teach' licence? I am aware that the UK GTP is not sufficient to gain teacher registration and so have been looking at the Diploma in Education qualification incorporating recognition for prior learning. However, I discovered this evening that the University of South Australia is not taking new enrollment for 2013 and I have not been able to find an equivalent at the University of Adelaide or Flinders University for a Diploma in Education majoring in PE or its related fields.

I would welcome any recollection of experiences in acquiring a role through the Special Authority to Teach and how you managed to do this, if anybody has any. I'm looking to be in Adelaide in January 2013 and would like to know if I will need to work in another field.

Thanks in advance!

Mummy3

I have been warned about trying to register in Victoria and how difficult it is, so am interested to read this.

dragonladyoz

University Enrolments for 2013 would not normally open until Sept 2012, with offers made in late Dec/early Jan.... maybe send an email enquiry to the person listed as the contact for that course or to admissions dept to check..... unless the course is not being offered in 2013 - in which case there may be an alternative that will be sufficient for your needs that they would be able to let you know about. With the new registration requirements you may find a Diploma is not sufficient and you will need to enrol in a Bachelors Degree course.

You might also want to expand your search - University of New England & Macquarie UNiversity in NSW and I think RMIT in Victoria have big Education Depts and UNE/RMIT are also geared up for distance learning so you don't have to necessarily live near those Universities. I also have a friend who did her teaching qual thru Curtin University in Perth, also by distance for most of it.

There are also a number of Colleges that specialise in qualifications in PE, (sorry can't remember their names).

Just a note though - because of these new Colleges in the last few years there are ALOT of out of work PE teachers in Australia...... I would seriously suggest teaming it with Science - (Senior Biology) - which would make you much more "attractive" to employers as there is a significant shortage of Science teachers in Australia.

Good luck!

Matthew Daly

Thanks for that dragonladyoz...... I'm willing and motivated to teach science if it's applicable. Although I stated previously I wanted access to a PE course (that was my initial teacher training in the UK) I have been an Assistant and Vice Principal over the last three years so would hope to be able to demonstrate my value to schools in a variety of roles, as I have taught various GCSE subjects and have experience in various mainstream and SEN school settings.

I have since found out that the Masters in Teaching is the accepted route in to teaching via postgraduate study. However, the problem with this is that it is a two year full time course, which means teaching is realistically out of the equation, unless anybody knows of an alternative route? As most of us do I need to earn a salary on arrival so I don't suppose anybody has managed to secure a teaching post with a Limited or Special Authority to Teach in an independent and/or a state school and simultaneously completed the required study? If so, I would welcome your take on how you managed to do it.....otherwise I'm preparing to be a house husband in Adelaide......

Thanks.....

dragonladyoz

Yes, I'm doing my Masters now while an expat as I'm not teaching! I didn't much like the idea of having small children and studying and teaching all at the same time!

I know of people in NSW who have been employed when not registered/fully qualified in the Catholic system, whilst they completed their studies - but NSW has a different registration system than in SA.

I would suspect that given the details about applying for this on the SA registration site that you would first need to obtain a position so that the school could put details about length of contract - subjects - year groups etc as it appears to be specific for this....... maybe your best option is to apply for some positions and see if there are schools that are interested in applying for it in order to have you teach for them........ again, if you are a good teacher in an area where there are few candidates or have skills that they want/need then they would most likely do this for you rather than have noone or a very poor candidate - particularly in the independent and catholic school sectors (government are going to be harder).

A lot of independents/catholic schools now advertise online, rather than in print.... the biggest site is www.teachers.on.net - there will be adds for short term positions at the moment, Terms3,4 - LSL, maternity leave positions etc - they are often a good door in - and not always so strongly contested being in middle of school year. The main ads for permanent positions and 12mth contracts will be Sept-Oct-Nov although if you are interested middle manager positions/deputy principal positions will start earlier (there is a knock on effect!)

Other than that - you may be able to transfer your skills into a different area and still get a job - manager - tutor - customer service so you can work while you study.

Good luck!