LoreleiLee

After another horribel day at my current Secondary UK school I have been spurred on even more to up and leave the UK. I have filled in my skills assessment for the WA area and once that is sorted I'm going to apply for my Skills VISA. (I have already used my WHV when I travelled)
I'm thinking of leaving and going to Australia with my savings in the hope of finding supply work and then hopefully something more permanent. Am I being totally naieve doing this and am I basically going to bankrupt myself

What is the supply situation like at the moment over there?

kar-kier

My friend has worked every day this term, and has had other schools asking for her! She is primary and this is in Mandurah! HOWEVER, she only had a handful of jobs last term!

I know that secondaries will also take a primary teacher if they are stuck!

Dorothy

Other than the fact that it's almost the end of term what visa are you planning to come here on? If you have already used your WHV you can't do that and if you can't work on a tourist visa. The likelihood of finding a school to sponsor you is small, so yes, I would say it would be a big mistake to just "turn up"

LoreleiLee

I was going to apply for my Skilled Migrant VISA before I went over. I'm just worried about finding supply for the initial first few months while I'm looking for something more permanent.

Dorothy

That's great applying for a visa before you get here. But what visa do you intend to come here on? You cannot work on a tourist visa and you have already used your WHV.

saoghalbeag

So long as you have a visa that allows you to work you can teach supply but having just made my first move abroad without a job lined up first I have to say it can be very difficult. Saying that, I made the mistake of not getting my teacher rego before I moved, so have not even been able to work in supply (I've been temping in a cafe...HELL!! Worst part are the condescending yobs who call me "love" and mopping floors...garr

But anyway: point is, if you are not going to have a job lined up in advance (and let's face it that might take forever) be prepared to slum it for a while - do you have savings you can live off if no work comes through? Good tip is to pay loads of rent in advance when you first arrive so if all else fails at least you have a roof over your head!!

In Sth East Queensland, where I am from, it can take years on supply before you start getting offers of contracts. Supply also varies throughout the year - terms 2 and 3 (Easter to June and June to Sept) are better and for secondary work peters out altogether in term 4. I know of a German girl who just moved from NZ to Australia and straight into a temporary 6 month contract at a lovely little country primary school - I don't know how she did it, but it's not impossible!

If you are heading to Qld and register with Qld college of teachers, then put your name down with the department they may have contracts available, particularly if you are willing to go anywhere in the state. Tracer also manage the day to day relief teaching and urgent contracts - they have gotten more civilized over time and now even post these on their website! I'm sure other states have similar.

SammyT

In my experience of life in Perth for the past 6 weeks and trying to get into relief teaching, it's difficult. I got my WA teacher registration but didn't realise that I would need to have a WA Employee ID Number before I could work in any state school. The whole process is quite slow because things just don't happen - it takes time and then you need to put in the leg work before any relief work is found.
Make sure you read up on the requirements of the state you want to live in and try and get things organised before you come out. Also make ake sure you get a transcript from your degree and post grad (if you have one) as they will be required for visa, Teacher reg and the like. It might also help to get a statement of service ready from your last employer so that you can paid at the correct rate from the start.

Jen1977ni

I've, in the end, been very fortunate with relief work. I've ten years of teaching experience in the UK and this is the first time that I've done relief work since 2001 so I was quite apprehensive to say the least! We arrived here on the 6th Feb this year, and despite my QCT Rego taking 112 days I've hardly been out of work since. You will have to put the leg work in though, I've hand-delivered my CV to around 50 schools and tried to make as good an impression as I possibly could on each visit, though I've found the Irish accent to be a real hit lol. So far I've worked nearly every day bar a quiet week at the beginning of last term, my longest contract so far has been 8 weeks covering for a music teacher, despite my not actually being a qualified music teacher, though I saw it through and ended up putting 12 classes on the stage for their parents at evening performances and conducting the senior choir at an event in the local park! Just make yourself available, say no to as little as possible and who knows where it might lead! I've already got half of this term booked in two wonderful schools, I just hope that next year I'm as lucky! Here goes nothing! Good luck!

sarahchick28

Hi GUYS,
Have you all done the 175 visa in order to be able to go out to auz and not have a job already lined up? I have sponsorship for a school but its not the ultimate area i want to live- i want to be back in qld with my distant family and friends. iam going to be on a 457 so i cant just move around!
I am interested if you have all done the two year (aprox) 175 skilled visa?
x

Dorothy

Some of us have and others have not. I'm here on the old 136 (now 175) but been here long enough we're citizens now. No, we did not have jobs to come to but evenutally found work. There are loads of people here on spouse visas (married to Australians), or employer sponsored visas or state sponsored visas.

smithyrocks

Not sure I'll get a response as aware this is an older thread but here's hoping...!

From reading your posts I have a few queries:

1. What do you mean by 'transcript' from degree/ teaching training? (I want to get as much sorted in advance of VISA app as possible).

2. How does the teaching payscale work in Oz? I'm in my fifth year teaching here and currently I'm paid as an AST even though I'm not actually qualified as one.

3. Is it better to try to secure a job before moving to Oz or is that unrealistic?

4. Is it better to decide area first then look for work or just go where the work is?

Thanks in advance,

quoll

Your transcript is the record of the courses you took in your PGCE or whatever you did to become a teacher. It should outline the nature of the units and the amount of time you spent in the classroom under supervision (you may need to get them to write a separate document to attest to that)

The payscale varies from state to state, some states pay more than others and there is usually an increment annually until you hit the top of the pay scale (used to be 10 or 12 here but may have changed in the past few years and all states are different)

Chances of you getting a job before you arrive are somewhere between slim and none. Chances of getting a job when you have arrived is slim.

You probably need to know how the states work with respect to employment in government schools. First, there is not a shortage of teachers (except perhaps secondary science and maths) in most places where people actually want to live and the competition for teaching posts in those places can be fierce. Several states have a placement policy which basically says that if you go where you are sent (which could be out the back of Woop woop, hundreds of km from the beach in a godforsaken place that no one else wants to live in, teaching kids who really dont want to be there either) and you stay there for a few years, then you get brownie points which are taken into consideration when you apply for a job in downtown paradise (still no guarantee you will get one but you stand a better chance).

If you want to get in to teaching on a permanent basis, apply to whichever state you fancy and then say "I will go anywhere you send me" and bite the bullet for 2 - 5 years and then apply to move. However, even then you may only get offered a contract, consider whether you want that or whether you will hang out for permanency. You are probably better going with either NSW, Qld or WA in this regard as people seem to be more prepared to go rural in Vic. Permanent offers usually come out around October/November time and usually, placements in the interim are contracts.

However, if you are thinking non gov then the above is all irrelevant and you can apply to whichever school you want but in that case you would probably want to make sure that your skill set is outstanding and you have other interests or talents which the school might want to use outside the regular classroom (eg you are a DoE leader or you have a level 1 sports coaching qualification etc)