Training to be a primary school teacher

[JeanBrodie]

I'm thinking of applying to train as a primary school teacher. There seem to be various routes for graduates, ie PGCE, SCITT, GTP. From what I can see the GTP (where you are employed by a school while training) seems like the best option for me, but it would be really useful to hear from any teachers or trainee teachers about the pros and cons of each.

Would also love to hear from any teachers/trainees what motivated you to train as a teacher, how you feel about working in the profession, how easy it is to fit family life around it etc.

Any advice much appreciated

I believe that there is a surplus of primary teachers and lots without jobs. WHat experience have you got? GTPs are very hard to get and I think you usually need to be working in a school already.
It can fit aroudn a family life in the sense that you have most of the holidays but you will never get to attend school plays/sports days etc. I still dont pick up dd till 6ish on most evenigns and often work in the evenings after this and on Sundays.

Thanks very much rainbow, that's very useful to know. I had no idea there was a big surplus. There seems to be a big drive to get people into teaching, but presumably the shortage is of secondary teachers.

I thought there must be a catch with GTPs. Are these aimed more at people who already have some classroom teaching experience? Would it help do you think to volunteer/try to get a job as a teaching assistant first?

Is a PGCE the more usual route in?

Good point about school plays etc - have you been able to get to any at all? Am not too worried about working evenings and weekends as am quite used to this.

Nope, never been to a school play/progress day/concert/sports day.

some schools do allow for you to go to your own children's school plays. At the last school I worked at we covered classes for each other to be enable parents to go to the plays. That would be more of an exception than a rule though.

That's a shame, rainbow. You obviously have lovely colleagues, girlsyearapart.

Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to get experience before applying to train?

You could contact your local primary school and ask about volunteering. I used to volunteer at a primary school when I was thinking about teaching.

Is there really a surplus of primary school teachers. Thats amazing as it only seems quite recently that even primary school teachers were hard to find for vacant posts. Is it because so many people have gone into teaching through the recession?

Thanks, GothDetective - was wondering about this. Did you go into teaching in the end?

No. It was many years ago and I was doing a criminolgy degree and realised I was going to fail teh police medical. So thought about teaching but was then told that my degree needed to be in a core curriculum subject which it wasn't. I helped out one afternoon a week for about 4 months but too be honest not sure I'd be cut out for teaching. I think I'd prefer secondary school but again my degree is in a useless subject.

In my area there's a massive oversupply of primary teachers. Recently at our primary they had over 100 applicants for a job. Apparently the shortlisted candidates were some of the highest quality the HT had ever interviewed.

GTP is very competitive to get into - at any level - certainly at primary. It is generally aimed at people with a lot of experience in school already.

A friend of mine is starting GTP in September. She has 4 years experience working in secondary school in various roles in the classroom.

What is your degree in? Would you consider secondary?

If you want experience, just phone or write a letter to a local school, or a couple. (Better to have a broader range of experience.) Explain your circumstances and ask if it's possible to shadow a teacher for a week and/or help out in the classroom. Most schools will be happy to accommodate this kind of request, and do get them frequently.

Standard PGCE application requires a minimum of 10 recent days in the classroom.

If you check out the vacancy pages on your LA website you will find very few primary vacancies although this does vary slightly depending on the area but in general there are dozens of teachers chasing each job. I know many schools aren't keen to employ NQTs because of the cost (mentors, additional non contact time etc)
and few are happy with the workload that goes with a GTP unless it is a current unqualified member of staff they know can do the job already.

There really is a shortage of jobs. I am hoping that my temp post which is up for renewal in August, becomes permanent. I found no perm jobs last year, they were all temp ones covering maternity leave etc.

Thanks very much everyone, this is all really helpful. There seem to be a lot of schools near to me that have participated in the GTP, but whether that translates into vacancies now I don't know. Strangely there are no secondary teaching jobs at all on the council website: they are all for primary. There has been a big surge in the birth rate recently here with schools expanding to three form entry, so perhaps this has something to do with it.

Anyway, will get in touch with a couple and ask about volunteering. Thanks for all your help.

I second the line about lots of primary teachers.

A pal of mine qualified with a PGCE in July and has been unable to find a job.

She worked for years as a TA and has lots of school experience; she is also very good I reckon! She keeps getting told she was the second choice at interviews which is nice but not helping her find work!

Still these things can be cyclical; if you get some experience now OP and apply before Dec this year to do PGCE in Sept 2011, qualifying in 2012, well, that's 2.5 yrs away and all may change by then!