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

boomtown123

Heliotrope wrote: »

Doing it in Maynooth. How have you been delivering your C.V's, in person or e-mail?

Email. CV and cover letter. Know 2 people doing it in maynooth an they've had the same problem.just keep on to them.

Heliotrope

Was thinking of door stepping a couple tomorrow. Phone call might be a better bet and a quick question as regards what stage of the process they are at and whether they are still taking people on.

Karpops

Littlepea wrote: »

Yes I think you're right about telling work. How did you find it looking for work with English and CSPE? An earlier poster seemed to say it was nigh on impossible as CSPE hours are generally given as filler hours to other teachers?

I applied to about 60 schools and got callbacks for interviews from two of them - so difficult but not impossible. The important thing is to do it as quickly as possible and send as many letters as you can (I didn't get anywhere with emails but I did with letters) CSPE is usually given as a filler to full-timers to complete their 22 hours but you aren't being paid for TP so it's not going to affect the school or full-time teacher in any way. They will be paid for the class whether you show up or not.

scoopmine

First interview with a school tomorrow morning. I have called loads of schools and they all said to email a CV in. Would love to have my hours sorted. I'm doing my PDE in trinity so my days are different.

halfmoon123

How do some of you even have TIME to apply to 60 schools lol??!!! That's crazy. I applied to eight schools, got three offers, no interviews for any of them. And I sent in my CV via e-mail. Some of the schools don't like people coming in personally.

nellnewman

McMenny wrote: »

Hey Nell, I got offered my PDE in NUIG too. Wasn't really expecting it either and I'm very nervous about the whole thing now! I don't think you have to do your placement within a certain radius of the college. Friends of mine have done the PDE in galway and done their placement in Donegall! Im hoping to do mine at home in donegal too (fingers crossed). Have you sent out many CV's and cover letters yet?

Hey McMenny, first and foremost congrats on NUIG. I've sent out 10plus cv's etc via email and made a few phone calls and so far i've had no luck there's only 3schools in my area here at home that are on the list and two of the three have shut me down, one saying they only accept applicants from UL and the other saying they'v reached there quota, which i feel is complete b.s., this was on tues. and i don't understand how they could have reached their quota already?? so i've had to search further a field and my luck isn't getting any better so far, many schools have told me they give priority to past pupils, i'm starting to get a bit worried in case i can't get anything:eek: i'm just curious if its this hard to find TP what's it going to be like for those who get their offers next month??

Caiseoipe19

nellnewman wrote: »

Hey McMenny, first and foremost congrats on NUIG. I've sent out 10plus cv's etc via email and made a few phone calls and so far i've had no luck there's only 3schools in my area here at home that are on the list and two of the three have shut me down, one saying they only accept applicants from UL and the other saying they'v reached there quota, which i feel is complete b.s., this was on tues. and i don't understand how they could have reached their quota already?? so i've had to search further a field and my luck isn't getting any better so far, many schools have told me they give priority to past pupils, i'm starting to get a bit worried in case i can't get anything:eek: i'm just curious if its this hard to find TP what's it going to be like for those who get their offers next month??

They could have students lined up from other courses like Hibernia or from some of the undergraduate teaching courses that sends students out on Teaching Practice. Not all students on TP come from PDE courses through the NUIs.

yellowlor

I only applied to three schools, the three I wanted and I got an interview. It was very long and intense, I didn't think that was the norm for hdip's but I got the job anyway. The other two schools still haven't gotten back to me. But I was going to apply to lots more if I had nothing by the end of this week. That was in Cork, I think its a lot easier for dips down there simply because the way its run, school in the morn, college in the evening. If you don't get a school, I'm sure the college will help you out. You'll def get one I'd say, some schools could take weeks to get back to you. I know it sucks that you have to worry about it, but ye'l def get a place. I'm sure its like this every year for people, even if you go back through the thread. I did find tho that alot of people had their schools well in advance of their offers coming out. :O Good Luck

tomissex

Don't panic if you don't hear back from schools. The orals start next week so schools are really busy with that, could be the end of the month before anyone gets a chance to look at the CVs!

