Becoming a Computing Teacher (Scotland)

[MPFP]

Hello, I posted this before on AIBU but was advised to also put this here - I hope this is alright!

I'm from England, but I now live in Scotland. I have a Computer Science degree and I'm considering getting into teaching.

Please can someone tell me if this is a mad decision to make? Does anyone else do this? Is the state of the teaching profession really awful in Scotland as well as in England?

I am in the process of contacting a few schools to try and get some first-hand experience, but I would be grateful for as many perspectives as possible!

Teachers in Scotland (I am one by the way!) don't have half the crap thrown at them that our colleagues down South have!
We aren't mauled by "Ofsted" - we are inspected by HMIE who are a far less brutal body.
They tend to evaluate whole departments by observing most teachers but they don't single out individuals for praise or condemnation - their comments are along the lines of "Most teachers do X, Y or Z with some doing excellent teaching".
We also aren't nearly as target driven - yes, results are scrutinised but PTs are always well aware that some pupils may have put in no effort or revision. We are also able to stop pupils sitting the final exams at present if they are performing poorly in assessments because (at present) they must pass all internal Unit assessments with only one chance to re-sit.

We have one exam board so everyone sits the exam in a level playing field which is hopefully fairer than having all these different exam boards they have in England?

Whilst we have had curriculum changes and moving goal posts up here for a couple of years I don't believe we've encountered anywhere near the high stress levels.

Our teaching is less prescriptive I think up here? Very detailed schemes of work and lesson plans seem to be the "thing" down South? Or so I've gathered from reading stuff on here?
But teachers up here follow the exam boards Assessment Specifications and as long as they cover the mandatory content the rest is up to them. Nobody is demanding lesson plans that are pages long up here!
I get the impression we are trusted more to do our job!

Another difference - secondary teachers can only teach subject certificate classes that they are fully qualified for - I.e. no teaching Maths if you are Geography or whatever.
If a teacher is on long term absence the school must try to get a subject specialist in on supply after 4 days. Mind you supply teachers are getting harder to find now.

Phew - that was long and I should point out that we don't have a perfect system by any means but I read horror stories on here all the time from teachers in England

About 10 years ago a colleague of mine with a Computer Science and Maths degree left software and took up teaching. She loves it - but she teaches maths. She looked at Computing but decided the people setting computing exams and the curriculum were at best incompetent and at worst deliberately incompetent.

Having seen some of the exams and sample answers I agree with her.

You'll walk into a job when you qualify but you will need to obtain a relevant teaching qualification to teach. As previous posters have said you are only registered to teach in the subject you have obtained registration in. Many then obtain dual qualification if they have other subjects at the appropriate SCQF level and are prepared to complete another probationary period. Depending on the content of your degree you could end up Computing, Maths or even Graphics.

I still love teaching. I think we are more fortunate this side of the border.