Has anyone done or is doing the salaried Schools Direct route for primary?

[catsarenice]

I'm looking to get into primary teaching and am currently weighing up the options. It's going to be tough paying for the course and then not having paid work for a year so am considering applying for salaried schools direct. I have been a TA for 4 years and worked in an unrelated field for years before that and was wondering how tough it would be compared to the non salaried route which I know is very tough!!

I’m currently salaried school direct but secondary not primary. I think your experience depends on the school. I’m the only salaried in my cohort and my timetable has been a little heavier than other people’s but not massively so- Ive been really lucky because they could have asked me to teach a lot more when they were crazily short staffed but they didn’t. If you are offered a position I would ask what the teaching load and support would be before agreeing. It did put me in a stronger position when going for jobs and I’m very happy I’m training through this route.

I'm doing the salaried SD route. The workload is about the same and you have the same expectations, although salaried places are harder to come by and competition is fierce.

The one difference is that you're employed by the school - as non salaried, you can't be asked to cover lessons, whereas you can with salaried (although this rarely happens.)

Thank you. I think that will be the route I try to take - I was a bit worried that they might give a class immediately with the expectation to just get on with it! I don't have a problem covering classes as I do this occasionally as a TA.

When I did my nqt year I started the same time as a teacher training on the job (was called something different then) I’d say it was much more intense than my Pgce - the workload higher and expectations very high. By the summer term they were pretty much class teacher with little support. On the one hand they found it tough but on the other they were in a better position both knowing the role and being prepared for nqt year than I was. Pros and cons

That is the case - if you're salaried or unsalaried, you'll have a class straight away and be their teacher. Your teaching time will increase as the terms go on, usually 30% - 50% - 90%. You'll have plenty of support from the class teacher (your mentor) and a senior mentor in school - again, this is the same with salaried and unsalaried.

The only difference between the two, is probably, that you'll be expected to be slightly better when you first start and be able to hit the ground running, so to speak.

Any questions, let me know.

That's great thank you. I've been in class with a few non-salaried and they build up very gradually with the class teacher very much still teaching apart from the odd lesson which obviously builds up. Although I'm used to being in class, teaching small groups and teaching the whole class on occasion I'm just feeling a bit scared of the possibility of the being the lead teacher immediately!!!

As you’ve been a TA you’ll have a better idea of what being in a classroom is actually like than many trainee teachers, which will also be an advantage for you. Part of a PGCE is actually learning about being in a classroom, you won’t need that.