Making the move to teaching in England???

Patches22

NQT here.

I have heard that quite a few teachers have opted to hop the pond and teach in England so am just wondering if there are any general thoughts on this. Does the experience stand to you once you return or is it harder to get back into the Irish system?

If anyone on here has experience in this area I would really appreciate their input. In particular, if any of you have had experience with agencies I'd love to hear how ye got on - have heard stories re money taken out of pay etc.

Thanks!

ICANN

I teach in the UK at the moment. I've worked with a good few agencies in both long term and short term positions.

Are you primary or secondary? Inbox me if you have any questions.

fakearms123

Funny you posted this thread, I am in talks with jobs over in the UK at the moment. I am dealing with Uteach to inform me of positions that are opening up. I am a NQT also and I don't know if I am taking a big risk by jumping ship on Irish schools.

I should be receiving a call from a school in Kent in the next few minutes to come over to them next Wednesday. It feels like a big move as I am moving up to Cork to try and get subbing. But if I can a permanent job straight out the gate with a steady income then it might be worth it. I was told that other Irish teachers are over there too.

I am nervous at the thought of how much a risk I might be taking.

Patches22

fakearms123 wrote: »

Funny you posted this thread, I am in talks with jobs over in the UK at the moment. I am dealing with Uteach to inform me of positions that are opening up. I am a NQT also and I don't know if I am taking a big risk by jumping ship on Irish schools.

I should be receiving a call from a school in Kent in the next few minutes to come over to them next Wednesday. It feels like a big move as I am moving up to Cork to try and get subbing. But if I can a permanent job straight out the gate with a steady income then it might be worth it. I was told that other Irish teachers are over there too.

I am nervous at the thought of how much a risk I might be taking.

Hi fakearms,

Thanks for posting. I know what you mean. It's awful hard to know what to do. Don't want to be sitting around doing nothing either.
Kent seemed to have been a big spot for vacancies over the summer. Let me know how you get on

thefasteriwalk

I know people who have come back from England and walked straight into jobs, not CID of course, but still work. I think principals find people who've worked over there very strong candidates. With regards to Kent, I believe Kent and Essex are always recruiting as that's where the worst discipline issues seem to be. A lot of their schools seem to be fairly low down on the OFSTED list. A friend of mine is in Kent at the minute in the second worst school in the England (according to OFSTED at least) and has compared it to that Michelle Pfeiffer film. Still though, she's coping really well and getting fantastic experience. I wouldn't let it put you off - if you can survive over there then it'll be a doddle when you return. I'm strongly considering going over next year if my current contract isn't renewed. If you haven't watched 'Educating Essex' yet, then do. This website is great too http://www.proteachersvideo.com/Home.aspx

edgecutter

I taught in England last year, and it is something you should def do. It is far tougher over there than here, but it will stand to you. Plus, I managed to secure maternity year in Ireland through building a great cv and having a brilliant reference from the school.

You will enjoy the year, although Kent is expensive for rent.

Heydeldel

I went straight over in June after the PDE for six weeks and am now working in a school very close to me at home - result!

I think it looks great on a CV, plus you might actually like it there!

There are usually a good few young Irish teachers on the staff in the Kent/ Essex schools so there's good craic in the staff-room. Only a hand full of young teachers in the school I'm in now and I miss the banter of England.

The kids are a bit wilder etc. but it's great experience, I felt way more confident going into teach this Sept. after having done a stint over there.


Do research where you are going and try find out a bit about the school before you start and be well prepared for a range of 'interesting' students.

I also went through Uteach so gimme a PM if you want to know anything else.

starfish90

I know an awful lot of people who have made the big move and i don't blame them-you're getting great experience even though it may be a bit tougher, and i think that when (or if) you come back an Irish principal will see that as a good thing and they won't fault you for going abroad considering jobs here are almost like gold dust these days.

seavill

NEVER see getting a post in a tough school as a bad thing. This can be the best thing that will every happen to you.

It will teach you to come up with strategies that you would never even consider if you were teaching in a "good" school straight off. You will use these everywhere you go afterwards.

It will give you an enormous amout of things to speak about also in interviews. Particularly if you are a tutor and you come up with new ways of positive discipline with your group that work. Again a principal would love to hear this, someone who can think outside the box and help the kids.

Also the obvious one, if you can survive in a tough position you will be fine wherever you go after this.

