Teaching Jobs Info.

[Guest jasonleefarr]

Hi,

I have been off work for the day today due to the winter snow and have stumbled across this forum- which I have to say is more informative than any site I have accessed about migrating to Oz. We recently enlisted an agent here in the UK to begin our application for a State Sponsored Visa to Victoria; based upon my role as a Teacher. We were very excited about the process and the potential future we were investing in. Unfortunately the State of Victoria changed their Skilled Occupation List on the 12th January and blew us right out of the water. Teaching is no longer deemed a skills shortage. We have been told by the same agent that we could get a Temporary 3 Yr Visa to SA, (hopefully Adelaide). However we are slightly cautious and worried about the instability of this Visa. Our 12 yr old daughter is diabetic and as such securing medical support is a priority. I understand this Visa does not give us that so we are currently in contact with a number of medical insurers in Oz.

 

I am also concerned about the job opportunities in Adelaide- I am currently a Head of Sixth Form. I earn a good salary but am uncertain about how easy/ difficult it is to secure equivalent work out there in Oz. How long does it take to find work? Are you at a disadvantage as a migrant? How does the salary structure operate? Do you start as a classroom teacher? plus countless other questions I'm afraid:arghh:!!!!

 

I have read the threads about the process of visa applications and mandatory courses that need to be completed as well as registering with the State but would very much value some advice regarding specifics from someone with direct experience.

 

Can anybody help?

 

Loving this forum!

 

Jason

[Guest Libby1971]

Hi Jason

 

We're loving you loving this forum;)

 

Right a few answers. If you are on a temp res visa, you get a medicare card that says something along the lines of reciprical (sp?) agreement. In essence it covers you for essential treatment. Whatever treatment your daughter needs as a diabetic will be covered on medicare.

 

The almost equivalent of Head of Sixth Form is Head of Senior Years. You could go straight into this if you wanted but I would suggest taking a year coordinator role or faculty coordinator (i.e.HOD or HOY). I think it would be easier to get your head round the exam set up here before trying to offer course counselling etc.

 

You are not at a disadvantage as a migrant per se. It is just hard to get the employment system sorted. Public/ state education is virtually impossible to get into although I know there are exceptions unless you want to go out into the country. Private is hard...I am working with some lovely people who have been at the school I work with for more than 20 years. Sadly this comment applies to more than half the current staff room population so there are going to be some huge spaces to fill when retirement does hit.

 

As a Senior member of staff, you would be expected to support the ethos of the school you were working in. In a private Catholic school, that means a certificate at the very least confirming you were baptised as a Catholic.

 

The salary structure operates the same as the UK. The steps are diffferent...main pay scale has 10 steps, 1 for each year you have been teaching. I am not sure how things work on the upper pay scale but I am not on there yet. A member on here called Bodie is a Senior member of staff I think at a primary school (not sure) so he might be able to give you more info on this.

 

How long it takes you to find work depends...what subject do you teach? If Science/ Maths then you should be able to get some sort of work easier. Both my OH and I are teachers - him primary, me secondary. We arrived in April 2007 (during term 2). In term 3, I got a contract for the term, nothing else after that for me except a few TRT days (supply). OH got a temp contract for half of term 4, and got a job starting term 1 in private school. I got a job at private school from term 2 last year adn have been there since then. OH has been a would be domestic god/ amateur golfer/ dog babysitter/ chauffeur to the kids/ and supervisor of a variety of house fixer upper jobs that have needed doing ever since.

 

I spent term 3 07 as a classroom teacher but did not have management experience per se at Secondary. However am now a HOD.

 

Ask away on here or email me on eawarner60@hotmail.com

 

Hope this gets some of your early questions answered

Libby:jiggy:

[Guest jasonleefarr]

Hi Libby,

 

Wow- thanks!! that is the kind of information I have been asking for and have struggled so far to receive. It is encouraging to hear from somebody else's experience that jobs can be found though it does not sound as though it is neither easy or guaranteed! This is the dilemma- I am the principal wage earner, Sally works part-time and is a full-time Mum. Although we are desperate to move to Oz there is an air of reticence as we are cautious about losing out financially. It seems unlikely of securing a Teaching job before we arrive in Oz and with courses etc to complete before you can register with the state time out of work is bound to gather pace!

