All Primary / Secondary Masters Courses - Post Q's Here Please

spurious wrote: »

I wouldn't be so sure. The system is being set up to be staffed by casual short hours contract workers.

I trained in the 80s - there were jobs available and they were 'proper' full hour jobs. Nobody gets 'wholetime permanent jobs' any more. Nobody.

I know someone who got a permenant full time job in a school in Waterford last year.

pmoore2007 wrote: »

the teaching council which i didnt yet apply to for approval

What's this about??

B99 wrote: »

What's this about??

apparently i needed to get approval of my qualifications from the teaching council of ireland or something. although i thought i could do this once i got a place as its like 200 quid for approval application.

Hi All Fellow Boards Members,



First off, congrats to all who got offer a PGDE place today! :-)


To those that didn't, don't give up, there's always next year.


This was my 3rd attempt at applying for the PGDE and I finally got it! I'm still a little bit in shock.

I've always wanted to be a teacher from when I was a little girl and I had some very inspirational teachers growing up.


However, now I'm starting to panic if I'll be able for it, can anyone that's being through the PGDE in NUIG give me any idea what the day-day of the course is like? Hours etc.


Thanks, CompGeek. Congrats to all again.

Hi there,

Congrats to everyone who got an offer and to those who didnt . Hard luck. Don't give up this was my third year applying and I finally got it. I really didnt think I would get an offer , maybe it's because I done a postgraduate in business after my Ba

Got offered UCD, any advice for a girl who's never actually lived in Dublin . Spent 4 years in Galway. Any advice on getting a school, what is the best method calling into the school and leaving cvs or ringing them up and posting on the cv.

I had actually planned on going to Canada for the year but I always said I would do it if I every got it.

Thanks in advance

Tolkien21 wrote: »

Its important because I was never e-mailed about the fact that they never received my documentation even though they explicitly say on their site and in the receipt that we are to receive an e-mail over any update to the status of our application!

I've been on the phone all morning over this! What are we paying an application fee cost for?



Quite suspicious Miri that you're from Galway city (where PAC is), you work in an admin job and you post about pac regularly.

This is ridiculous. Management just emailed me to say that their going to e-mail everyone about the offers later. What a cover up! I'm going to have to wait two years to be qualified due this! They keep saying I was e-mailed about this status update but I check my UCD account all the time and my junk/trash. I've received all the e-mails about the PDE survey and my receipt so they obviously never sent it!

What can I do to go further with this?

Oh no. That is terrible! I sent my documents by registered post and I rang PAC to confirm they were received as I also felt it was a bit silly not to get an acknowledgement of some kind.

I definitely did not get an email of any kind to say that my documents had been received. I did receive an email today to say the offers had been made and to check my status but this was after I had already done so. The only email I received from PAC in the meantime was to do with the survey. I posted here at the time of application to ask did anyone receive an email confirming receipt of documentation and nobody did. It's not PAC practice to do so, so if they are saying they send these emails routinely, it's not true!

Did you happen to use registered post? If you did then they can't argue that they never received your supporting documents. If not, I still wouldn't let it go. Make a complaint in writing immediately and hopefully you can get sorted before the second round offers.

Good luck!

JFitzgerald wrote: »

Um, sorry to ask a probably stupid-looking question.
i honestly didn't think i'd get an offer - so i haven't been doing my research. there didn't seem much point......
My BA final result was a very mediocre 2:2 and i think i only got an offer because i have an MA and the points dropped.

I got offered UCC.
is there a list of pre-approved secondary schools in Cork that i should apply to for my placement,
or should i apply to every single school in Cork?

all advice appreciated.
thanks

http://www.ucc.ie/en/education/pgdeteaching/pgdeschools/ list of all the schools in cork there

yellowlor wrote: »

I'm just in the middle of looking for a school in cork, does anyone know if you get an interview, what should you wear? are they usually informal? and what kind of questions would they ask? thanks

I'm interested to know this too. One of my subjects is French - could I be interviewed in French? I assume we will be asked questions on the curriculum?

miims wrote: »

Hello all,

I have applied for the PDE starting in September 2013, and I was just wondering if anyone here could give me the names of any of the textbooks used or recommended reading during the course? I contacted the college but they didn't want to give me a list for some reason.

