Do you think your school would be interested in....

[bluesu]

I’m a qualified secondary maths teacher.
I haven’t worked for four years as we did a lot of moving around with DH’s contract.
I’m currently looking for PT work but (as you know) PT jobs are like gold dust!
I’m considering writing to the secondary schools near me offering my services. In my last job I was assistant head, lead maths and science depts, ran whole School data and intervention and also ran initial teacher training. I could also put on a great show and only ever got graded 1 by Ofsted and various consultants.
Honestly, I’m quite a catch if I do say so myself but having been in charge of recruiting before I never received a ‘begging’ letter as such and I’m not sure if I would have been put off it. Also, having been out of the system for 4 years I’m concerned I’ll just get dismissed.

Ideally I’d want a School to say “ooh yes please, can you come in and do small group/one to one intervention work?”
That would be a dream but I’m having a small crisis of confidence

No school I know at the moment can afford to pay a teacher’s salary for 1:1 intervention or group work: that is solely done by existing LSAs or not done at all!

Why don’t you do supply-that’s a good way in?

We have a maths specialist at our school that works two days per week (lectures at a university the other days). He's amazing, and great for students, as well as giving PDs to staff.

Do supply,
and/or
every time you see a full-time job you like the look of, contact the school and ask if there's any chance of part-time.

That's how I got back in - did supply 2 days a week for a term, then saw a maternity cover advertised full-time, but when I contacted the school, it turned out that they actually wanted part-time, but they thought they might get more applicants if they advertised it full-time (they didn't - just me!).

If you're looking for 1:1 intervention type stuff, then apply for TA roles.

You could be really attractive to schools as a science teacher. Rare as hens teeth. Good luck!

Go for it. This is exactly how my DDs old school (primary though) got their maths teacher, he did intervention and higher achievement groups, getting them up to what used to be the old level 6 and beyond. Best maths teacher mine have ever had. Only problem was, as he was an extra luxury they had to let him go after three years as they just couldn’t afford it.

I work for an academy trust - we don't employ people beyond the 'structure' (especially support staff).
We do have 1:1 tutors for maths, but we advertise when posts become vacant.

However we are desperate for good maths teachers as is everyone locally. I would suggest supply to get your face known. We do employ teachers after seeing them on this basis and might even offer p/t.

Schools will advertise full time but appoint part time if the right person. Did you not find that when you were appointing Maths/Science teachers? I think it's unlikely they'll pay you UPS3 to do small group intervention. They might give you a proper job though.

We would definitely offer you part-time if you asked. We would employ anyone who was a great candidate in that way - for any subject.

Nothing ventured,- nothing gained, you've absolutely nothing to lose by writing to them.

Ideally I’d want a School to say “ooh yes please, can you come in and do small group/one to one intervention work?”

Why that in particular? Do you do not want to teach classes?

You're a qualified maths teacher, if you say 'I want part time on these days, then a lot of schools would bend over backwards to accommodate.

Recently, I couldn't work full time so I did this, although I teach English rather than Maths. Both schools I work at I have previous 'links' too, but only spurious ones.

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. It’s given me a lot to think about.

To address some of the points:

Why don’t I want to teach full classes?
Well from experience it’s important for classes to have the same teacher through the week and for a core subject that tends to be every day, I’d really prefer part time.

Why part time?
The set up of my family situ means I’d prefer to be home more than at work, we are lucky that financially this is an option for us

UPS3/payscale :
I’m under no illusion that a school would offer me anything near UPS3. Really I’ll be doing it to keep me busy and my brain working rather than for the money. I absolutely don’t mind working for pittance if it’s part time hours that suit.

I think keeping an eye out for Ft posts and applying as PT is the way forward as suggested by PPs. Thank you!

I started a new job in September, was advertised as ft but i am 0.8. I wanted 0.6 but did have to compromise. That said, when i was 0.6 in my last school i had a lot of split classes. I now have 4 classes to myself so workload is relatively similar. It is definitely worth asking!