Advice for a teacher thinking of going to England?

sitstill

I have been teaching here for a number of years, but for various reasons I am being let go from my school in May.

I am looking at going to England to work and just got granted Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) by the Teaching Council there.

I was hoping some people who are already working over there could help me with some (fairly basic) questions I have about teaching in England.



1)How likely would I be to get a long term or permanent post in a school without UK experience?

2)How much paperwork is involved for a teacher over there... is it true that a lesson plan needs to be made out for every single lesson?

3)If a teacher is teaching full time, how many hours are they contracted to work and is it true that a teacher is not allowed off-site during the day?

4)How often can a teacher expect to be inspected or observed during the year?

5)When decided what point on the payscale to place a teacher on, is Irish teaching experience taken into account?

6)How much of a "culture shock" did you experience doing the job there compared to here?

raytray

1) Depends- are you primary or secondary & if secondary what are your subjects? Jobs are getting scarcer in the UK now. However, if you are thinking about London getting a job will be easier, especially if you teach science, maths or english. Generally, with the exception of maternity cover, you are offered a years contract with a view to being made permanent. I got a mat leave job, but said I wouldn't take it unless it was for a full year, and then I got made permanent in my 1st year. Schools are so big that there tends to be more flexibility with contracts. I got a permanent job with only Irish experience so it can be done and I know of other people who were the same.
2) Depends on the school I suppose. Legally I don't think so. I certainly don't and we are not expected to. I do exactly the same as what Irish teachers would do. If the school gets an OFSTED inspection & are put on special measures or something you might need to do lesson plans then. The paper work can be excessive. I have a friend who is a primary teacher and hers seems to be worse than mine. However, what I will say is that because everything is on shared drives in the school it is so much faster than at home. It's not actually all done on paper!
Plus, the shared drives are brilliant. Like I have access to all the other teachers powerpoints & resources so it really saves time as your are not just reinventing the wheel all the time.
3) It's just under 22 hours teaching time. In my school we also have to come in early on a Tuesday morning for a 10 minute briefing and we have a teaching and learning meeting once a week after college. We also have to do 50 minutes of support as well as our hours. We are allowed off site I think but it would be very rare for someone to leave the site as the students are always hounding teachers at lunch.
4) At least once. In your 1st year a few times.
5) I would imagine so. Again, they are flexible with pay scales. Be warned though, it is an 8 point scale. If you have 8 years experience chances are they wont hire you for a normal teaching role as you will be too expensive.
6) Not much really. Students are similar. The teachers are a bit more serious or something though. Maybe that is just my school though!
I know loads of people slate the English system but it's really not bad. I love my job here. The money that is spent on education in the UK makes some parts of the job so much easier than at home so there are plenty of good points too.
Do you want to move to the UK permanently?

sitstill

Sent you a PM!

Worked in the Uk. Found it much more professional than here in Ireland. Many of the proposed changes to happen here based on the UK. You will learn a lot in my opinion.