Do not let a tough school put you off going

needhair

Hi, all have any of you taken the leap and headed over to england I'm planning on moving over next month. Did u go over alone, did u get work easily, really just looking fro any input thanks

allprops

If you are an nqt, then England is a great option. I did it when I qualified back in the last century and I feel I learned a lot about structures and professional development. I came back after a year to a pwt. position. Yes, they existed back then. If you find a Catholic School, then they tend not to be as tough and they also like Irish Teachers. Best of Luck.

aunt aggie

I qualified almost three years ago and I have only had three months work in the last year. I put off going over to England because of family circumstances but now that things have changed I'm applying to jobs on tes.co.uk. This website is a great resource and I had been advised by other teachers to avoid agencies. Dont know why...

Few questions to those of you who have already made the transition,

I am registered with the TC but havent finished my probationary period. Am I classed as a Qualified Teacher in the UK?

Can you give me an idea of the supports offered by English schools to overseas teachers? I just find the gcse and alevel process very confusing and the jargon used in official advertisements is making my head spin. Do they expect teachers to have an indepth understanding of the syllabus and structure of the course going into an interview?

dukedalton

I qualified three years ago and my first teaching job was in Essex, and I got this job through Uteach. I have to be honest, I found it really tough going at times. In my case I went over by myself, not knowing anyone over there, which made it doubly tough. The schools are bigger, classes are bigger, kids are more challenging (both in terms of behaviour and in their demands of you), hours are longer, year is longer, and management demands more from you than in Ireland.

But career wise, working over there is far better than sitting around over here doing nothing, waiting for the phone to ring.When I came back to Ireland at the end of the year I got a job almost straight away, and I think this was largely down to the panel being some way impressed by my going abroad.

I'm currently out of work here and strongly considering going back over to England.

needhair

I applied to various agencies they ate organising my crb check bank account social insurance number and offer induction into teaching over there maybe anyone planning on going over alone should consider joining forces I'm going over alone in October

Zooey

needhair wrote: »

I applied to various agencies they ate organising my crb check bank account social insurance number and offer induction into teaching over there maybe anyone planning on going over alone should consider joining forces I'm going over alone in October

In the process of applying myself. Would def be interested in joining forces!

needhair

great so do u plan on doing supply work first??? the agencies said it is the best way to get to know the good schools, get to know curriculum etc... before committing to a job. when do u plan on heading over, another girl also wants to join forces so we could defo do a house share and be nice to have someone going tjrough same process

Zooey

needhair wrote: »

great so do u plan on doing supply work first??? the agencies said it is the best way to get to know the good schools, get to know curriculum etc... before committing to a job. when do u plan on heading over, another girl also wants to join forces so we could defo do a house share and be nice to have someone going tjrough same process

Oh yes it'll be supply work as I've just received my qualification. Plan on heading early October, am sending all relevant docs to agency tomorrow. Do you know how long it takes the agency to process all your documentation etc.?

needhair

well the crb check can take 2-4 weeks so whenever u have that sorted u can teach straight away

Zooey

needhair wrote: »

well the crb check can take 2-4 weeks so whenever u have that sorted u can teach straight away

Oh wow... that's exciting. Will keep you up to date.

Heydeldel

needhair wrote: »

well the crb check can take 2-4 weeks so whenever u have that sorted u can teach straight away

You'd wonder why it takes 6- 8 weeks for a Garda vetting to be completed here....

needhair

Typical Ireland useless lol are u thinking of heading over to uk???

bdoo

needhair wrote: »

Typical Ireland useless lol are u thinking of heading over to uk???

When I taught there I was told that the CRB check worked like this...

Dear guards, has bdoo got any criminal convictions?

Dear CRB, feck off. We only release that information to the individual.

Dear Bdoo, you have passed your CRB check.

Heydeldel

needhair wrote: »

Typical Ireland useless lol are u thinking of heading over to uk???

Nope. Did was there for 6 weeks teaching and have a bit of work here at home. Hopefully will get some more. I could end up in UK again.... but not just yet.

Best of luck with it.

needhair

Hi everyone still waiting on crb form wish the agencies would get there ass in gear. Anyone decided yet if they defo going to London, Im getting very nervous about the whole thing tbh, moving over alone is scary but more worried about what students will be like?? Anyone any experience with doing supply over there???

dukedalton

needhair wrote: »

Hi everyone still waiting on crb form wish the agencies would get there ass in gear. Anyone decided yet if they defo going to London, Im getting very nervous about the whole thing tbh, moving over alone is scary but more worried about what students will be like?? Anyone any experience with doing supply over there???

