Teaching in an independent school

[NotElizabethAllen]

I’m an academic and have, for a long time, been considering moving into teaching in the private sector (no PGCE). I love teaching, I'm good at it and I'd like to do more of it. However, I never attended a private school myself and I definitely don’t fit in to the boarding school culture that I witnessed when I had interviews at these schools previously (actually, I had a pretty rough experience being patronised and belittled by one of the teachers). I’ve ruled out boarding schools and am looking at day schools. But - apart from the fact that I’m not sure I can even make this move - I am still worried about the culture shock. I’m used to the students but staff seem to be products of private schools themselves: I have a regional accent, was educated in a fairly rough state school and…I’m worried about it. I’m also used to relating to students on a very relaxed and informal level so I guess this would need tightening up!

I was hoping to hear from teachers working in these schools about their thoughts on this. Or from other academics that have made this move? Is it even possible? I'm talking about a huge career change here so I'm painfully aware of how much I don't know.

Many thanks :-)

We certainly wouldn’t restrict you to under 15s, by the way. If we didn’t think you were up to A Level teaching, we wouldn’t appoint you! We all teach everyone from Y7 to Year 13. I’d expect someone who had been an academic to be more at home in an A Lebel classroom than with the little ones, really.

Do a PGCE, get properly qualified and you'll feel more confident. Why do you want to work in an independent school? In my opinion education is a right not a privilege: you could do great work in a school helping kids that are in similar circumstances to what you were when you were young.

My dc go to a British international school overseas and they have a wide range of teachers from the UK with all sorts of accents and backgrounds.

Thanks all for the helpful responses and especially for your positivity @Annebronte

I can't do a PGCE as I have a full time job and I couldn't afford to quit it to undertake study, especially without a job to go to. So that's why I'm not considering state schools. Thanks for making me aware of all the potential pitfalls, it's given me a lot of food for thought :-)

OP I read The Making of Her by Clarissa Farr last year, ans from memory it has a whole chapter on how the independent school she led recruited teachers, including an anecdote about someone who had only ever taught FE. It’s secondhand for about £2, it might be worth a read if that’s the sort of school you’re aiming for.

@NotElizabethAllen

Thanks all for the helpful responses and especially for your positivity *@Annebronte*

I can't do a PGCE as I have a full time job and I couldn't afford to quit it to undertake study, especially without a job to go to. So that's why I'm not considering state schools. Thanks for making me aware of all the potential pitfalls, it's given me a lot of food for thought :-)

In that case you are limiting your opportunities massively. It's true that only private schools usually employ unqualified staff -if you want to teach you should be prepared to do the training IMO. I wouldn't want my dc being taught by someone unqualified.

As a qualified teacher it undermines the profession having unqualified teachers in classrooms, independent or not. I'm sure you're a lovely person and great academic OP but don't undermine the training teachers do, behaviour management, phonics, assessment, planning, curriculum and lots more.

Also, do you realise as an unqualified teacher your pay could be half of someone qualified? I know independents don't follow the pay scales as such but some do and are informed by them. There is a separate wage for unqualified teachers.

[quote NotElizabethAllen]@PotteringAlong yes, this is something I'm very aware of. I do have a teaching qualification but it relates to HE and I also have experience teaching A-level and GCSE (though the latter is at a private tuition level). I'm looking at jobs that want A-level teaching as part of the parcel. My hope would be that an employer would think I'm good enough to invest in - I'd need further training that's for sure. But when I've interviewed at schools before it's always been made clear to me that this could potentially be done 'on the job' so I guess that's what I'm hoping for 😬[/quote]
A few one to one tuition sessions is really not like classroom teaching.

I don't mean to undermine the profession at all, I've made it clear that I'm unsure if I could make this move, just that I want to make it. But I understand it's not looking like a move I can make after all. I have the utmost respect for teachers and the training that they do and if I had my time again I'd do things differently. But I don't have that option right now so I'm just working with what I have.

Just to defend myself Kaptain, I have done a little bit more than one to one sessions - I have got experience teaching in classrooms in independent schools and I've also been involved in outreach teaching for schools. By no means am I a qualified teacher and I am not claiming to be but I'm not considering a career change based on nothing.

People do make the move, who wouldn’t be able to afford to stop work and train. Some schools will take staff on as unqualified teachers and pay them (around half of a qualified teacher) and train them on the job, funding their qualifications. There are also bursaries available for training to teach certain subjects in state schools which as tax free, actually pay more than a newly qualified teacher gets.

