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

Winnieme12

Hi all ,

Just a quick question, have managed to get an interview/meeting with a principal for next week. But I am just wondering from anyone who has already done one, what kind of questions are you getting asked? I have no previous teaching practice or experience. So is it to see what your personality is and what type of person you are, and to see what subjects you would teach and that??
Sorry am just a little worried and I want to be prepared and not mess this up!

Cheers all

maggie_cork

Hey all.
Wondering if someone can help me with something..
I've sorted a school for teaching practice so I'm wondering what to do now.
I've got ucc for the PGDE..
Ive heard nothing from them... should i be hearing?
do I have to go about vetting etc ?

tomissex

Winnieme12 wrote: »

Hi all ,

Just a quick question, have managed to get an interview/meeting with a principal for next week. But I am just wondering from anyone who has already done one, what kind of questions are you getting asked? I have no previous teaching practice or experience. So is it to see what your personality is and what type of person you are, and to see what subjects you would teach and that??
Sorry am just a little worried and I want to be prepared and not mess this up!

Cheers all

I had 3 meetings and all of them were no more than a chat. They told me loads about the school etc and then they asked why I wanted to be a teacher. I did my undergrad in TCD but I'm doing the PDE in UCD so they asked why I changed. I think they really just want to get an idea of who you are as a person. It's nothing to stress over.

lorspop

cheers that's great !! hey well done congrats hope u got it Hope im the same soon.Nuig told me to keep trying

Armaghmagic

I have heard from people inside the school o work in that they are planning to increase the full time H.Dip from 1 year to 2 years, thus increasing the part time h.Dip from 2 years to 4 years.....is there any truth in this and will it affect me starting this September?

Winnieme12

tomissex wrote: »

I had 3 meetings and all of them were no more than a chat. They told me loads about the school etc and then they asked why I wanted to be a teacher. I did my undergrad in TCD but I'm doing the PDE in UCD so they asked why I changed. I think they really just want to get an idea of who you are as a person. It's nothing to stress over.

Ok thanks Tomissex, thats kind of what I had hoped it would be!!
Little less stressed out now! Cheers! Hope it works out ok now and I actually get to do my TP there! Good luck to everyone still trying to find a school too!

maggie_cork

anyone?

tomissex

maggie_cork wrote: »

anyone?

I haven't heard anything from UCD either. I emailed the department the other day and they said forms will be sent out soon. Maybe UCC is the same?

Winnieme12

maggie_cork wrote: »

anyone?

Well I received my Garda Vetting form from NUIG on Tuesday, and on their website they had said that they would start sending forms out at the beginning of May, so I would guess that's what most colleges will be doing!
Hopefully you will receive them soon !

mstorres

maggie_cork wrote: »

Hey all.
Wondering if someone can help me with something..
I've sorted a school for teaching practice so I'm wondering what to do now.
I've got ucc for the PGDE..
Ive heard nothing from them... should i be hearing?
do I have to go about vetting etc ?

Hi Maggie,

I got UCC too. My school made me fill in a garda vetting form already, I presume that's their procedure, and I know UCC will be giving us a vetting form too. As far as I know you have to go about Garda vetting through an institution, so the form UCC sends us will have to be sent back to them, and they will send it on to the vetting unit. I haven't heard anything from them yet either, I hope they will have them sent out before the end of this week.

Caiseoipe19

Armaghmagic wrote: »

I have heard from people inside the school o work in that they are planning to increase the full time H.Dip from 1 year to 2 years, thus increasing the part time h.Dip from 2 years to 4 years.....is there any truth in this and will it affect me starting this September?

It's being changed in 2014 so no I don't think so, if I'm understanding you correctly.

Karpops

tomissex wrote: »

I haven't heard anything from UCD either. I emailed the department the other day and they said forms will be sent out soon. Maybe UCC is the same?

Thanks for that information, I just managed to land myself a school and am eagerly awaiting getting all the paperwork sorted from UCD! Be seeing you in September!

Armaghmagic

Cygnus wrote: »

Armaghmagic wrote: »

I have heard from people inside the school o work in that they are planning to increase the full time H.Dip from 1 year to 2 years, thus increasing the part time h.Dip from 2 years to 4 years.....is there any truth in this and will it affect me starting this September?

It's being changed in 2014 so no I don't think so, if I'm understanding you correctly.

Thanks for that, was worried that my 2 years in DCU may be doubled! Panic over

nalasmith

i received my info pack (garda vetting form, TP form, etc) from ucd today, so everyone should have them within the week i'd say. It also contain a list of over a hundred schools in dublin for people to contact. Best bet is trying every school, send in a cover letter, cv and if possible a photcopy of a written reference (make it easier for them, they wont have to contact your references). Best of luck everyone

slampop

Hey guys kind of reassured that I'm not the only one having problems in trying to secure a placement! Really hope I hear something this week! So far I've sent about 40 emails and followed up with phone calls and have had only 1 reply which was a no! The rest of the schools are either full or haven't made a decision! Doesn't seem to be any logical system in place at all! Very stressful!

sadie06

Does anyone know if the second round offers for teaching in Maynooth are out?It said the 14th, and my friend is waiting in hope, but couldn't get a straight answer from pac yesterday.

caz12

Hey everyone, Im heading to ucc and just wondering has anyone heard anything from them yet?? Thanks

Lillyman

Hey I'm going to UCC too, havent heard anything yet ?!

dory

I remember this time last year wondering if UCC were ever going to get on to me. I guess they're busy with this year's PDE people at the moment. The didn't get on to me until about June I think.

caz12

Lillyman wrote: »

Hey I'm going to UCC too, havent heard anything yet ?!

