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Secondary education

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Original poster

Secondary teacher training options?

22 replies

smartiejake · 04/12/2008 13:54

Ok. So DH (an economist with a degree in Maths and Economics and a Msters in econometrics) has had enough of the city (worked there for 20 years)and is seriously thinking about retraining to be secondary school teacher.

What are the options and how do you go about applying?
Thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
smartiejake · 04/12/2008 16:41

bump

OP posts:
Blandmum · 04/12/2008 19:31

He will need to get either a PGCE (which is a year in collage/ with the OU) or to a GTP where he trains 'on the job' in a school on a reduced time table (50%) the latter will pay around £13,000 for the year. GTP will also take a year.

Get him to spend some time in a school first. he will find that things have changed a bit since he was in school! ;-)

OU is a good option, as you can to the book learning in your own time while continuing to work....teaching practice has to be done in school some of it part time, some full time.

I trained as a mature student and it was a fantastic move. Just so long as he doesn't think that it is a low stress/work load job

duckyfuzz · 04/12/2008 19:34

see tda website for all the info

DoNotsAntlers · 04/12/2008 19:35

MB...just the perfect person....I know that you say that it was a fantastic move for you. But do you ever regret any aspect of retraining? What about teh pay...did you take a pay cut to do it (sorry - please don't answer if that is too personal a question).

What was the trigger for you doing your PGCE (again don't answer if too personal)?

It is something that I too am considering - and I think that we may have similar career backgrounds. I was just wondering how you found it and how you managed to tear yourself away from your former career...

GrimmaTheNome · 04/12/2008 19:44

a year in collage ... that seems a bit much even for infant teachers, surely not requisite for secondary?

I have a friend who thought teaching might be a good second career... did a 'teacher taster' 3 day course, then signed on to a part time course - could be done in between 1 and 3 years. Got fed up with it - too much apparently unecessary paperwork. Figured she could make more doing part-time consulting.

I don't mean to be offputting (my parents were teachers and I have the greatest respect), but do make sure he's thought it through. Good luck!

Blandmum · 04/12/2008 19:55

I had left paid work to stay at home with the kids. I had always wanted to be a teacher as a child and once the kids wer old enough I knew that I wanted to retain and get started.

So pay, isn't great, but more than I was getting as a full time mum! You start as an NQT on around £19,000. after 6 years I'm now on £30,000. I do a 55 hour week (40 hours in school and around 15 hours marking/prep work at home and/or parents evenings etc) I'm fast at planning and efficient at marking. Holidays are obviously good.

DoNotsAntlers · 04/12/2008 20:02

Problem for me is that £19K is a significant pay cut (and I am only part time - 32hrs...so I would be getting a lot less for a lot more). I know that the money isn't why you do it but sadly I think that it is too big a barrier for me .

Original poster
smartiejake · 04/12/2008 21:32

Thanks for your replies. I am a teacher myself with a degree and a PGCE although I'm not in secondary and know that the training options are different to when I qualified 21 years ago.

I was talking to him this evening and told him he really needs to spend some time in schools (both primary and secondary) to decide before he commits to a course. As you have said it's very different to when he was at school and I want him to know what he's letting himself in for.

Although he has been thinking about a career change for a long time I'm not sure he fully realises that the job involves so much more than standing in front of kids and teaching.

OP posts:
babbi · 03/01/2009 20:07

Sorry to crash this but as I am also hoping to retrain maturely !
Smartie jake you said :
I'm not sure he fully realises that the job involves so much more than standing in front of kids and teaching.

I wondered if you would mind telling me a little more about that ? I know about planning and marking but am not sure what else is involved . If you have a minute could you advise what else is part of the job ? It would be MFL that I would teach - if that helps ???
TIA

scienceteacher · 03/01/2009 20:23

DoNotAntlers,

You are right that it is a paycut but also that you don't go into teaching for the money.

