Moving to London, Best places to teach/live?

dalington10

Hi folks,

Sorry if this type of comment has been posted on the this forum before.
Soon to be NQT here.

Yesterday I had an interview with an education recruitment in Dublin for a Guaranteed Payments Scheme (4 day minimum supply teaching in the UK), and I was offered a position starting in September.
I was given the choice of choosing a city to live in... so I chose London, thinking that it would have the best opportunities for long term contracts.
Heres my question...would anyone be able to recommend a good area to move to that is reasonable on rent, has a good selection of good schools and has good transport links that i and another NQT could move to?? If there were other Irish there that would be a plus. I've heard Greenwich and the South East of London would be a good place to settle but I'd love to hear of the experiences of other Irish teachers who have moved to London in the last few years??

Any information/ advice would be seriously appreciated as the recruitment company wants me to ASAP.

Thanks

brónaim cád??

Hey man,

I had an interview yesterday with Engage for the GPS to and am going to move to around London too! It'd be great to know others going over too, possibly even to do a house share.

dalington10

Oh very good. Well done!! What area were you thinking of moving to? Its a real hard one to call isn't it?

brónaim cád??

I don't know really to be honest, it's just so big. I want good transport links, not too rough and where the rent isn't the same as my salary. The woman eas suggestsing Greenwich which I think is nice and some orher areas. I think SE may be good. I think I'll go over the end of June to have a feel for the place.

Do you have any ideas?

dalington10

I was thinking the SE as well...Greenwich/ Bromley but it's really hard to choose a place without much background knowledge of what to expect. Greenwich is meant to be a residential area thats only 30 minutes from the city centre so it could be a good shout for teaching posts. Still though..I've heard that Islington/ Twickenham are also worthy places. I wish that Engage would just recommend two/ three places and let us decide between the two instead the whole of London.
If you make any further plans about where you're planning on locating give me a shout, house sharing will be the cheapest I think.

rebel girl 15

Twickenham is nice, I'm looking to move closer into the city, an hour outside it atm, and its too far! I'll have a chat to a few of my friends over here about where they are living. What subjects do you teach?

brónaim cád??

I'm primary. Would you recommend any areas for work and living. I don't want to be paying half my salary on rent, or living somewhere really rough.

rebel girl 15

Can I ask what your daily rate is going to be for GPS and if ye got ye're contract yet?? What exactly did they tell ye - got a phone call about the scheme, and had a look at it, and things don't add up for me tbh.

kraggy

Bronaim Cad, have you done the dip?

I was told you can't teach full-time in England without having done the dip. Is this true do ye know?

Or are you going over to do supply?

brónaim cád??

I think it was about £120 a day. No I haven't signed yet as I'm in the Middle East. Why do you think thinks haven't added up?

I'm British trained so I don't know about that but I still need to do my NQT year.

Also search for Irish teachers in he Uk 2013 on Facebook

SarahBeep!

Irish Teachers in the UK 2013 Facebook

I've secured a full time a-level physics job in Enfield in North London as a soon to be NQT. Has anyone heard much about the area?

marilynhappy

Hey, I'm just wondering if anybody could recommend a good Supply Teaching Agency? I'm also hoping to make the move before September, but I think I'd like to try supply for a while...any advice appreciated (private mail me if you like)

brónaim cád??

I've signed up to Engage and Uteach. I've worked with Hays and Teaching Personnel before, both good.

I've two interviews this week for schools in Greenwich.

marilynhappy

brónaim cád?? wrote: »

I've signed up to Engage and Uteach. I've worked with Hays and Teaching Personnel before, both good.

I've two interviews this week for schools in Greenwich.

Thanks. Gud luck! Hope you find a good one

anfieldrd

Hi folks,

Signed up with Teaching Personnel and offered a position for sept supply teaching, also got the impression if I wanted a full time teaching post I would get it. Again have to select the area I want, not sure either, did anyone make a final decision, I was thinking around the Twickenham area too, too many options to choose from though. Don't want to be paying outrageous rent either.

kboc

West london is good.

Some nice areas to live e.g. Hammersmith, Hounslow, Ealing etc.,

really god schools, especially catholic schools which means there is invariably irish teachers there and kids from irish parentage, which does make life easier for most

good transport links to get around.

enjoy

marilynhappy

Hey guys,

Any tips for the jobsearch? Is it true that Catholic schools are excellent, or has anybody here worked in a very good non-denominational school? I'm looking at jobs/thinking about applying directly or through agencies, but I'm wondering if anyone has had a good experience in a state-run academy or anything like that? I'm looking at ads at the moment on both tes.co.uk and educationcareers.ie but I suppose I'm new to the terminology related to British schools. (ie. academy, foundation school, comprehensive, specialist sports college etc!) a bit confusing to say the least!

kboc

marilynhappy wrote: »

Hey guys,

Any tips for the jobsearch? Is it true that Catholic schools are excellent, or has anybody here worked in a very good non-denominational school? I'm looking at jobs/thinking about applying directly or through agencies, but I'm wondering if anyone has had a good experience in a state-run academy or anything like that? I'm looking at ads at the moment on both tes.co.uk and educationcareers.ie but I suppose I'm new to the terminology related to British schools. (ie. academy, foundation school, comprehensive, specialist sports college etc!) a bit confusing to say the least!

