is there an equivalent of teacher type casting?

[twinsetandpearls]

I am applying for a post at a well known northern grammar school but have a sinking feeling that because I have always taught in the state sector and of late have taught in a so called "sink school" I stand no chance even though I am a very very good teacher (IMO but also based on the opinions of other colleagues)

Has anyone else made the leap from struggling state school to the private sector.

The fact that you are a very good teacher may go against you. Only kidding.

I know of many teachers who have gone from state to private sector. You will have much to say at your interview.

I am worried that they will think because I have taught in a school that very few teachers would want to teach in they will think I taught there because I had no choice now while that may be true in terms of geography -although I was offered other jobs - it is not in terms of my teaching ability.

I personally think that if you can go into your interview and talk about new initiatives to raise standards then they will look at you favourably - although i did have a very uncomfortable conversation with an 'older' teacher who thought I taught at the excellent private school who had a very similar name to the dump challenging school I did actually teach at.

I thought by type casting you were talking about me (as a Geography teacher) wearing a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches!

How do your individual class results stand up against the rest of the school?

Perhaps you also wanted to teach there because you had the pupils' best interests at heart. Interviewers like loyalty I think.

Good advice Lucycat.

I am about to take my first key stage 4 class through to GCSEs.

My KS3 results are probabaly better especially and I am one of our better practioners in terms of encouraging and rewarding high achievement

I don;t teach as SATS tested subject though, they may want a more high profile subject.

Do you think that you will 'fit their profile' of how they perceive their teachers to be?

How about A Level? Do you teach it now?

I have taught A level and miss teaching it. I have a good academic background, a good degree from a redbrick uni and a thirst for learning that I sometimes feel is not being fulfilled where I am currently working.

In my GCSE class the other week I was asked something I could not answer immediatly and got a real buzz from having to go and find out the answer, that does not happen very often in the school I currently teach at. Coincedently in the same week my other GCSE class had a very insightful discussion lesson that forced me to recall stuff I had learnt at uni and again it was such a thrill. I don't want to sound pompous I just love my subject and I love the craft of teaching and sometimes feel as if I am becoming crowd control/ social worker than doing what I am very good at.

I am known as one of the teachers really commited to stretching the pupils at my current school and teaches lessons that other members of staff may sniff at and say our kids couldn't do. I geneuinely think there are few teachers who could rival me in terms of my subject knowledge and the ability to teach in a way that gets high academic standards. Arrogant perhaps but my job is one of the few areas in which I do have confidence.

You certainly sound as though you have the subject knowledge and desire for the job - if that comes across as clearly at interview as it does here then I'd say they'd be a fool not to employ you.

Good luck - let us know how you get on?

I will do, have to put away my little guilty voice and just get on with the application.

My mother taught for 20 years at an excellent girls' grammar and surprisingly, they often had trouble filling posts, because type-casting does work in the other direction - ie once you've been teaching at a school with no discipline problems they assume you won't be able to take the pace elsewhere, so many teachers were afraid to risk it in case they got stuck there. I was at the school myself and we certainly had teachers coming to us from a range of places.

I think you explained here very articulately why you want to make the move. Good luck.

Thankyou Kathy. ( who is making me think actually I am in the mood to eat 6 mince pies)

Prob easier to move from state to private than other way round. The state sector is usually streets ahead in terms of initiatives; also, you have to be able to teach to a wide ability range not just above average. IME colleagues have found it relatively easy to move state to private , more tricky to go the other way.

yes that would make sense inthegutter

What might wrong-foot you is the emphasis sometimes put on offering extra-curricular skills. D of E, sport, music, ability to drive the mini-bus, run trips - they like that something extra.

Indeed, they, sometimes, take the teaching side for granted. My last Head wanted to appoint someone because she liked sailing - the fact she couldn't control the class was by the by .

I don't know you but good luck! My children go to a private school and one of the best teachers there came from one of the toughest (is that the right word? most challenging?) state schools in Liverpool. You must have so much to offer. All the best.

1066 good point, I do do lots of extra curricular stuff at my present school and would love to get more involved in D of E so need to make a point of that.

thankyou candypandy

I moved from state to private - no problems getting in. Lots of colleagues have done the same, even after many years in state.

The training is good in state schools, as are the routines that you have to do (eg 3-part lessons, assessment routines, etc.) that private schools will value, even if they don't lay down the law about them.

The key things they will be looking out for are your exam results, enthusiasm for your subject, committment to every child, general professionalism, and willingness to take part in the full life of the school.

My teacher colleagues (I am not a teacher, but I work with them) tell me that private schools very often prefer teachers who have been in the state sector. There are, they say, too many poor teachers who spend their whole lives in the private sector because they lack the confidence to deal with what they think they'd find in the Big Bad World.

So go for it with your head held high. Having taught, and survived, in a sink school is a heck of a strength: it shows that you will be able to concentrate on teaching without getting distracted by discipline or class management problems.

Nothing to do with being able to teach for a whole lesson, less bureaucracy, and 19 weeks holiday a year then?

I am not even going to deny that those are attractions Amerryscot. I have given a number of years to teaching in difficult schools and for the past three years my dd has seen very little of me due to the hours you need to put in to be a successful teacher in such a school.