I was in a similar position to you a couple of years ago. Students are students, wherever you go. I found students in England to be no different than students here- you will get the same sort of characters no matter where you are.

Before I went over I was worried that my being Irish would be held against me and that I would stick out like a sore thumb, but when you get there you realise there are so many different nationalities that being from Ireland (or anywhere else, for that matter) is largely irrelevant.

You're going to be a lot more worried about this than they are. Just go over and give it your best shot.

needhair

thanks for advice dukedalton i hope by xmas ill be saying how much I love it over there!! with the supply work will I be sent to loads of different school or generally be sent to say 4 or 5 schools on a regular basis

dukedalton

needhair wrote: »

thanks for advice dukedalton i hope by xmas ill be saying how much I love it over there!! with the supply work will I be sent to loads of different school or generally be sent to say 4 or 5 schools on a regular basis

Subbing, or supply teaching as it's called over there, is different from what we think of over here. Because schools in England are generally pretty big (usually 800+ students), there is a fairly regular need for teachers to come in on a short term basis. In fact, there is usually a teacher in the school whose job it is to manage the supply teachers. So if you are in a school and make a good impression, chances are they will ask for you again when the need arises. At first you may be in a lot of schools, but if things go well, after a couple of weeks you should be in a smaller number of schools.

If it was me, I would be looking around for a longer term contract as soon as you start. Subbing is fine, but career-wise I think it looks better to be timetabled in one school rather than going from one to the next on a daily basis. You learn a lot more about the job when you have your own class and you're teaching every day.

needhair

Yeah I hope to get long term position want to do supply maybe till xmas see what schools are like etc... do u think that a long term position is more likely if im over there and doing supply first???

dukedalton

needhair wrote: »

Yeah I hope to get long term position want to do supply maybe till xmas see what schools are like etc... do u think that a long term position is more likely if im over there and doing supply first???

Absolutely. I'm sure there are a lot of people in Ireland applying for jobs in England, but I'm sure there are many who don't go over for the interview or accept the job for one reason or another- this makes English schools reluctant to shortlist candidates based in Ireland. Once you're living over there, that's no longer an issue. And you'll see the jobs market is much more open in England than in Ireland.

Generally speaking, schools in England interview in October for January starts, and interview just after Easter for September starts.

It's natural to be nervous, and this is a big step, but just remember it's far better for your career to be teaching (whether it's as a supply teacher or full time) than sitting at home in Ireland waiting for the phone to ring. The way I'd see it, you've nothing to lose

needhair

Thanks so much for advice really appreciate it

Heydeldel

Fair play for deciding to go. It is daunting but think about living in London and how deadly your weekends will be!

Students are students wherever you go for sure. Have a few tricks and bit of work prepared in case you need to keep classes busy. Practice how you will handle situations and be clear on what you expect.

Any experience is good experience, but I agree that getting longer term work is better. Cut your teeth with supply work and learn the do's and dont's and then get stuck in.


Keep nagging the agencies!

Best of luck with it!

needhair

Heydeldel wrote: »

Fair play for deciding to go. It is daunting but think about living in London and how deadly your weekends will be!

Students are students wherever you go for sure. Have a few tricks and bit of work prepared in case you need to keep classes busy. Practice how you will handle situations and be clear on what you expect.

Any experience is good experience, but I agree that getting longer term work is better. Cut your teeth with supply work and learn the do's and dont's and then get stuck in.


Keep nagging the agencies!

Best of luck with it!

Thanks a million for advice

rebel girl 15

I'll throw my 2 cents in here

I qualified last year and basically went out with an agency at the end of May, and ended up coming home with a full time contract for a year about 40 mins north of London by train. I was straight up and honest with the school, and said I didn't know how long I would be there for. Being a NQT, we are required to keep a folder with evidence of standards that we got - I still haven't got my head fully round it, because I only got the list of them during the week. The level of planning required by my school is quite high, and the level of knowledge you are expected to have about the students is also quite high. I've found it quite tough, but when classes go well, its very enjoyable!

