Job searching again, help needed

Spendless

marisco wrote: »

So when our head mentioned in a staff meeting that he was looking to recruit TAs, a number of us put her name forward as a serious contender for one of the roles. She was offered a position the next day

Out of interest without the role being advertised and interviews taking place? A few years back I got through to a few interviews in the public sector, including in a school, but I struggled with the style of interview they did and even when I did well, I strongly suspected I was losing out to a volunteer. It led to me going back to working in the private sector which I understood better so no regrets.

TA's at my kids school tend to be volunteers and also with another string to add to their bow, so the one that can also teach dance or multi-skills were offerred paying roles after a while. Very competitive to get into at least where I live.

peachyprice

It's a bit of a round the houses way of doing it but a few of my friends have started off as mid-days (dinner ladies) just to get a foot in the door and have worked their way up from there. They found by being in the school and creating a good relationship with the head/teachers they were in a good position when a TA post came up and once in have done various courses, one is now doing her teacher training (or whatever is is called now).

teabag29

Thanks for all the advice, I think its probably wise to get some experience behind me before I try and jump into a job and that way i'm more likely to get on the course, therefore ive set myself a little plan.
I'm going leave applying for teaching posts for a year, in the meantime i'm going to keep volunteering at local schools until someone accepts me lol. I am going to continue home educating my daughter and on Thursday evenings im going to join a 44 week course that starts in January in our local community centre, its called working with young children and its a level 3 qualification (goes towards any career working with young kids and gives a good insight into it), if nothing else this will show I have some knowledge int he area as my degree is in Criminology and give me a good insight into it to make sure this is what I really want to do. I also intend to apply for a temp xmas job with one of the retailers in town to get some work experience behind me for my cv and someone to put down as a reference when thw time comes.

Between now and next year I have also set myself a personal goal to pass my driving test so that when I am ready to apply on the PGCE course I am able to get around. I am abit nervous about this as although i'm fairly intelligent I dont have much common sense and also scared about my reaction tmes, I tend to panic first think after and obviously you cant do that when driving. I'm hoping that a little confidence after a few lessons will sort this although i'm a complete beginner, I dont really know the rules of the road (like what lane to be in etc) but am hoping a good read through some theory books will sort that out (I took a quick practice test yesterday online and got 40/50 which is much better than I thought).

Anyway thats my plan for the next year, wish me luck

skattykatty

I would think you were ready to apply for PGCE whenever you wanted to. Granted I did my PGCE a very long time ago, but I got onto a PGCE course and did 2 weeks voluntary work experience at a local Primary just before I started the course and it was fine. The fact that you ARE an educator and understand the system is a huge PLUS!

Good luck with it all. Exciting times ahead.

jemb

A friend of mine did Criminology and then a PGCE. Have you thought of the age you want to teach? As you could go either primary or Secondary, although I'm not sure of your specialism if you did secondary? I would definately call and ask to speak to someone about volunteering. Tell them your predicament that you dont have the experience but would love to get on your course. Also, dont forget the courses will run from Sept, so your next intake would be 2014 courses. Interviews for PGCEs are May time if I remember rightly, so plenty time to fill your CV up with voluntary work to make it stand out.

teabag29

Thankyou thats helpful to know. I got an email back from skitt who advised me of an informal session running later this month where I can meet the course manager and he can advise the best route for me to take Oh and i'd like to teach primary school pupils

greenspark

Hi teabag

Just to add a couple of things (as someone who's worked in PGCE admin):

If you leave it a year or two to apply for the PGCE, do re-check the admissions requirements as these have been changing a lot in recent years. The GTTR and Department for Education websites are good sources of official up-to-date info.

Skills tests - these are numeracy and literacy tests that all PGCE trainees need to pass. In previous years trainees have taken them during the PGCE course, but this year they've had to pass them before the course begins. General chit-chat suggests that in future years providers may prioritise people who have passed the skills tests before they even apply, so worth looking into these in advance via the Department for Education website.

For Primary PGCE, as long as you have a 2:2 or above then the degree subject doesn't matter (at least for the provider I worked for).

Check the minimum school experience required - it was only around 5 days for my workplace and voluntary is fine. But if you can do more that's great. In the summer term you may find that schools have got 'volunteer-fatigue' with so many prospective trainees coming in for a few days experience, so might be worth contacting schools in autumn or spring terms.

Another option is School Direct, which is a new route to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). It's more school-based and there's a salaried route and a non-salaried route. I won't go into details but the Dept for Education website will have info.

Applications open around late Sept each year and it's worth putting one in fairly early on (before Christmas or early in the new year) to make sure it's considered whilst there are still plenty of places. Having said that, lots of people still apply much later in the year, when it is at the waiting list stage, and quite a few still end up on the course.

No certain way of guaranteeing you'll get onto a course but you sound keen and prepared to put in the work and explore options, and those are good signs. Most important - double check everything on the GTTR and Dept of Education websites - what's the case this year might not be in a year or two.

Good luck!