A few searches on google would easily bring up the information about costs and schemes for training.

Essentially though Op, your first post especially, suggested you would like to get into teaching but you were focused on independent, not because you felt a real pull in that direction (and in fact lots of aspects of independent didn’t feel comfortable to you) but because it seemed the only way you could get into it without stopping work and losing a salary. Independent schools would quickly get a sense of that being the reasoning and of course it would t make you appealing. What they want is enthusiastic people with promise, who are committed to excellence in the classroom, but also and especially a huge commitment to the wider aspects of independent education. So they might be willing to take an academic, unqualified teacher who is also a hockey coach, or will run the weekend debating competitions, and they might well sign you up in your contract to X amount of extra curricular and holiday work too. They may well be willing to train you, or train you after a year or two if you are able to bring useful things.

Of course, teaching has to work for you and your family and financial situation for the move to be viable. It can provide higher pay plus lots of stability, good pension (although the smaller I dependnetns are pulling out of the teaching pension now) but as most teachers will tell you, people are leaving in droves and the hours, workload and regulation regime are pretty punitive. It’s all the stuff behind the sense and the hours spent not in front of the class that people forget about.

I’d say look into the whole thing more throughly.

1. Look into if school teaching us actually what you’d like to do - talk to teachers, see if you can visit a schools no do some observation....start in a state school.
2. Look into the various training and funding possibilities - job based, institution based etc.
3. Think about the type of school that fits your ethos and school set and where you will fit theirs.

I don’t think you actually sound genuinely interested in independent education. You’ve got lots of prejudices about it and really wer interested in a quick and easy way into teaching as a non-qualified who felt they didn’t have the time or finances to get qualified and have more options. However, perhaps you are genuinely interested in teaching and there could be ways to make that happen for you. Sometimes people in HE or FE think school work will be better - permanent contracts, security etc etc. Some make the leap and lots decide it’s not for them. Perhaps it might be for you.

That is so helpful, thank you @WombatChocolate. In terms of my motivation, I already have a permanent (stable) and well-paid academic job so I am purely considering this out of a genuine passion for teaching - I know it would involve a pay cut etc and a return to unqualified status. Any experience I have has been within the independent sector or with students that have come from those schools so that's why I gravitate that way (apart from all of the logistics too!)

It's interesting, too, that you mention additional skills that would add to the wider curriculum - I do have that (drama related). In fact, the opportunity to employ those is another thing that really appeals to me. You've highlighted all of the things to consider really helpfully, thank you

My independent school take teachers without PGCEs and just lets them do it on the job. It’s worth you applying to places and seeing what they say. What about this: www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/english-teacher-hertfordshire-1387062

Its also worth considering the financial implications long term....
It may cost you money to get the QTS but in the long run you'd get a higher salary and other opportunities such as leadership which would well go over the initial lay out.

Also you may get a job at an independent school then be stuck there because you can't apply anywhere else due to being unqualified. What if they got rid of you? Could you easily go back to your previous job?

As your experience is more with older students I would look at more traditional senior schools that start at year 9.

Also, don’t write off all boarding schools based on 1 experience. They are all different. I teach in a boarding school, and love it. Though it is a lifestyle job that you have to be very committed to.

What subject do you want to teach.

There are teachers from all backgrounds in independent fee-paying schools, along with groundsmen, lab technicians, secretaries and many other professionals. The idea that you have to have attended that type of school to fit in is ridiculous.

What I would ask though is "Why not do a PGCE?" Lots of academics who go into school teaching take a year to train properly. Before doing a PGCE, why not get some work experience in some schools to see if you like it.

Experience of teaching university students is not particularly relevant for teaching 13 year olds and, in day schools, you will likely have 11 year olds too. They are all children. They need well structured lessons provided by someone with professional training. As a teacher, the main difference between state and private is that you need to be willing to do much more extracurricular. Think taking sport three times a week and taking one or two extracurricular activities after school or on Saturday afternoons. Your teaching day will be more spread out to accommodate all this, so you will probably finish teaching the final lesson of the day at 6pm.

I taught in a local v. academic girls day school. It was horrible. Most of the girls were spoilt madams. Nothing to do with accent or background - just attitude of entitlement. My kids go to boarding school and i would be mortified if they behaved in such a way! I much prefer teaching in the local comp - i feel like i'm making a difference.

Don't bother.
you wouldn't fit in.

@likelylikely
where the fuck do you get the money from?