Hey, emailed them today and they said they would be contacting us shortly and we need to have the letter/form from our school confirming our placement and 2 passport photos when they do!

hdip

Hi All,I'm considering taking up any offer for a Postgraduate Diploma in Education for Secondary School teaching this September in Maynooth. Financially I cant really afford it.I would have to take out a very large loan which I dread the thought of,however looking at the big picture I would think It would be worth it hopefully.

My question is this:

My subjects that I would be qualified to teach are Junior Certificate Science & Biology.Has anyone just had these subjects and how did they get on job wise following the hdip,are you working?My big fear is that I will spend thousands doing this course and then not be able to find a job.I looked up educationposts.ie and there is currently only 8 secondary schools jobs going in ALL counties.One was Science Biology & maths.I will not be qualified to teach maths.Just wondering am I restricted because of this?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated,Thanks

Karpops

hdip wrote: »

Hi All,I'm considering taking up any offer for a Postgraduate Diploma in Education for Secondary School teaching this September in Maynooth. Financially I cant really afford it.I would have to take out a very large loan which I dread the thought of,however looking at the big picture I would think It would be worth it hopefully.

My question is this:

My subjects that I would be qualified to teach are Junior Certificate Science & Biology.Has anyone just had these subjects and how did they get on job wise following the hdip,are you working?My big fear is that I will spend thousands doing this course and then not be able to find a job.I looked up educationposts.ie and there is currently only 8 secondary schools jobs going in ALL counties.One was Science Biology & maths.I will not be qualified to teach maths.Just wondering am I restricted because of this?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated,Thanks

In a way, everyone is restricted at the moment when it comes to jobs. I've been going on that website every week for the past six months and there has been literally nothing..it seems everything is in the UK or the Middle East. I do know some people teaching at the moment, but it's all short term contracts or maternity cover and the few H.Dippers I know are thinking of England.
I'd love to tell you the job market will be fine but honestly, it's going to be a struggle for the next few years. If I were you, I would be prepared to have to move to the UK if things didn't work out straight away.

clivej

I have just finished my BSc Hon, level 8, and I'm now looking to do the PostGrad Dip/Master of Arts in teaching & learning in further & higher education at WIT, code WD544

I'm looking to do just the PostGrad for now.
I'm on the Back to education allowance.

The BTEA have said that as this is NOT A HDIP and is level 9, so I'm not entittled to the BTEA.

I thought that a HDIP and PostGrad were the same level and would be covered by the BTEA is this true??

If I can't get the BTEA then I can't do the course.

valencia89

Does anyone have any experience of doing the GDED in music in UL. Would really appreciate some info from someone who has or is is currently doing it, Cheers:)

desert_rose

Hi guys

In spite of the current situation, I consider myself lucky to have been offered a place on the PDE in UCD, but I'm really struggling to find a school placement.

My subjects are French and Italian, and although I've been a language teacher in EFL in Ireland and abroad for 18 years, (including 2 years teaching Italian in UCD!) I haven't had a single positive response from a school. I already have a H Dip in TEFL (UCD), I'm a qualified teacher trainer with Cambridge University and I'm doing a Masters in Education now. I'm trying not to entertain the thought that if I can't give away that experience for free to a school this year, how am i EVER going to get someone to pay me for it??

I've sent out a ton of CVs and called a few schools, but no joy. I know that UCD will find me a placement, but can anyone tell me

*how well do UCD placements work out?
*Any other language specialists out there? Has anyone found another avenue into getting a placement to teach languages, other than visiting schools directly?

Any advice really, really appreciated as this is starting to get me down. Best of luck to everyone and see you in UCD in a couple of months!

desert_rose

I'm now looking to do the PostGrad Dip/Master of Arts in teaching & learning in further & higher education at WIT, code WD544

I'm looking to do just the PostGrad for now.
I'm on the Back to education allowance.

clivej, If you're looking at the WIT MA in Teaching and Learning in order to teach, BEWARE! I've a friend who's just about to finish it who's been told it won't qualify her to teach in the post-primary / FE sector as it's not approved by Teaching Council for this purpose... I'd call WIT and TC to check whether they're modifying the course to make it acceptable to the TC

maggie_cork

Hey hey all.

just a quick question for those who are going to UCC for the PDE and have got their info pack from the college.

It says on the letter to
return the 2 student infor cards, passport photos and a school principals statement/form

But where is the pincipal statement form? is there an actual formal statement that the school must fill out or is it just referring to written confirmation that the school will take you on?

Thanks again

caz12

maggie_cork wrote: »

Hey hey all.

just a quick question for those who are going to UCC for the PDE and have got their info pack from the college.

It says on the letter to
return the 2 student infor cards, passport photos and a school principals statement/form

But where is the pincipal statement form? is there an actual formal statement that the school must fill out or is it just referring to written confirmation that the school will take you on?

Thanks again

Hey,
Just wondering when you received your info pack? i'm going to ucc too and haven't received anything yet.
I'd say it's the confirmation letter you get from the school when they offer you a place. I was in contact with ucc a couple of weeks ago and they said i'd have to send this on when i got my info pack.

Witch-King77

Em... am I the only one still having trouble getting a school for the PDE in UCC...? Didn't get the info pack either, but that's the least of my concerns at the moment!

maggie_cork

OOh dont be worrying, I only got it on Friday.