Golden hellos on teacher training schemes

[CatWranglersAnonymous]

Just saw a link to this scheme advertised on my old uni's careers service page.

www.futuretraining.org/finance/

They're offering scholarships and bursaries to eligible graduates, yet they still haven't filled up their places.

I just can't even believe what kind of a mess we're in with teacher recruitment.

I should say - I had a shit experience with a similar teacher training scheme, and resigned, so I'm biased, but what is it with these fast-track teacher training schemes promising graduates the moon on a stick only for them to be chucked in at the deep end and expected to teach full lessons from their very first day on the scheme.

I actually think one possible solution would be to stop treating education as a political game. One of the problems in the continual introduction of ill thought through schemes, with no time to bed them in properly, or test them out, in order to make a particular govt or minister look good. If education was removed from the control of the govt of the day, and instead handed over to a cross-party committee, we'd see less of it being used to satisfy someone's clueless ambition and more of it actually being done to benefit the kids. Which in turn would, I suspect, lead to the teachers staying.

Never going to happen. At least not until I am world leader...

I actually think one possible solution would be to stop treating education as a political game.

Yes!^^ That too.

I love teaching (primary), but a lot of the people I graduated with aren't at schools which work to reduce their work load. I can see how a lot of them won't do this as a career for life. But I am a career changer too (although not from a stressful job!), and that helps a lot.

Well, I don't know about the profession as a whole, but I can explain why I'm leaving the state sector:

• behaviour / lack of support in dealing with behaviour
• workload
• lack of accountability for slt

And how to deal with these:

• clear behaviour policies which are consistently enforced with no financial penalty for excluding students providing the behaviour policy has been followed
• a strict limit on working hours to include out-of-classroom hours (ideally something sensible like 45 or 50 hours term time only)
• a professional membership body for head teachers (like the GMC for doctors, or the ACA for chartered accountants)

I was a career changer too Griffin I don't think it does help. I think it makes it worse because you see how much more sensible things are 'outside'.

I also taught overseas (2 countries both in state schools) so know that things don't need to be so awful. It is perfectly possible to be a good teacher and have a work/life balance and for children to receive a good education.

I think individual schools can make things better (or worse) but the whole system and the priorities are wrong imo.

I quit last year. I taught a very shortage subject and if I went into training now, I'd be on £40k tax free. Then there's the shock of NQT salaries! The state sector is a fucked up mess. I preferred my time in independent. However, it was time to go. Of my PGCE cohort, only about half of us are still teaching (We've all quit within 5 years). Something has to give with the horrendous blame culture, excessive and ridiculous scrutiny and absurd workload. My teaching salary wasn't that bad but once I worked out an hourly rate for what I actually did. Nearly cried. Would have been better off in Tesco.

Bobbin I'm so sorry to hear that.

I agree as well that even with the apparently generous training bursary, this isn't very much at all as an hourly rate once trainees take into account all of the hours that they work. Working from 7am to 10pm (at least) is the norm really.

I just worked out what my hourly rate was, and it was just over £5 an hour.

There were 14 of us who graduated in 2006 in my cohort. 6 of us are still teaching... we are one of the shortage subjects.

Incidentally 2 of the ex military two qualified are teaching where I teach and they are bloody brilliant.

There are 2 unfulfilled posts where I teach. We are outstanding graded by OFSTED too.

Not one of these schemes, but DD got a place on a PGDipE (higher academic level than a PGCE), qualified with her good degree classification for a £9000 bursary (fees and living expenses to be added to her student debt) but has decided to withdraw. I'm a teacher, her dad and step mum are teachers - she doesn't want to do it. Can't face it when it comes to having to actually do it. So now good graduates are dropping out before they even train: something needs to be done.

Sorry to hear about your DD cardibach had she set her heart on teaching? What would she like to go into now?

I work in an amazingly successful state secondary school; well resourced, well-behaved students, supportive parents etc. But we have about 10 vacancies for September across Maths, Science and PE. We have advertised more than once for these jobs and recently held interviews for one subject but NONE of the candidates even turned up!! So like most schools we'll be using non-specialists and unqualified teachers to fill the gaps - the parents will go mad when they find out...

I trained and taught primary in Ireland where teaching is a lovely job - turn up at 8.30, implement the teaching plan you've been trusted to develop as a professional, do some marking, head home at 5.15.

Then I came to teach in the UK. Six months later I left on maternity and I'll never go back. How anyone teaches here is beyond me. It's hideous.

Gosh Sparrow :( interesting how it differs so much between Ireland and the UK.