Thanks!

Would also be interested in reading list if any current students could give advice. Subject: Business. Thanks

Hey guys quick question for NUIG people, do we have to do our teaching practice in Galway or can we do it at home ? thanks!

ViveLaVie wrote: »

Oh no. That is terrible! I sent my documents by registered post and I rang PAC to confirm they were received as I also felt it was a bit silly not to get an acknowledgement of some kind.

I definitely did not get an email of any kind to say that my documents had been received. I did receive an email today to say the offers had been made and to check my status but this was after I had already done so. The only email I received from PAC in the meantime was to do with the survey. I posted here at the time of application to ask did anyone receive an email confirming receipt of documentation and nobody did. It's not PAC practice to do so, so if they are saying they send these emails routinely, it's not true!

Did you happen to use registered post? If you did then they can't argue that they never received your supporting documents. If not, I still wouldn't let it go. Make a complaint in writing immediately and hopefully you can get sorted before the second round offers.

Good luck!

No I didn't use registered post unfortunately. I'm definitely taking this further. Go to their website and under PDE FAQ they clearly state that all correspondance will be made directly by e-mail:

If I cannot access the internet, can an application be posted to me?
No, you must complete an online application. You will need a working email address to use this facility as all correspondence with regard to your application will be communicated to you by email. If you do not have access to a personal computer or at work, maybe try a relative or a friend. Internet facilities should also be available at your local library or at an Internet cafe.

Thanks for your comment ViveLaVie. This is further proof that PAC do not automatically generate an e-mail when your application status has changed, something that the PAC manager is claiming in his e-mail to me.

Shane,
Emails on the offers are currently in the process of being sent out. I’m sure you appreciate that it takes time for the system to generate over 2000 emails. This is unrelated to your notification on February 28th of you not having submitted all of your documentation as those notifications are sent instantly.

Unfortunately I cannot add anything further to what I and other staff members here have already stated.

Kieran

What are we paying an application fee for? How hard is it to make contact with the applicant over something as important as this when they have your e-mail address, phone number and postal address. It's ridiculous.

@ Tolkien21

It makes complete sense that your status should change following the application/documentation deadline, to inform you that your application is incomplete, reading something simple like, 'application void as insufficient docs received'? The status should also inform you that your docs are received and your application is under consideration, to avoid unnecessary anxiety and phone calls to PAC asking whether docs were received.

That might have given you a chance to rectify the matter.

boomtown123 wrote: »

Ahhh. Trying to make out this list of UCC schools. I printed it out and now have the pages all jumbled. Trying to match email and distances with the schools. Anyone else having this prob? I'm not from Cork - so distance really matters.

When you're printing out the list you should shrink the pages so that it prints 2 pages in 1. then you'll have 9 sheets to print. of those 9 sheets, you need only print out 6. much easier to handle. you'll understand what i'm saying when you print them off.

i'd get a move on, if i were you. placements are filling up fast. i started emailing all the schools this morning. i had a placement at a school near enough to UCC by 2pm.

boomtown123 wrote: »

Thanks for that. I'll try that now.

I know, ahhh I've been in work this last few days doing really long shifts. This is the first chance I've got to sit down to do anything. I'm getting a bit worried now.

Did you have an interview or anything?

I emailed in my cv and cover letter because i'm abroad and outside the EU at the moment. i don't trust the post here. they rang me 2 hours later. just as well i had switched on my irish phone. the principal told me about the school and then asked me if i had any questions. that was it. job done. i'm glad i don't have to cut short my stay and rush back to ireland for an interview.

Balmom wrote: »

Hi just wondering if anyone can advise how many schools I should apply to to try to get placement for PDE for next year worried a I heard a lot are already gone? Thanks

I would apply to every single school except those that are too far away from uni or your home, especially if you have teaching every morning and uni every afternoon, as is the case at UCC.
personally, i think any distance from school to uni/home over 60-65km is unreasonable.