H.Dip Primary School Teaching

Oniontops

Hi

I am in full time employment and I am considering training to be a primary school teacher. I have checked out the Hibernia College.

My question is: Does the Hibernia run a good course and have a good reputation to employers? Or should I consider some of the other teaching colleges instead?

Is it feasible to be in full time employment and do a H.Dip at same time?

Thank you :-)

Trotter

Oniontops wrote: »

Hi

I am in full time employment and I am considering training to be a primary school teacher. I have checked out the Hibernia College.

My question is: Does the Hibernia run a good course and have a good reputation to employers? Or should I consider some of the other teaching colleges instead?

Is it feasible to be in full time employment and do a H.Dip at same time?

Thank you :-)

I did Hibernia and I got a job before I had even sat my final exams. The job was pending my results obviously. I know of nobody in my Hibernia class who couldn't get a job of some sort (Temp/Permanent) in the year we graduated.

Its feasible to do it while working, but you'll need a sympathetic boss to give you 14+ weeks off to do your teaching practices and extra time to complete assignments, study for exams etc. Its a part time course but its most certainly a fulltime commitment.

There is a common misconception that Hibernia is "easier" than the other post grad options. I'd confidently say that its right up there with them in terms of time you need to put in to complete the course.

Most people did the first half while still in employment and then moved into getting as much substitution work as possible.

Oniontops

Thanks Totter, that's been a great help. It is good to talk to someone who has experience of the course. It is a two year course, yeah? So when you say "first half" and "second half", I assume you are referring to year 1 and year 2?

I also have to sort out my irish as well. I did ordinary level for my LC. Did you have to take an irish exam AND OR the LC higher level exam to get on the course? Or had you honors irish already?

Trotter

Oniontops wrote: »

Thanks Totter, that's been a great help. It is good to talk to someone who has experience of the course. It is a two year course, yeah? So when you say "first half" and "second half", I assume you are referring to year 1 and year 2?

I also have to sort out my irish as well. I did ordinary level for my LC. Did you have to take an irish exam AND OR the LC higher level exam to get on the course? Or had you honors irish already?

The course is around the 18 month mark. I already had honours Irish so I didnt need to sort that beforehand.

In terms of 1st half and 2nd half, I mean that after the 8 or 9 month mark, the pressure was steadily increasing and the workload was very busy. At that point a lot of people packed in their jobs in order to put the time into the course. Most people did that.

I was lucky in that I was subbing fulltime all the way through the course and when it got very busy, I just used to tell the principals that were my "regulars" that I wasn't available for a few days and I'd battle away at the coursework.

Oniontops

Certainly sounds like a challenge!! Do you know if it is possible to qualify for grant assistance from anywhere while at full time study as a mature student? Or do students rely on money they get from subbing to get experience?

Trotter

Oniontops wrote: »

Certainly sounds like a challenge!! Do you know if it is possible to qualify for grant assistance from anywhere while at full time study as a mature student? Or do students rely on money they get from subbing to get experience?

Hibernia is a private college so you won't get state grants for it. You can claim tax relief on it though but as far as I know, you dont claim that until the year after. You can split the fees into two calendar years for revenue and claim the tax back.

I just relied on a bank loan and subbing, and a lot of help from my other half! (She might read this.. gotta add the last bit).

Oniontops

LOL!!! You have to thank the other half!!!

Re: Irish exams: Are you aware of different types of irish exams apart from the LC higher levelt that i could take? And is irish a big element of the H.Dip course?

I looked up pay scales today on the TUI. It looks like the starting wage is €31,000! and it works on a points system related to the number of years you are qualified and practicing. In light of this I would be taking significant wage cut in comparsion to my current wage. Do you know if previous earning levels are taken into consideration when starting off in professional teaching.

Trotter

Our union is the INTO so you can look up their wage structure in the stickies above or else on their website.

Im not sure what Irish alternatives Hibernia accept. Its not something I ever looked up. They aren't bad on the email responses though so I'd send the Q to them.

You don't have previous work experience taken into account as far as I'm aware.

Oniontops

Hey, thanks a million for your help. Sorry for hopping the questions off you but it's not often you get to corner someone in the know! Thanks again. Enjoy the remainder of your holidays!

Trotter

Oniontops wrote: »

Hey, thanks a million for your help. Sorry for hopping the questions off you but it's not often you get to corner someone in the know! Thanks again. Enjoy the remainder of your holidays!

Cheers..

Just checked this out from the Hibernia website

The following will also satisfy the minimum Irish language requirement:
• Diploma in Arts (Applied Irish) from University College Cork
• Dioplóma sa Ghaeilge from NUI Galway
• Dioplóma sa Ghaeilge Fheidhmeach from University College Dublin
• Minimum grade C in the NUI matriculation exam
• Diploma in Irish from the University of Ulster
• A pass in a first year primary degree examination in Irish
(National Framework of Qualifications Level 8)

BoozyBabe

Oniontops wrote: »

I looked up pay scales today on the TUI. It looks like the starting wage is €31,000! ... In light of this I would be taking significant wage cut .

Not exactly true!
You must have an Honours Degree to be eligible for Hibernia. You get a wage allowance for this, & the better the grade in your honours degree, the better the allowance.

The Hibernia course is a PostGrad. You get a wage allowance for having a postgrad, & again, the better your grade, the better your allowance.

So, when I start out, I'll be earning in & around €40k, & I'd imagine you'd have to be somewhere similar to that figure

J.R.

BoozyBabe wrote: »

Not exactly true!
You must have an Honours Degree to be eligible for Hibernia. You get a wage allowance for this, & the better the grade in your honours degree, the better the allowance.

The Hibernia course is a PostGrad. You get a wage allowance for having a postgrad, & again, the better your grade, the better your allowance.

So, when I start out, I'll be earning in & around €40k, & I'd imagine you'd have to be somewhere similar to that figure

Salary starting off – including rise 2.5% due 1/9/08
Common Basic Scale – point 2 33,753
Honours degree 5,177
38,930

Yard allowance (if you opt in) 1,890
40,820

BoozyBabe

J.R. wrote: »

Salary starting off – including rise 2.5% due 1/9/08
Common Basic Scale – point 2 33,753
Honours degree 5,177
38,930

Yard allowance (if you opt in) 1,890
40,820

Actually, you're wrong!!!

Hibernia Students start on Point 3 of the scale, so, from the 1st sept:-

Common Basic Scale 34,909
Honours degree 5,177
HDip in Ed (1st, 2nd class Hons) 1,301
41,387

Yard allowance (if you opt in) 1,890
43,277

mias

Seen as there are a few here who have done the hibernia course - I thought I might be able to get my few questions in too. Thanks for that salary information - didn't realise it would be point 3 of the scale that Hibernia graduates start out on, the salary doesn't seem to bad then to start on.:)

I just have a few questions - I'm mulling over going to do the teacher training course - although at the moment the thoughts of giving up a permanent job is requiring a bit of thought. Realistically at this stage Hibernia seems like the most viable option as it would allow me to study from home. I am considering applying for Feb 2008 and if so possibly giving up my current job at that time to start work as a sub. Was it difficult to find work as a sub initially during that college time?

Also just in relation to the Irish - I have the honours Irish alright but it's been a couple of years since the Leaving Cert at this stage. Just wondering how people find returning to Irish? I'm also wondering how did people find the interview application process? I am currently working in a very related area and think I could definitely use that to my advantage on interview. And last question - just wondering how long approximately post application are you called for interview? Sorry for the list of questions, any help at all would be appreciated!!!