where are all the teachers?

williaint

joebloggs32 wrote: »

Just curious, how many weekly class contact
hours have you and how many weeks is the school year? What are standard class sizes like also.

On the wages issue, yes we would appear better off, but remember here in Ireland the standard rate cut off for tax is much lower, while we also have higher health care costs for example. I know the south east of England is very expensive but outside of that the cost of living would be similar if not less than over here in many parts.

You get the same holidays during the year...the only exception is a week at the beginning June but in Ireland you are already finished by then anyway. My current school finishes at the end of July for the summer and goes back at the of August but I will get two weeks off at October.

Yes true, you don't pay 40% tax until you earn over £45k in the UK which will take years and years in teaching over here unless you take on extra responsibility.

If you had no option but to relocate to England I would definitely recommend the North of England as your wages will go soooo much further. Avoid the South East like the plague as London fringe allowance is tiny and other places like Oxford and Cambridge are as expensive as London but you just earn the bog standard basic salary there. Plus any colleague I know who has taught in a state school in London always cites behaviour and ethnic tensions in the classroom as being big problems.

To be balanced I have thought about the few positives of teaching in England and I have dug deep...

You normally always get your own classroom which is a biggie for me. Getting your own room in Ireland still seems to be a drama.

You finish school earlier, 2:50 in my school every day but you will have meetings after school.

The worst kids leave at 16 and if you teach an optional subject the weaker ones most likey won't do after the age of 14.

There is generally much less who you know attitude and cronyism which appear rampant at home. In all 3 interviews I have been picked over English / local candidates and in all three cases, I was a complete outsider from Ireland.

There is greater scope for promotion as they love their titles and if you want to be a head of dancing or lead for yoga and you are keen enough you'll get your wish.

In a state school I also don't feel any obligation or pressure to do extra curricular activities. In Ireland you seem to have to create the magic rainbow club to be kept on.

And yea on an unrelated note, it is great knowing you can go see the GP at any time and it will cost you absolutely nada. Plus paying just £10 to get your teeth cleaned makes the trip to the dentist a little more bearable!

Feel free to send a PM if you want more info on England, especially on training over here.

joebloggs32

williaint wrote: »

You get the same holidays during the year...the only exception is a week at the beginning June but in Ireland you are already finished by then anyway. My current school finishes at the end of July for the summer and goes back at the of August but I will get two weeks off at October.

Yes true, you don't pay 40% tax until you earn over £45k in the UK which will take years and years in teaching over here unless you take on extra responsibility.

If you had no option but to relocate to England I would definitely recommend the North of England as your wages will go soooo much further. Avoid the South East like the plague as London fringe allowance is tiny and other places like Oxford and Cambridge are as expensive as London but you just earn the bog standard basic salary there. Plus any colleague I know who has taught in a state school in London always cites behaviour and ethnic tensions in the classroom as being big problems.

To be balanced I have thought about the few positives of teaching in England and I have dug deep...

You normally always get your own classroom which is a biggie for me. Getting your own room in Ireland still seems to be a drama.

You finish school earlier, 2:50 in my school every day but you will have meetings after school.

The worst kids leave at 16 and if you teach an optional subject the weaker ones most likey won't do after the age of 14.

There is generally much less who you know attitude and cronyism which appear rampant at home. In all 3 interviews I have been picked over English / local candidates and in all three cases, I was a complete outsider from Ireland.

There is greater scope for promotion as they love their titles and if you want to be a head of dancing or lead for yoga and you are keen enough you'll get your wish.

In a state school I also don't feel any obligation or pressure to do extra curricular activities. In Ireland you seem to have to create the magic rainbow club to be kept on.

And yea on an unrelated note, it is great knowing you can go see the GP at any time and it will cost you absolutely nada. Plus paying just £10 to get your teeth cleaned makes the trip to the dentist a little more bearable!

Feel free to send a PM if you want more info on England, especially on training over here.

Im well settled here.Just curious really about what its like over there. You always hear bits and pieces about it. I do like the way they pay department heads. Over here inspectors don't seem to understand we do it without any recognition.

EmzBoBo

williaint wrote: »

I know the situation may be bad in Ireland but from someone who has taught in several countries, trained and is currently teaching in England THINK TWICE before you teach in England. Whilst I have amazing colleagues in my current school, the system is horrific over here...you are constantly observed, every page of their copies has to be marked and this is routinely checked, even the homework you set is monitored, what homework you give and how often. Every child has a target grade in ALL year groups (starting in Y7, equivalent of 6th class) and if they do not achieve their target you are told pupils are not making "rapid progress". There are meetings constantly after school and oh yea, you are still stuck in school at the END of July. And as for behaviour...the kids are defiant and so disrespectful even for senior staff. They all have "issues" and you become part-time social worker, part-time bouncer.

When I was teaching in Europe, I always heard horror stories about teaching in England and just dismissed them because I thought oh it must be a rough school or a deprived area. No, all of the above applies to "outstanding" schools.

