Can anyone talk to me about teacher training?

[beckywiththeshithair37]

I graduated 10 years ago with a BA hons degree. Then had dc unexpectedly and have spent the last 8 years working in an admin office. Dc are growing up now and I'm thinking about a change of career. I have always wondered about primary age teaching. I already have my degree so would just need to do the Pgce teacher training.

Can anyone who has knowledge or experience of this let me know how it works? How long is the qualification and is it predominantly work based (so working in a school) or uni based or a mixture of both? How long is the course typically and are you fully qualified to teach afterwards? Is it possible to train while I still work in my current job or is it a full time thing? Any advice would be fab! As you can tell I'm a bit clueless

It may have changed, but as afar as I know, it’s still a year long course, with some time at university, but mostly placement in schools. It’s VERY full on, so I don’t think you could do other work as well.

After the year, you are an NQT and will have a 10% timetable reduction, a mentor and will have to demonstrate that you meet the standards required to gain QTS.

yes 1 year pgce full time. I don’t know if the graduate teacher programme is still around? Basically you are trained at school and paid a (very small) wage at same time. Depends if you have a good training school nearby But alternative?

Would also suggest volunteering as a reader or similar to see if you like it? I hated primary love secondary. Also see if any subjects ages are offering bursary’s as a shortage area

SCITT is another route in. Expect VERY long days and a lot of paperwork. Don't expect that to change when you qualify.

Definitely do some volunteering in a school, I think it's a requirement of any teaching course. The more experience you can get, the better. I think the minimum they ask for is 5 days, but that won't even scratch the surface of what it's really like.

Thanks all, this is why I posted here first. It's good to hear from people who have experienced it first hand. I'm still not 100% sure it's what I want to do. And I feel like it's something you need to be totally committed to. I would be worried about stepping out of full time work and not earning a lot but my dp would support me if I really wanted to retrain.

Get into Teaching

Try to get into schools to see whether it is for you. Primary and secondary are very different so make sure you consider what age you would like to teach.

You don't necessarily need to do a full PGCE (QTS + masters credits). You could look at a QTS only programme which may be slightly less busy. As a career changer you could look at a School Direct salaried route - you would be paid as an unqualified teacher for the year. SD salaried is expensive for schools though, and these places are becoming harder to find. Most providers have information meetings so find your closest and sign up.

I did SD a few years ago. Shortage subject so they snapped me up ASAP. I got paid more to train than I got in my NQT year (£25k but it’s since changed).

Now I’ve done a few years I’m coming to realise that most of the training sessions were pointlessly generic. I’m still teaching but I’m actively looking for subject specific CPD that is actually worth doing. There isn’t much around!

I did the one year primary PGCE 4 years ago after years in an industry. I was school based and went to uni roughly once a month but to local theory training every week for half a day.

It was tough, I won't lie, but worth it. If I hadn't had assignments, it would have been ok but those, coupled with lesson planning which increased as the year went on, was very stressful. However, I was in a great school and had a great mentor, which made all the difference. My NQT year was great, I was in a very supportive school and they wanted to keep me but we relocated.

In my experience, you're only as good or as stressed as the school you're in. I think I've been lucky. Happy to answer any questions you may have either on here or by PM.

I’d agree with Meeda on the school you’re in making or breaking you.

My NQT year was awful for all of us- by Christmas 80% of us NQTS had made the decision to leave, and one left teaching permanently- it was THAT bad.

My next school was better but I ended up moving on because they couldn’t afford to keep us all, despite my subject being in severe shortage. My current school is great and I’m making plans to stay for the rest of my career.