Its probably been the best thing I ever did - I got a phone call from a school in Ireland a few weeks before I left offering me a job and I turned it down. The school I'm in is great, over 1000 students. Working through a contract with the agency, which means I get paid differently, and pay less tax because I'm not a citizen. It actually my second subject that I am teaching (maths), PE being my main one.

I've a number of friends talking about coming over in January - best thing you can do is go onto tes.co.uk - register as a member, and you'll be able to see all the jobs for January 2013, lot of them closing soon for interview.

Students will depend on the area you are - as it does at home. Being Irish here is nothing really - lot of Irish teachers here. Two friends of mine are in a school about 35 minutes away from my school. If you have questions or queries, drop me a PM - or anyone else lurkin on the thread, and curious about here - I'll answer

ballyer82

Hey folks! I decided at the last minute bout four weeks ago to come over to London to look for teaching work as was sick of Dublin! Just couldn't settle after being in Oz for a couple of years and had no joy with a job. Thought because I qualified here that I wouldn't have to hang around waiting for a CRB as had one already from when I trained here, but had to get an up to date one, along with one from Ireland and Oz...pain arse! Alot of the delay has been caused by the first agency I signed up with, only sending in my CRB application a good week and half after I registered with them! Make sure you get the tracking no. of your CRB application off whichever agency you sign up with so you can track the progress of it online. That's the way I found out that the agency had been been slack re sending my CRB in! Oh and HOUND them too via email or phone to keep them on their toes and make sure they don't forget about you! But the silver lining is that once the CRB receive your application, they do process it very quickly (mine only took a little over a week), compared to home as Gods know how long I'll have to wait for that to come through! Anyway, here's hoping I don't have to wait much longer for everything to come through so I can start working asap as the funds are badly needed and I need to get out of this hostel with no kitchen! Give us a shout if you fancy getting a house share in about a month/6 weeks, should be able to afford to then!

needhair

Hi ballyer82 the agencies from what I gather don't have a clue about crb checks, one consultant refers it to next consultant, I have finally recieved the crb form after a month so as soon as that is sorted I will be heading over, the garda check here is only available through a registered body so I applied for any info they have on me under the data protection act which will suffice the agencies have assured me, I would defo be interested in meeting up in London to start looking fro house share be nice to know someone in same boat, p.m. a few details about yourself chat soon

edeldonlon

My school in Essex is looking for a maths teacher if either of you guys are looking for Maths job send me a PM

needhair

edeldonlon wrote: »

My school in Essex is looking for a maths teacher if either of you guys are looking for Maths job send me a PM
I teach secondary level history but thanks for the heads up

edeldonlon

I have been teaching here for over 3 years in secondary school and really like it. There are good days and bad days but I feel more supported here than I did in Ireland.

If you are interested in Essex then the jobs are nearly all advertised on this site http://www.essexschoolsjobs.co.uk

You can usually get better pay and contracts going directly to schools (this was the case when I was interviewing)

Dont just take the first job that is offered to you! There are lots of jobs out there.

Best of luck, if you have any other questions just shout.

needhair

Thank you so much your a star much appreciated, i applied for a job in brentwood st. Martin's school waiting to hear back, do you think students are more or less the same in london as here

edeldonlon

It really depends on what was the norm for you in Ireland. I have some difficult children to teach but I also have some gems. I dont hate teaching any of my classes but this was not the case when I last taught in Ireland. I think your teaching job will be very different to supply work so please dont judge based on that.

I feel supported by my school in the decisions I make and enjoy going to work every day. I dont get as many holidays as at home but I know I am a permanent member of staff and get paid a good salary.

needhair

i was in two very bad schools, no discipline and a wide range of special needs so I am used to being in a tough environment so hope that helps when I get over, i imagine supply like subbing here, no respect from kids and no respect ftom teachers, i hope i get a long term position before I go or at least shortly after i arrive

edeldonlon

It sounds like you will be fine! I would advise that you find a school/house with good links to an airport. I am close to Southend/Stansted and can be on the 17.00 flight home on a Friday!

needhair

any areas u would recommend i hear clapham, willesden green and kensal green are nice areas

edeldonlon

My advice would be to wait till you find a job and then find an area if possible. You will find that often you will have to attend things in school of an evening (open evenings, school plays, dance show, art expos etc) It is nice to be able to go home for a couple of hours or not have a long drive/train journey if you stay around.