But back onto the topic of shortage...there is possibly a shortage in Maths, Science and MFL because trainees get £30k tax free to train in England along with a very reasonable student loan, so understandably a lot of Irish are being lured over to England but BEWARE of all that glitters. Plus you also have to complete your NQT year (and possibly a MEd from 2014) in England in order to become registered in Ireland so it will take a while for Irish people to escape from the realm of Ofsted, target grades and one month of summer holidays, before they come back to Ireland. But believe me, they will eventually!

I'm going, there are absolutely no jobs here for me unless I want to hold on here in the hope of subbing hours somewhere. I'm going to be in a fairly small boarding school with a strong enough Irish community, so I should be ok! I'm surprised to hear that you don't finish until the end of July though, since my school will be finished at the beginning of July?

williaint

EmzBoBo wrote: »

I'm going, there are absolutely no jobs here for me unless I want to hold on here in the hope of subbing hours somewhere. I'm going to be in a fairly small boarding school with a strong enough Irish community, so I should be ok! I'm surprised to hear that you don't finish until the end of July though, since my school will be finished at the beginning of July?

Yes, private schools finish at the end of June but from what I'm told you work some Saturdays and there is also a great expectation that you do extra curricular. Best of luck with it! You will learn lots and teaching in Ireland will seem easy in comparison on your return!

BonCourage

As someone who just completed the PME - I can agree with some of what other have said. Some student teachers dress really inappropriately and carry themselves even less inappropriately making crude jokes and bitching in the staff room and frequently not cleaning up after themselves. This being said, I felt we were all put into the same category because of these 2/3. I know that I am not a perfect teacher and I know that I have loads of experience to gain but I was always professional to the staff and always supportive and caring to the kids and tried my best in the classroom.

I just felt that we were all kind of labelled 'a bad year' because of the actions and behavior of a few others - v. disappointing.

Additionally, I was treated like a child at times. I asked if I could observe a French lesson casually in the staff room one day and the teacher snapped at me to meet her outside and was told t that I shouldn't talk about specific class groups in the front of other staff and that I should have e-mailed. I was shook.

I have gone back to teaching having taught TEFL for years, having worked in industry and travelling and having a MA in Irish and an MA Music and to be spoken to like that in front of peers and colleagues and STUDENTS in the hall was outrageous.


With regard to the clothes, teachers have said it female student teachers in front of the whole staff room p wildly inappropriate. The co-op or PME teacher liaison or management should have said it.

mtoutlemonde

BonCourage wrote: »

As someone who just completed the PME - I can agree with some of what other have said. Some student teachers dress really inappropriately and carry themselves even less inappropriately making crude jokes and bitching in the staff room and frequently not cleaning up after themselves. This being said, I felt we were all put into the same category because of these 2/3. I know that I am not a perfect teacher and I know that I have loads of experience to gain but I was always professional to the staff and always supportive and caring to the kids and tried my best in the classroom.

I just felt that we were all kind of labelled 'a bad year' because of the actions and behavior of a few others - v. disappointing.

Additionally, I was treated like a child at times. I asked if I could observe a French lesson casually in the staff room one day and the teacher snapped at me to meet her outside and was told t that I shouldn't talk about specific class groups in the front of other staff and that I should have e-mailed. I was shook.

I have gone back to teaching having taught TEFL for years, having worked in industry and travelling and having a MA in Irish and an MA Music and to be spoken to like that in front of peers and colleagues and STUDENTS in the hall was outrageous.


With regard to the clothes, teachers have said it female student teachers in front of the whole staff room p wildly inappropriate. The co-op or PME teacher liaison or management should have said it.

Why would you want to observe a French class if you're teaching Irish and Music. You obviously have a love of French considering your username. I wouldn't be getting too 'shook' about it - you will have a long career with many colleagues and irate parents to deal with.

The best advice I can give is, don't go into a staff room with the joys of spring with enthusiasm- it's best to be as inconspicuous as possible. Someone will start talking to you. You will have at least one person you can speak to at break. Be careful about seats and using cups (I know childish but some staff room are like was zones).

BonCourage

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

Why would you want to observe a French class if you're teaching Irish and Music. You obviously have a love of French considering your username. I wouldn't be getting too 'shook' about it - you will have a long career with many colleagues and irate parents to deal with.

The best advice I can give is, don't go into a staff room with the joys of spring with enthusiasm- it's best to be as inconspicuous as possible. Someone will start talking to you. You will have at least one person you can speak to at break. Be careful about seats and using cups (I know childish but some staff room are like was zones).

I am qualified to teach music, Irish and French! Yeah I get all that, just the irony of her call me unprofessional is what got me most. In fairness, she did apologise but I think that was because someone told her too if I am honest.


You are right though, it's all ahead of me. Maybe one day I will be snapping at some poor soul for making a reasonable request of my co-operating teacher! :P:P:P

mtoutlemonde

BonCourage wrote: »

I am qualified to teach music, Irish and French! Yeah I get all that, just the irony of her call me unprofessional is what got me most. In fairness, she did apologise but I think that was because someone told her too if I am honest.


You are right though, it's all ahead of me. Maybe one day I will be snapping at some poor soul for making a reasonable request of my co-operating teacher! :P:P:P

Well always remember how you felt when you got your dressing down and you probably won't.

BonCourage

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

Well always remember how you felt when you got your dressing down and you probably won't.

Was a joke