Struggling with getting into primary teaching - please help!

[MsWizz]

Hello.

I'm planning to apply for initial teacher training in November, with the aim of becoming a primary school teacher, and want to do everything I can to maximise my chances of being accepted first time around.

I'd be really grateful for some advice, please, as just getting the wheels in motion is proving more difficult than others' experiences have led me to expect.

As things stand, I have:

• A (recent) strong first class degree in a core curriculum subject, from a RG university;
• Lots of academic prizes from my time at university;
• Lots of work experience connected to education (including Early Years, tutoring, experience of teaching children to read using phonics, and experience of running group tutorial sessions);
• Lots of work experience involving communication skills and holding positions of responsibility;
• A really well-presented CV and covering letter, both of which are definitely free from mistakes and routinely rewritten/tailored to ensure that they are relevant to the schools I'm sending them to. I've shown both documents to a trained CV adviser, who said that they were well written, correctly pitched and focused throughout, and that I had a strong set of qualifications and transferable skills.

So far, I have written to three schools, requesting work experience and offering to volunteer regularly in any capacity they would consider helpful.

The first school gave me a flat refusal within 48 hours, on the basis that I once studied there (nearly 20 years ago, when the site and teachers were all completely different, but never mind).

The second and third schools haven't replied in the week since I got in touch with them, although I know I used the correct email addresses and named the correct person in the subject line and covering letter.

So I'd really appreciate some guidance, please:

Is this normal? I was under the impression that schools were quite eager for volunteers to read with children etc, and I made it very clear that I am willing and able to make a long-term commitment.

How much longer should I wait before following up with schools 2 and 3?

How many schools should I approach in each tranche of emails, and how long should I generally wait before following up?

I'd also be grateful for more general advice about what I could be doing over the next few months to gain experience and strengthen my applications - I have plenty of time on my hands at present, and want to use it wisely. I really miss working with children, and can't wait to get started!

Thank you for taking the time to read this :-)

We've got loads of college and secondary school students, PGCE trainees, BEd students and pre-training work experience people at school. I'm surprised that your previous primary school has declined your request. We've had several previous pupils.

Go to reception and ask who at the school is responsible for student and work experience placements. They might be able to give you a request form to fill in and pass your name on to the right person. Our head or deputy rarely have anything to do with work experience students.

I didn't think of offering booster groups, so that's something I can add in - I'd really love to do it!
Quite honestly, I wouldn't want anyone, who I do not know, who doesn't know our school, our kids or how we work, isn't qualified and has had no training or experience in that area, to take on any of my Y6 booster groups. Most of our volunteers help with FS/KS1 classes. Any students we get for KS2 tend to stay for two or three weeks and work under supervision and direction of the class teacher. They are not a regular feature, unless they complete one of their training placements with us.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to advise me - I really appreciate all of the different perspectives, and it's great to have a few different things to try. You've really helped me to see the situation from the other side, and I don't feel quite so bewildered and directionless any more.

I've tweaked my CV based on your advice, so I'll start visiting other schools in person next Tuesday if my follow-up calls don't yield the results I need.

I've also signed up for the "school experience" site and put in some applications for other voluntary work with young people.

I had to work straight through both school offices' open hours (no breaks, no phone allowed) on Friday and therefore didn't manage to catch anybody at either end of the day, but I'll make sure I call on Monday and go from there.

Onward and (hopefully) upward!

We have had so many volunteers that they routinely outnumber students in some classes.

My advice, and you probably don't want it is NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS CONSIDER TEACHING. It is slave labour. There is nothing about it which is intellectual, or benefits children. Take your RG degree and do something of value with it.

Have to reluctantly agree with Caronaim.
I retrained from another profession a couple of years ago, encouraged by the hype. Maybe now not such a great idea.
|If you can do something else - do it.
Teaching is no longer the Robin Williams 'carpe diem' sunny uplands of inspiring young minds - now all about a production line, focused on 'data'