 

I am a Fine Art graduate with a PGCE in Design Technology, although I have been a Head of a Media Studies Department for 5 years as well as teaching Food Technology, ICT, Citizenship and General Studies at various stages of my career. Is there a surplus in these subjects? I do have the benefit of being a Catholic (though quite a disaffected one I might add!) which might strengthen my case. Is is feasible to do a recce and arrange to do the three one day courses during that recce so that I could get a head start? If so how could I arrange?

 

I think I might pause there before I frighten the life out of you with endless questions. Thankyou for the kind response and your interest and I hope that I don't do your head in.

 

I will ration my questions carefully.

 

genuine thanks

 

Jason:)

[Guest rich]

I'm going to add my interest to this forum. I'm an English teacher but am really nervous about going out in August. I'm leaving a great job and teaching seems so hard to get into... i hope it's not doom and gloom...

[Guest Bodie]

Jason,

Drop me a pm and I'll signpost and introduce you to the people who can advise you at the CEO (Catholic Education Office). I'll also give you some info on salary packages for senior mgt/ deputy & principal positions. Thanks for the publicity Libby.

Mark

[Guest lynne]

Reciprocal Health Care Agreements

only covers emergency care so if you are run over it would cover this hospital treatment.

 

 

You still have to pay for the ambulance, to see the doctor medication etc

 

Any one with a long term condition need to think seriously which visa they have and the costs of treatment. In Aus you pay for your insulin, pens, needles. You can buy them alot cheaper of SA diabetes than via a chemist.

 

You can find out more information on the Department of health.

 

 

Australia

 

Essential documents

Evidence of UK residence e.g. NHS medical card or UK driving licence and temporary entry permit.

What's free

Public hospital treatment inclundes renal dialysis. Remember, you must arrange this before leaving the UK. Contact your NHS renal unit for further details.

What you'll need to pay for

• treatment at most doctors' surgeries
  
• prescribed medicines
  
• ambulance travel and
  
• dental treatment
  

More information

You will need to enrol at a local Medicare office, but you can do this after you've had treatment. Some treatment charges may be partially refunded by the Medicare scheme and you should try to make your claim while you are still in the country.

[Guest Libby1971]

Yes you can do your courses on a reccie which is exactly what a friend of mine did. She arrived 3 months later with her teacher registration finalised, ready to start work.

 

As for work, well only you can make the decision. In the UK, OH and I worked full time to make ends meet and were usually exhausted. Here I work, OH has not worked since term 2 last year and we are doing fine. Two holidays being taken this year (within Aus) and life is good. The family are doing much better here. I found it hard in the UK to define boundaries for my life especially once I was already teaching. Here because we were redefining everything about our lives it has been somewhat easier to establish limits if you like...this is what I will do at home or at work etc. The fact that one of us is at home has made a huge difference.

 

As for your background in technical studies, yes this will help. It is an increasing area in the curriculum and Food Tech/ ICT is good. If you experience of using interactive whiteboards, then I would push that hard as schools are slowly investing in this technology.

 

Rich, everyone needs to read. English vacancies do come up.

 

The other thing I would say is that in education here, teachers are expected to teach more than one subject. You may be able to teach 2 out of the 3 advertised subjects really well but if someone else comes up who can teach all three, even if it is not as good as you could, then they will get the position over you as the timetable is easier to sort. I am well beyond lucky in that I teach only my subject but my argument was that as a HOD I should have a profile in as many year groups as possible.

 

If none of this makes sense or if it is vague, I apologise. I'll be more focused tonight.

[Guest jasonleefarr]

Hi Libby,

 

Yes that makes perfect sense Libby- thanks. Just out of interest how did your friend get on with work when she arrived?

 

I am happy to teach more than one subject- in fact I can't recall a time when I only taught one subject! Thats a positive to add to my list then.

 

Cheers

 

Jason

[Guest skyblue]

I'm going to add my interest to this forum. I'm an English teacher but am really nervous about going out in August. I'm leaving a great job and teaching seems so hard to get into... i hope it's not doom and gloom...

 

Can I jump on the bandwagon too?!

Like you Rich, I'm an English teacher. Am hoping to be in Adelaide next May.

 

Libby - you mentioned exams. Is it a similar secondary system to here? Are students examined by the school or by external exam boards? (Am sorry if I sound a bit gawpy- I've trawled through umpteen google searches but to no avail. Any info would be much appreciated!)

