Secondary school teacher returning to Ireland. Are there any job prospects?

Samsara1986

Hi all,

First time poster...long time lurker here!

I am just off the boat from England and would really appreciate some words of advice concerning job prospects in Ireland. Unfortunately, I have become rather out of the loop because I have been teaching English in a secondary school for the past five years in the UK. I gained my PGDE from UCC in 2008, taught here for a year and then sought employment in England. However, I am of course aware of the dire employment situation in education in Ireland (but have still decided to come home for a while, gather my ideas and perhaps (if needed), set off again somewhere overseas). I guess I would really like advice on whether there is some possibility of me gaining meaningful employment in Ireland or am I better off concentrating on seeking employment elsewhere (I am, however, done with England for the time being!)?

To give you some background and without trying to sound big-headed, my CV looks good at the moment (in UK terms) i.e. I have successfully managed a core subject department for a couple of years, have been graded as an 'outstanding' teacher by an external body (the level of scrutiny in the UK is ridiculous!), have been involved in training new teachers and have worked in an area of serious economic deprivation.

Here are my questions: 1) Do you think this experience will have any weighting at all in Ireland when applying for jobs? I believe I will be at a serious disadvantage as I am only recognised by the Teaching Council to teach English and CSPE (although I do have experience in learning support/ resource). 2) What is the chief means of finding job adverts in Ireland these days - are all jobs advertised on educationposts.ie? 3) Is it worth my while to send schools I would be interested in working at my CV?

I would love to return to Ireland to teach; however I think there are many factors that will make this not possible (not least the fact that I am only beginning my job hunt now!).

Many thanks for any advice you can give me!

Moody_mona

Personally, over the summer months, I wouldn't send my CV to schools I'm interested in, I'd only apply for advertised jobs. Come September, you should send your CV to schools indicating your willingness to engage in day to day subbing. As far as I know, all jobs must be advertised on edposts. A lot would have been advertised in June, and it will pick up again next month.

Job prospects are awful, and unfortunately your management and administration experience in the UK doesn't really mean too much here. Highlight it and all your other experience though in applications and interviews.

Beat of luck.

Samsara1986

Thanks very much for this; what a shame things are the way they are.

Moody_mona

I know, it's very unfortunate. If you haven't got a reason to be tied to a certain area, move around a bit and follow the work. Network a bit, get to know schools and Principals, and see if you can "use" friends from your dip in UCC; they may be able to recommend you if their principal is on need of a sub etc.

f3232

I think your experience makes you very employable and does count for a lot. It gives you a great advantage over others. Keep up looking you will get something.

Moody_mona

f3232 wrote: »

you will get something.

That sounds very matter of fact. English and CSPE are not the most employable subjects.

TheDriver

You have missed the interviews that have now been filled such as contracts and mat leaves. There should be more in,aug so watch ed posts.

Samsara1986

Thank you for the info and advice; and for some positivity!! Yes, I will be keeping my eyes and ears open for everything! I only finished up teaching in England last week, so couldn't put my full attentions into looking for a post here until now really. I am fairly flexible as regards location too so hopefully that will increase my chances. Cheers!

f3232

Moody_mona wrote: »

That sounds very matter of fact. English and CSPE are not the most employable subjects.

Good quality teachers who have a proven track record will get a job 9 times out of 10. With the posters proven track record, if I was a principal I would employ her

Moody_mona

f3232 wrote: »

Good quality teachers who have a proven track record will get a job 9 times out of 10. With the posters proven track record, if I was a principal I would employ her

Fair enough, but you saying you'd hypothetically give the OP a job does not equate to stating they will get a job. There are 230+ jobs on edposts, 9 with the OPs combination, 1 for full hours. The jobs and hours just aren't there.

OP in your applications, you should really flaunt anything that would benefit how well you would work with the new JC if you have experience of that kind of system from England.

ahahah

There are very very few positions here and the situation is bleak indeed. But thats not to say you wont be lucky.