When I started teaching back in 1994/95, I gave up a job in industry were I was earning £30k. I've only just past that number now, although most of my former colleagues are knocking on the £100k door. However, I would not trade my life for theirs.

After qualification, I taught for just four terms before going on a very long maternity leave (8 years). I can't think of any other professional job that I could walk into and earn over £25k after a long career break.

I get 19 weeks holiday a year and I really don't do any work during that time. What I like about my job is that I really feel like I get to live a double life. The holidays are just long enough that I get to feel like a SAHM when I am not working. I feel like I have the best of both worlds.

My job is secondary in the household - DH is the main breadwinner. But it is a very useful secondary contribution.

scienceteacher · 03/01/2009 20:24

where passed

oh, I wish Mumsnet would let us edit our posts

Heated · 03/01/2009 20:28

You spend a most of your non contact marking and preparing - the PGCE/GTP and the NQT year are very demanding in this respect and then afterwards it gets a lot easier. Also whilst training you will have college assignments to complete and a portfolio of evidence to gather.

You also spend time supplying information about students in one form or another (phoning parents, writing reports, reporting data, filling in absence reports, parents evenings...), attending before and after school meetings.

Heated · 03/01/2009 20:39

Quite a few people have spoken about wishing to retrain as a teacher - attracted by the 30k+ salary and long holidays - but can takes 5-6 years to get to that point, although previous experience can lead you starting higher up on the scale salary scale.

Other factors to bear in mind are a decent pension - we pay in 6%, govt pay in 8% (I think!), threshold payment which takes you over the 31k and of course promotion allowances.

If you train as a GT you get a salary between 14-19k depending on subject taught. You teach a 70% timetable & need to find a school willing to place you. Because you are thrown into the deep end from the off - both you and the school need to know that you can hack it - so often a GT student will go into the school for a few weeks/half a term beforehand - sometimes this is paid (depends on the GT's relationship with the school) but often it's unpaid.

slayerette · 03/01/2009 20:42

Ooh - the school where I work is looking for economics teachers now! And it's a private school so he could train on the job

Waswondering · 03/01/2009 20:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JJ · 03/01/2009 20:53

I've looked into this but can't hack the time commitment - I want to at least be home for school runs a couple days a week. Is there any part-time work for secondary teachers? Like 3 days a week? I qualify for the GTP and my degrees are in chemistry which I've heard is a subject schools need. If it helps, the reason I'd like to do it is that I haven't worked in chemistry in years but still love it and liked working as a TA for gen chem classes when I was at graduate school.

scienceteacher · 03/01/2009 21:01

You can work part-time as a secondary school teacher.

I teach Chemistry and love it.

Heated · 03/01/2009 22:21

I'm p/t (work 3 days, others work only mornings or you can even job share) You can also do a part-time PGCE through the OU and I think you can also do a part time GTP, since you can accelerate it, you ought to be able to decelerate it too!

happilyconfused · 03/01/2009 23:25

There are more opportunities to teach maths than economics. I did the PGCE route even after the first year I felt that I was working twice as hard for less than half my old salary, but now I have three years under my belt I have built up my resource bank and know the schemes of work things are easier. I am also more confident when handling kids, and more importantly their parents.

I think the tricky bit was getting the PGCE - I burnt my folder in celebration of passing

JJ · 04/01/2009 17:15

Thanks! Oh the thought of dealing with parents makes me want to cry. Is it so bad at secondary school?

wotuhohohoinat · 04/01/2009 17:27

I did a SCITT course (School Centred Initial teacher Training) which gave you a realistic expectation of life as a teacher. That was 6 years ago. I have now given up teaching in order to have a life!

NewTeacher · 05/01/2009 10:43

i trained on the GTP last year and am now on my NQT year.

Yes its a massive pay cut it will take me years to get what I was earning in industry over 5 years ago!

But I'm doing it as someone else said...I'm not the main bread winner and I enjoy it and it fits in with the kids schedule so is great.

I teach secondary IT by the way!

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