Also in London you can have some very nice housing next to some very not nice houses so the areas are all different but if you want lots of Irish neighbours Clapham is the place to be

needhair

thanks for advice ill pm you if i have any more questions thanks for everything

sitstill

needhair wrote: »

Hi ballyer82 the agencies from what I gather don't have a clue about crb checks, one consultant refers it to next consultant, I have finally recieved the crb form after a month so as soon as that is sorted I will be heading over, the garda check here is only available through a registered body so I applied for any info they have on me under the data protection act which will suffice the agencies have assured me, I would defo be interested in meeting up in London to start looking fro house share be nice to know someone in same boat, p.m. a few details about yourself chat soon

Have you registered with the Teaching Council here?

If so, email them and they will order a new Garda Vetting for you. Explain that you need it for the UK. Will probably take over a month to get though.

aunt aggie

Hi all, this thread has been create place for advice over the past few weeks. I am expecting a telephone interview with a school in England on Monday, anyone here ever take part in a telephone interview? What should I expect from this?

I know that it is only the first point of contact and the school in question are considering calling me for a face to face interview. It was organised through an agency that a colleague suggested and I'm just really nervous.

dukedalton

aunt aggie wrote: »

Hi all, this thread has been create place for advice over the past few weeks. I am expecting a telephone interview with a school in England on Monday, anyone here ever take part in a telephone interview? What should I expect from this?

I know that it is only the first point of contacts tag and the school in question are considering calling me for a face to face interview. It was organised through an agency that a colleague suggested and I'm just really nervous.

When I did my telephone interview I was just asked the basics, such as why I wanted to teach in England, give an example of a good lesson I taught, how I'd deal with a disruptive student.

At this stage the school are just checking to make sure that you're actually interested in coming over and aren't going to waste their time and not show up. If they ascertain that you're interested, they'll ask you over for a day to teach a lesson and go through the full interview process.

My advice would be to turn the tables a bit and ask them about the school, length of contract, opportunities for promotion etc. This will show you've put some real thought into moving over.

aunt aggie

dukedalton wrote: »

When I did my telephone interview I was just asked the basics, such as why I wanted to teach in England, give an example of a good lesson I taught, how I'd deal with a disruptive student.

At this stage the school are just checking to make sure that you're actually interested in coming over and aren't going to waste their time and not show up. If they ascertain that you're interested, they'll ask you over for a day to teach a lesson and go through the full interview process.

My advice would be to turn the tables a bit and ask them about the school, length of contract, opportunities for promotion etc. This will show you've put some real thought into moving over.

Thanks so much Dalton, I've never actually been asked at interview to detail a good lesson I had taught. And I've been to about 20 interviews in Ireland in the last three years

Dont worry I have a list of questions for them. Is it usual to ask which exam board the school works with? SO that if I am called to interview I will have already looked over the specifications and gotten an idea of the curriculum. I know I was advised not to study the GCSE or Alevel syllabuses in a lot of details until I knew the exam board, simply because of the amount of variation in Uk system

dukedalton

aunt aggie wrote: »

Thanks so much Dalton, I've never actually been asked at interview to detail a good lesson I had taught. And I've been to about 20 interviews in Ireland in the last three years

Dont worry I have a list of questions for them. Is it usual to ask which exam board the school works with? SO that if I am called to interview I will have already looked over the specifications and gotten an idea of the curriculum. I know I was advised not to study the GCSE or Alevel syllabuses in a lot of details until I knew the exam board, simply because of the amount of variation in Uk system

I'm sure it would do no harm to ask about the exam board, but I wasn't asked anything about the syllabus either during my telephone interview nor when I went over. With the telephone interview they just want to get a sense of the person behind the cv, rather than go into specific details about the minutiae of the subject you're teaching. At this stage they want to know why you decided to become a teacher, if/why you like it, a good/bad lesson you've taught. Like I say, hit them with questions- they're well used to selling their school and if they have to do that with you, it shows interest on your side.

Best of luck!

rebel girl 15

aunt aggie wrote: »

Thanks so much Dalton, I've never actually been asked at interview to detail a good lesson I had taught. And I've been to about 20 interviews in Ireland in the last three years

Dont worry I have a list of questions for them. Is it usual to ask which exam board the school works with? SO that if I am called to interview I will have already looked over the specifications and gotten an idea of the curriculum. I know I was advised not to study the GCSE or Alevel syllabuses in a lot of details until I knew the exam board, simply because of the amount of variation in Uk system

What subjects are you??