Samsara1986

I have had a look on educationposts.ie, incredibly bleak, but not impossible I guess! Moody_Mona - good point, I have plenty of experience in the kind of system they are trying to introduce over here.

gaiscioch

I'd be ringing one of the universities immediately and inquiring about starting one of the higher diploma courses this September in order to get the required 60 ECTS credits to be able to add a second subject to your Teaching Council registration. If/when the Part-Time Arts office tell you the deadline was at the beginning of July, I'd contact the university subject department directly and they'll probably allow you in as a late entrant.

Unfortunately CSPE is not, as I'm sure you're aware, regarded as a "real" subject by most (all?) principals and is usually given to whoever needs a class or two to bring their hours up. English is the most common subject for a teacher to be qualified to teach and thus there will always be a lot of competition for such a post.

Your experience seems very good so you could be lucky. But the way things are going in terms of professionalisation of teaching I wouldn't feel very secure even if I got a job unless I was qualified to teach both subjects.

Samsara1986

Interesting, thanks. So are you saying that if I do a one year (full-time)/ two year (part-time) HDip in a secondary school subject the Teaching Council will definitely recognise it as a subject that I could teach? I can't imagine at this moment in time what else I would teach! Perhaps guidance/ counselling could be an option.

Yes I am aware about CSPE...I actually took CSPE as a teaching methodology during my PGDE. I was hoping the rules might tighten up concerning who could teach it, but clearly it hasn't!

I'll do some research into it anyway...cheers.

RH149

Guidance/counselling isn't a subject you can add, its a separate qualification involving a lot of extra study at night or as a full time course. Guidance hours have been another victim of the cutbacks too : (

sitstill

A course such as this one in Maynooth may interest you: http://maynoothcollege.ie/pontifical-university/higher-diploma-in-theological-studies/
It is part-time and TC recognised to teach RE which is now an exam subject. English & RE are a common subject combination in the jobs market.

gaiscioch

Samsara1986 wrote: »

Interesting, thanks. So are you saying that if I do a one year (full-time)/ two year (part-time) HDip in a secondary school subject the Teaching Council will definitely recognise it as a subject that I could teach? I can't imagine at this moment in time what else I would teach!

It would probably be wise to think about what other subject you'd be most interested in as if you're starting in September you've already missed the official deadline and need to get in contact with the relevant university departments now. In terms of employability, Irish and Maths are probably the best subjects to have. But I wouldn't advise you to do a subject you're not interested in. Unfortunately, the number of subjects which universities are teaching in the part-time night course is severely restricted. Irish and Maths credits are probably available at night, but ECTS credits in other subjects will probably have to be completed during the day.

Yes, if you secure 60 ECTS degree credits from 2nd and 3rd year (30 credits in each year), and 10 ECTS credits from 1st year, the TC will recognise you as being eligible to teach that subject. Here are some results explaining the situation.

lovingmaths

I have just returned from England after 3 years secondary school teaching and in June began applying for jobs in Ireland whilst still in England. I managed to get a 16 hour position as a maths teacher, and hopefully as it is a growing school I may have close to the 22 the next year.

I would say apply to as many positions as you can off education posts.ie. I applied to about 25-30 positions and heard back from about 5.

July is a quiet month for jobs, but it picks up in August. I think you have a lot of good experience, but you will just need to tailor your experience to each specific post you apply to. You could probably teach SPHE too.

You will know all about AFL, group-work, pair-work and differentiation and you will no doubt after being in England use a lot of IT. You also will have had a lot of CPD opportunities.

Some Irish principals really value Irish teaching experience, but others will really appreciate the experience that you have had in England and the continuous training you will have had there. You just need to be confident in all that you have done, which is a lot.

Best of luck in your search. Any school will be lucky to have you.

Samsara1986

Gaiscioch - thank you for this, I am certainly looking into all options.

Lovingmaths - firstly, congratulations on your determination and securing your position! Good luck for next year. I regret not having the foresight to have begun this in June, but I was having a bit of trouble deciding on what I wanted my next career step (and where) to be!

I completely agree, having taught in both the Irish and English systems, my UK experience (whilst not everyone's cup of tea) has been absolutely invaluable to my development as a teacher; I really feel it has improved my practice no end.

Thank you for the kind words. Where there is a will there is a way!!