Making the move to teaching in England???

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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??

aunt aggie wrote: »

I'm looking for maths jobs but I'm also qualified to teach history...

There seems to still be a shortage maths teacher in the UK. The agency I'm working with have already put me in contact with two ofsted rated outstanding schools. The whole process is very different to what some friends, who have taught in the UK, implied.

You'd pretty much walk into a job in the UK in maths atm - the amount of work you need to put in is unreal though, it is really an eye opener tbh since it is a core subject.

The examboards are pretty much the same, not too much difference in the papers from what I've encountered - difference is in the grade boundaries at GCSE. Think AQA and Edexcel papers were fairly similar, OCR was slightly easier to get a C grade in. We went on a course about two weeks ago on lessons learned in the summer GCSE exams.

Will you PM me what agency you are with - I'm teaching through an agency contract atm, found it tough the last few weeks tbh, but enjoying it - paperwork got on top of me, which is why I'm struggling.

Any questions, ask them, I'll do my best to answer - I've two friends teaching here as well, so between the three of us we'll get an answer

Seanchai wrote: »

People are repeatedly saying here that there are much worse discipline issues in English schools. What are the reasons for this? Is it primarily bad management? What cultural issues are responsible for this? What changes need to be made to their system to make classes more disciplined and respectful to the teacher? (this could probably have a separate thread)

Yep, you need a separate thread.

needhair wrote: »

Hey everyone i got a job in windsor all girls school in berkshire for six weeks and then have a job in reading for january anyone know the area or even work there??? How is everyone getting on job hunting and has anyone decided to move over yet??

I am currently househunting in buckinghamshire. I start at an all girls grammar school after the midterm. Its all happened so fast, but I cant wait to get stuck in.

Reading was one area that I was considering. It seemed to have a really good social scene, good shops and lots of buses and trains to get you around.

By any chance did any of ye drive through a place called Tring today, about 4ish??

Aunt aggie, pm me the name of the school, I'm living in Buckinghamshire at the moment! Needhair reading is quite nice, I know a few Irish teachers living up there

aunt aggie wrote: »

Never even heard of Tring

Yeah apparently its a joke in my new school that the head plans to improve on their already brilliant standards by hiring irish teachers.... So theres more than a few of us knocking round!!!

Thats alright - was waiting for the bus, and a Wexford registered car drove past me, had to look twice to make sure I was seeing the right thing!

They seem to like Irish teachers alright!