Up-skilling as a post-primary teacher

Sachor

I'm a qualified Maths teacher who has been working in England for the last 3 years. I moved home last August and managed to get occasional substitute work and then 18 hours in a school teaching Maths from January to May.

I recently had an interview for a good school which went very well. I didn't get the job though and when I asked the head for feedback it was because I only have 1 subject. Fair enough. He also said I'd really struggle to get work in Ireland with only 1 subject, even though it's Maths.

So I've started thinking about going back to college yet again! The only other subject I'd be actually interested in teaching is Science, more specifically Biology. Try as I might, I cannot find a suitable part-time course.

Is my only option to go back to college full-time?

Also, can anyone recommend any CPD courses I could undertake to make myself more employable?

Any advice would be extremely welcome!!

hdipdilemma

Hiya
The post grad in Sen would be worth doing as there is a lack of qualified resource teachers with maths as their specialty rather than English. They run an online one from St Angela's which is very highly regarded and you do it on a modular basis. I have completed the full time version of this but you need 12 hours teaching Sen in a school to qualify for the course it also runs in other venues around the country. The qualification definitely helped me get my job

RealJohn

A few of the universities allow you to take science modules as an 'occasional student' which means you don't have to go back full time. The problem is that you still have to do the practical work and that tends to take place at times that don't suit working teachers (ie. weekdays, albeit usually in the afternoons in my experience).

If you're working a part-time contract with a sympathetic principal, you might be able to get them to give you a half day on the day(s) you need to get practical work done but you'll need to do your research and be able to tell him that you need Tuesday afternoon (or whatever) free before he has the timetable done out.

I'd like to add some physics modules myself but it hasn't been feasible to do so while working full time (even though I have four universities within about a half an hour's drive from the school). To be honest, I'd rather be able to go to lectures anyway. You'd think there'd be enough demand to run evening courses in the sciences in at least one of the Dublin universities.

rainbowtrout

To teach Biology you will need 60 credits in biology (and to have done the relevant labs in college). Also to be qualified for junior science, you have to have 10 credits biology, 10 physics and 10 chemistry. Typically for junior science what you would cover in the first year of a science degree would make up those credits.

It's extremely difficult to pick up any of the sciences as an extra subject due to the lab requirements. I'm doing physics at the moment, but as RealJohn suggested, i have a half day worked into my timetable by my principal so I can attend labs. Even at that it's a push because I live 75 miles from Maynooth. I can't attend lectures, so I'm downloading all the lecture notes and studying at home. I've been doing this for two years and this coming year is my final one.

rainbowtrout

I had some good news this morning. Over the last two years I completed second and third years physics in Maynooth. I already had first year physics in my original degree. I had 58 credits in total (currently need 54 credits, moving to 60 credits from 2017). Sent in documentation 3 weeks ago. This morning I am a fully registered physics teacher.

When I rang about it a few weeks ago, the women I spoke to was very nice and told me to send in my transcripts and a change of details form (on the TC website). I asked about cost and she said 'no charge'.

katydid

rainbowtrout wrote: »

I had some good news this morning. Over the last two years I completed second and third years physics in Maynooth. I already had first year physics in my original degree. I had 58 credits in total (currently need 54 credits, moving to 60 credits from 2017). Sent in documentation 3 weeks ago. This morning I am a fully registered physics teacher.

When I rang about it a few weeks ago, the women I spoke to was very nice and told me to send in my transcripts and a change of details form (on the TC website). I asked about cost and she said 'no charge'.

Fair play to you. It's hard working and studying, but it will be worth it. I should imagine physics is a good subject to have.

rainbowtrout

katydid wrote: »

Fair play to you. It's hard working and studying, but it will be worth it. I should imagine physics is a good subject to have.

I've posted about this before, but it's hard to upskill and gain extra subjects in the sciences because of the laboratory requirement. So for any teacher working full time they would have to have a day/half day worked into their timetable to allow them attend college for labs. I was fortunate enough to have this done for me. Also the reality is that you have to live close enough to a college that you can commute to on time for labs. My nearest college is Sligo IT and they didn't have anything suitable so I had to go to Maynooth, 75 miles away.


I've worked my way through all the sciences so I think I'm done there now (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Ag Science, Maths). I'm the only teacher qualified in physics in my school, so that will keep it on my timetable. Was provisionally registered to go and do fourth year there this year. Will be delighted to be withdrawing and not forking out college fees again this year.

katydid

rainbowtrout wrote: »

I've worked my way through all the sciences so I think I'm done there now. Was provisionally registered to go and do fourth year there this year. Will be delighted to be withdrawing and not forking out college fees again this year.

I did something similar after I finished college back in the eighties. Not the sciences, mind you. I did English and History in first year, but had to drop them in second and third year. So after my dip, I went back and brought the English up to degree level by night. When I finished the English, I started doing the same with History. But at the time I was picking up work everywhere I could, so doing two nights of teaching evening classes, so I used to go to history lectures on a Friday night and more or less fall asleep.

The English got me the job I have now.

Maybe one day I'll go back and finish the history...

maynooth_rules

So I did one year of English in my Arts degree. How many credits does that give me and how much do i need to make up to get it teaching council registered? I presume Oscail is the easiest process?

rainbowtrout

maynooth_rules wrote: »

So I did one year of English in my Arts degree. How many credits does that give me and how much do i need to make up to get it teaching council registered? I presume Oscail is the easiest process?

It depends how many modules you did. Typically modules are 5 credits in most of the colleges I think.

Currently until the end of 2016 you need 54 credits. From Jan 1 2017 you need 60 credits. You have to have taken English to at least third year and I'd imagine that certain topics have to be covered in English too. Oscail is probably the most straightforward way of doing it.