McMenny

nellnewman wrote: »

Hey McMenny, first and foremost congrats on NUIG. I've sent out 10plus cv's etc via email and made a few phone calls and so far i've had no luck there's only 3schools in my area here at home that are on the list and two of the three have shut me down, one saying they only accept applicants from UL and the other saying they'v reached there quota, which i feel is complete b.s., this was on tues. and i don't understand how they could have reached their quota already?? so i've had to search further a field and my luck isn't getting any better so far, many schools have told me they give priority to past pupils, i'm starting to get a bit worried in case i can't get anything:eek: i'm just curious if its this hard to find TP what's it going to be like for those who get their offers next month??

Thank you! You too! .. Well I'm meeting the principal of my old secondary school today so fingers crossed that will go well and I'll know if I can do placement there or not. That is the only secondary school in my area that is on the list, the rest of the schools are about 30 mins to an hour away so I'm going to try them then but I'm hoping I'll get the one today. It's so competitive and I feel some people are really on the ball with it, whereas I am the complete opposite because its hard to make time to sort it out with work. If this doesn't go well today its safe to say I will be a ball of stress!! :eek:

Have you tried your old secondary school?

LauraF89

nellnewman wrote: »

Hey Laura, thanks very much for getting back to me!! Congrats on getting your placement!! No, I haven't sent any out yet I'm hoping to have sent out some by this evening and perhaps make a visit to the school closest to me that's on the list as I'm the same as you for financial reasons I'm hoping to get into a school nearby. I'm trying to put my CV and cover letter together at the min and hopefully get kick started then. Have you emailed any schools yet?? my subjects are history and religion what about you?? for my cover letter i was told just state your looking for TP because you've been offered the PDE and state your subjects, hope that helps, its all a bit overwhelming isn't it??

My subject is business! I think its even harder to get placement with this as its not a core subject! I've been up to my old secondary school this morning as i have not had a chance earlier with work, but the principal was busy. However i do know the secretary and she took my CV and cover letter and told me she will get the principal to call me! Fingers crossed!! Have you had any luck yet?

nellnewman

McMenny wrote: »

Thank you! You too! .. Well I'm meeting the principal of my old secondary school today so fingers crossed that will go well and I'll know if I can do placement there or not. That is the only secondary school in my area that is on the list, the rest of the schools are about 30 mins to an hour away so I'm going to try them then but I'm hoping I'll get the one today. It's so competitive and I feel some people are really on the ball with it, whereas I am the complete opposite because its hard to make time to sort it out with work. If this doesn't go well today its safe to say I will be a ball of stress!! :eek:

Have you tried your old secondary school?

Hey McMenny, hope your meeting went well today?? Let me know. . . . Unfortunately my old secondary school isn't on the list, i'd love if it were because I know they would have looked after me as a lot of schools look after their own first as I've been told a few times at this stage so I'll be very surprised if your old school don't take you on...

nellnewman

LauraF89 wrote: »

My subject is business! I think its even harder to get placement with this as its not a core subject! I've been up to my old secondary school this morning as i have not had a chance earlier with work, but the principal was busy. However i do know the secretary and she took my CV and cover letter and told me she will get the principal to call me! Fingers crossed!! Have you had any luck yet?

nope:( no luck yet, i've sent out a dozen CVs made phone calls etc and still no luck. I've been told by some schools they only take past pupils, they've already reached their quota or they only accept applicants from UL, so a mixture of responses but none of them good news as of yet. How are you getting on?? did the principle get back to you yet??

Littlepea

Karpops wrote: »

I applied to about 60 schools and got callbacks for interviews from two of them - so difficult but not impossible. The important thing is to do it as quickly as possible and send as many letters as you can (I didn't get anywhere with emails but I did with letters) CSPE is usually given as a filler to full-timers to complete their 22 hours but you aren't being paid for TP so it's not going to affect the school or full-time teacher in any way. They will be paid for the class whether you show up or not.

