Teaching in an independent school - what's it like?

[TheMagicFarawaySea]

I'm looking at a graduate entry position that's been advertised and is local to me, training on the job. It would be a complete career change and a huge pay cut so a massive risk, but I've always wanted to teach. Maybe I'm having a midlife crisis but I'd love to hear about what it's like, good and bad!

Bump!

A lot of schools offer teacher training positions - it doesn't mean all your teaching experience will be done in that one school necessarily.

I looked into this a few years back- it was a great scheme with a lot of career changers taking it up. The teachers were all pretty inspirational people - decided against it as the idea in the end.

The only way to truly decide is to contact them and go in for a meeting/taster day at the school?

Beware this route if you want qualified teacher status.

If you are going to work in that school/only independent ones forever then find but any state school will need QTS.

This can be an excellent route into working in private/independent schools.

Whether it will suit you will in large measure depend on the personality of the school's leadership team and the culture they set. Since it is local to you, I would encourage you to find some contacts who can give you an idea of the culture and approach of the school.

Good luck, with the right school it can be really life enhancing. The wrong one ... not so much.

It can be an amazing way in. A family member had a QTS fully funded by the independent school. While it was a big pay cut (massive!) for them, it was more manageable by a long way compared to them going into the state sector via one of the other routes for graduates.

Great advice, thank you. I've a lot to think about!