 

Would you say teaching is as pressured in Oz as it here?

 

(Hope not, as I plan to spend lots of my time at the beach !!!! heehee)

 

Cheers

Skyblue

[Guest rich]

It's nice to know i'm not the only English teacher en route - surely there must be something somewhere. I hope too the pressure is not insane as I have very strong designs on running around like a maniac on a beach of an evening.

 

I guess its true what someone said a few posts up - everyone needs to read... english skills and so forth.

[Guest Libby1971]

Hello

 

The qualification that they gain at end of secondary is a SACE (South Australian certificate of education) and all the courses that are taught over years 11 and 12 give them units that they collate in order to gain that cert. I can never remember the number of units but I think it is something like about 14 units that you have to pass. Some courses are internally assessed and others are assessed through exams. The SACE stuff has just been revised.

 

SACSA are the SA curriculum advisory body who sort other stuff have a look at www.sacsa.sa.edu.au or put sacsa into google.

 

Also if you are teaching at a Catholic school, espcially RE, then there is a document called Crossways which all units in the school have to be cross linked to in some way (Bodie will tell me if I am wrong for other subjects) but certainly for RE.

 

As I have said before, the National Curriculum is planned for introduction in 2010 although I heard on Tues it is now 2011. This is one reason why no-one I work with thinks it will ever happen. There are initial overviews or framing papers outlining these I think and I will find the web links but can't tell you off the top of my head what they are. Humanities based subjects, Eng, Maths and some sciences have been drawn up I think so you might find those helpful when preparing a job application.

 

My friend is a primary school teacher. She arrived during school hols and due to other circumstances she decided to relocate to Cairns. She is hoping to come back here soon though, fingers crossed x

 

I would say that teaching here is not as stressed. Not because it is not stressful, because there are are times when it is...reports season 4 times a year for every class is a headache. However, by moving country, you are able to reorder your life, you create it, you establish it, and my boundaries are much firmer here. Traffic is easier here so that helps. Most Aussies like to live close to where they work but there are plenty of schools all over with most suburbs having a primary.

 

In the UK I worked at at a school, about 35 mins from where I lived non rush hour. Due to no direct bus route, it could take me more than an hour and half to get there by bus, and generally 45 mins if I left the house before rush hour began. I left the house at 7 and left school again as close to 4.00 as I could and would still not get home till half five or later. If OH had a meeting then we might not get home till 6 and then there is dinner to sort.

 

Due to the intense accountability within the UK ed system I think staff there are used to using their time incredibly productively however short it may be. For that reason, if you bring all your stuff with you, that should be enough. I don't think that Aussie teaching is as pressured overall as UK teaching.

 

Hope this helps

[Guest sazzerw]

Hi Libby,

 

Wow- thanks!! that is the kind of information I have been asking for and have struggled so far to receive. It is encouraging to hear from somebody else's experience that jobs can be found though it does not sound as though it is neither easy or guaranteed! This is the dilemma- I am the principal wage earner, Sally works part-time and is a full-time Mum. Although we are desperate to move to Oz there is an air of reticence as we are cautious about losing out financially. It seems unlikely of securing a Teaching job before we arrive in Oz and with courses etc to complete before you can register with the state time out of work is bound to gather pace!

 

I am a Fine Art graduate with a PGCE in Design Technology, although I have been a Head of a Media Studies Department for 5 years as well as teaching Food Technology, ICT, Citizenship and General Studies at various stages of my career. Is there a surplus in these subjects? I do have the benefit of being a Catholic (though quite a disaffected one I might add!) which might strengthen my case. Is is feasible to do a recce and arrange to do the three one day courses during that recce so that I could get a head start? If so how could I arrange?

 

I think I might pause there before I frighten the life out of you with endless questions. Thankyou for the kind response and your interest and I hope that I don't do your head in.

 

I will ration my questions carefully.

 

genuine thanks

 

Jason:)

 

Hi all

 

Another English one here I'm afraid.

 

I too am loving this site - it has confirmed and answered so many areas.

 

However.... could someone please fill me in on the courses mentioned above which need to be completed. i could look it up myself but to be honest I am totally addicted to reading these posts and if someone already knows the answer!!!

 

I am also about to sign up for my Masters but am now wondering whether I should take some kind of correspondence course to bring my second speciality, History, up to speed?

 

Sazzerw