Thanks a million for the info, I have sent out about 15 cover letters and emails after ringing each of the schools individually but have heard nothing back from any of them.
Must send more at the weekend, I have been sidetracked for a cou

Littlepea

Littlepea wrote: »

Thanks a million for the info, I have sent out about 15 cover letters and emails after ringing each of the schools individually but have heard nothing back from any of them.
Must send more at the weekend, I have been sidetracked for a couple of days with a sick baby.
When you say send letters rather than email do you mean physically post a cover letter and cv rather than emailing it to the principal? All of the schools seemed to want it emailed in.

McMenny

nellnewman wrote: »

Hey McMenny, hope your meeting went well today?? Let me know. . . . Unfortunately my old secondary school isn't on the list, i'd love if it were because I know they would have looked after me as a lot of schools look after their own first as I've been told a few times at this stage so I'll be very surprised if your old school don't take you on...

Hey Nell, the meeting with my principal went well and I got my placement which I am delighted with. Although he did fill me in on the harsh realities of teaching ..

He said about the new junior cert starting in 2014 and that Geography (my subject) and History will not be compulsory and even said not all schools will keep on these subjects and will make room for other subjects like computer programming or digital media literacy. He did say that he does not plan on getting rid of History or Geography but many other schools might, making jobs harder to find. Another thing was the problem with CSPE (my other subject), it could quite possibly be done away with or if a position of CSPE teacher needed to be filled he could send another teacher to an inservice day and get them to cover those classes from then on. I figured CSPE would be a tricky one with getting jobs but the news that Geog might be going too scared the s**t out of me!

Another thing he mentioned was to do as much as you can to bulk up your CV to make you stand out! Like fill up your PDE year or the time between now and then with courses like first aid, child protection or special needs education etc..

The interview for me was very informal, just chatting about college and my subjects etc but this was probably because I have known him from school. However he said to me "If I was to put you into a class now would you be able to do it, supervise or teach". I said I would definitely be able to supervise but that in order to teach I'd need to have prepared something and have a plan which he agreed with. That question sort of took me by surprise but it was grand. Lol!

Really hope you get sorted with placement soon! Best of luck!
Niamh

LauraF89

nellnewman wrote: »

nope:( no luck yet, i've sent out a dozen CVs made phone calls etc and still no luck. I've been told by some schools they only take past pupils, they've already reached their quota or they only accept applicants from UL, so a mixture of responses but none of them good news as of yet. How are you getting on?? did the principle get back to you yet??

Just keep trying! Its so time consuming trying to get in touch with principals! No i have heard nothing back yet Hopefully i hear something on Monday. If not i'll have to try some other schools. I just want to get it sorted asap just for peace of mind! I'm sure you feel the same way!!

compgeek

spurious wrote: »

Anywhere that does the Leaving Cert. Applied will have some classes in IT as a basic course is compulsory for all taking the LCA. There is also an elective IT specialism in the Leaving Cert. Applied which would require more class periods a week for the students doing it. The IT Specialism is an examinable subject, along with its task and key assignments.

Hi Spurious,


Thank you for your reply and information.

I didn't know ICT for a core subject for the LCA, thank you

The School that I would love to get for TP doesn't to the LCA but they do have ICT as part of transition year so here's hoping.

I would love an LCA school too now that I have your info. I'll just have to wait and see.

Hope all is going well with your preparations.


Thanks, Compgeek.

Karpops

halfmoon123 wrote: »

How do some of you even have TIME to apply to 60 schools lol??!!! That's crazy. I applied to eight schools, got three offers, no interviews for any of them. And I sent in my CV via e-mail. Some of the schools don't like people coming in personally.

Yeah it took me a good few days alright I thought going into a school and asking seemed a bit pushy - and they would be more likely to say no just to make you go away. You got 3 TP offers?! Well done!