Not all catholic schools are good/excellent. Read their Ofsted report, that will tell a tale.

To get a job I would use www.tes.co.uk, if you are stuck come september, then it is agency work time.
England/London is a great place to learn your profession.

marilynhappy

Thanks Kboc, that's actually good to hear and insightful. Do you mind me asking if you have taught in the UK and if you found the transition okay?

kboc

marilynhappy wrote: »

Thanks Kboc, that's actually good to hear and insightful. Do you mind me asking if you have taught in the UK and if you found the transition okay?

I done my PGCE in London and worked in a catholic school in west London. There was no transition for me, as I trained and then worked in London.

As regards transition from Ire or Eng, subject knowledge will not be a problem for most people, unless you were doing something like Further Maths at A Level. The big difference will be the (expected) work load and paper work. The work load will be a culture shock, but a good professional experience. The staff car park will be full by 8:15 until 4:30 or 5. If it moves they assess it. If they assess it, then they need an action plan for what you will do if that pupil is not on target. The proof will be in the pudding come August with GCSE/A Level results. The paper work will be a pain in the arse, but a necessary evil when you teach there.

Initially there will be a culture shock, then you will get use to it and, maybe then you will enjoy the professional challenge that England offers. You will definetly be a better teacher for this experience.

Good luck.

marilynhappy

Thanks Kboc for the info and well wishes.


Okay that will DEFINITELY be a culture shock for someone like me and I'll have to work very hard to fit the billl over there I'd say. However, hopefully it is a workload one can learn to adapt to.Hope it's possible to have a life around the job!!I don't think I could do any job without a good work-life balance.

Teachers in the UK appear to have a very long workday. I wonder if there are many extra hours, on top of that, to be done at home.. Obviously teachers in Ireland have a heavy workload too, but in a different way, I think...


Looking forward to moving to a diverse area and what it may bring though.

Dave0301

marilynhappy wrote: »

Thanks Kboc for the info and well wishes.


Okay that will DEFINITELY be a culture shock for someone like me and I'll have to work very hard to fit the billl over there I'd say. However, hopefully it is a workload one can learn to adapt to.Hope it's possible to have a life around the job!!I don't think I could do any job without a good work-life balance.

Teachers in the UK appear to have a very long workday. I wonder if there are many extra hours, on top of that, to be done at home.. Obviously teachers in Ireland have a heavy workload too, but in a different way, I think...


Looking forward to moving to a diverse area and what it may bring though.

Set yourself hours that you will work and see how it goes. You will probably struggle initially, but it is all just a matter of finding what works best. Don't just teach your classes, and leave on the last bell.

As for working extra at home, well it depends if you are a NQT and how much planning you need to do. Also the time of year will influence this, with reporting and assessing schedules.

There is plenty of work-life balance to be had. It is important to be able to switch off and relax, if you can't you will struggle and burn out.

marilynhappy

I agree Dave0301, the ability to relax and switch off is very important...it's probably about trying to establish a bit of routine so

mel84

Hey everyone- I wouldn't recommend that agency that have the GPS- my friends were on it and had a NIGHTMARE over there- they dropped one of the primary teachers like a hot cake when he needed more support with the behaviour of the kids and now he is left over there with a lease on a house and no money.

They don't treat their teachers well once you move over and the schools you would be supplying in are dumps!

My advice is go directly with schools as agencies don't even pay your holidays- they say its in your daily rate which is rubbish anyway!!! Pm me if you want more advice

marilynhappy

Ok thanks for the info Mel84. I'm finding forums like these very useful.

mel84

best of luck going with them- friends of mine have had awful experiences with them, pay all over the place, rubbish tough schools etc etc. they dropped some of my friends as quickly as they interviewed them, and they were left over in London with a lease on an apartment and no work and engage didnt want to know!

marilynhappy

Just a quick question about going direct to schools- How does one organise supply work with schools?
Does anyone know? Is it possible to call into schools with a CV or is it more professional to post/email?
Thanks

mel84

Hi Marilyn,

If u go direct to schools the usually only have full time posts- why do u want to do supply?? Much better off doing ur own subject in a ft position as the supply schools are generally really tough- are u an NQT?? A LOAD of my friends that are science teachers got full time posts through KS education it is run by Irish teachers aswel and the schools they deal with are excellent