ViveLaVie

Am I screwed here? I had a family emergency this week and had no time to email cvs to any schools. I'm starting today but I feel like I'm too late? People have already done interviews and been offered places...

tomissex

ViveLaVie wrote: »

Am I screwed here? I had a family emergency this week and had no time to email cvs to any schools. I'm starting today but I feel like I'm too late? People have already done interviews and been offered places...

Not at all! When I sent mine out last year, the stamps weren't the right price so they all got sent back to me! Was about a week later than everyone else then but got three interviews! Your CVs might be the last to arrive but they'll be at the top of the pile. Don't panic

MontyChips

Hi Guys,

I got an offer to do my PDE. I have accepted it and looking forward to starting in september. My subjects are English and Geography. The only problem is I don't have the 15ects in Human Geography to teach Geography. I mainly did physical modules during my degree. I never knew that you needed 15ects in Human in order teach Geography! Is anyone or has anyone been in a similar situation? Is there any way around it?

boomtown123

MontyChips wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I got an offer to do my PDE. I have accepted it and looking forward to starting in september. My subjects are English and Geography. The only problem is I don't have the 15ects in Human Geography to teach Geography. I mainly did physical modules during my degree. I never knew that you needed 15ects in Human in order teach Geography! Is anyone or has anyone been in a similar situation? Is there any way around it?

Hey. But sure if you got an offer it - it clearly doesn't affect you. Im doing geog and i would say a good majority of my modules would have been social/human. I think if you were applying to the pdge over in the UK it would affect ya alright.

Caiseoipe19

boomtown123 wrote: »

Hey. But sure if you got an offer it - it clearly doesn't affect you. Im doing geog and i would say a good majority of my modules would have been social/human. I think if you were applying to the pdge over in the UK it would affect ya alright.

It's the Teaching Council that decides whether or not you're qualified to teach a subject, not PAC or the university you do the PDE in.

boomtown123

Cygnus wrote: »

It's the Teaching Council that decides whether or not you're qualified to teach a subject, not PAC or the university you do the PDE in.

Oh sugar.

Ill find out in a few weeks so from the TC.

ViveLaVie

MontyChips wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I got an offer to do my PDE. I have accepted it and looking forward to starting in september. My subjects are English and Geography. The only problem is I don't have the 15ects in Human Geography to teach Geography. I mainly did physical modules during my degree. I never knew that you needed 15ects in Human in order teach Geography! Is anyone or has anyone been in a similar situation? Is there any way around it?

Afaik you'll have to fulfil that requirement after you finish the PDE but before you register with the Teaching Council. So you'll probably have to do another semester of college. You can work something out with whatever college, I know people who've done that before.

For everyone else, how many schools did ye email? I just started mine yesterday and I've done fifteen. I'm thinking of doing another ten and then waiting to see do I hear back? Or should I go full steam ahead and email everywhere?

MontyChips

Thanks guys for the replies. I go to NUIG, so I must go into the course co-ordinator and chat to them about it. Hopefully it can be resolved. I really need to have a second subject as it makes me more attractive to employers!

compgeek

Hi All,


I am sorry if this has been asked before but I have two teachable subjects (Business & ICT).


I know ICT is a subject on the Leaving Cert Applied curriculum and some schools teach it during Transition year but most Schools wouldn't have a computer class.


This poses my question: What happens if I can get the bulk of my TP hours in 1 subject and very few hours in the other?

I'd appreciate any advice my fellow boardies can give me.



Thanks, Compgeek.

halfmoon123

Re Teaching Practice, what's the norm guys? Do Dip students usually take the class from the word go, or do their official teacher take them first for a week or two before the dip student takes the reins or what's the story?

dory

halfmoon123 wrote: »

Re Teaching Practice, what's the norm guys? Do Dip students usually take the class from the word go, or do their official teacher take them first for a week or two before the dip student takes the reins or what's the story?

Dip student takes them from the beginning.