Questions - Primary/Secondary? Volunteering first? Which path?

[WouldLikeToAsk]

Afternoon =)

Just finished an access course and looking at becoming a teacher. Probably Primary, possibly KS2.

The only subject I really enjoyed at school was Geography but not sure if I'd have the capabilities to teach this to older children? How do you decide?!

Before I jump into it, I thought I would spend a year doing some volunteering first? My youngest will qualify for 15 hours in September, so it seemed like good timing.

Would it be ok to ask at my daughters school or would I be better going to a different local school? Could I maybe spend some time in both Primary and Secondary to help me decide? What duties might be expected of me?

Also getting a bit confused with all the entry routes into teaching now? I was just planning to go to local college/uni but now I've seen there are other "get paid to teach" options or whatever these are?!

Sorry for a million questions! Can anyone offer any advice please? (Other than running in the opposite direction? )

You have two main routes open to you. Either do a BeD in teaching which included QTS (Qualified teacher status) or do a degree in geography and then add QTS onto that. You have to have a full degree.

Both routes you are looking at 3 or 4 years. The get paid to teach adverts are for people already in schools and with degrees already, or if you are in a shortage area then there are bursaries available (Geography is current in demand)

You can find more information from getintoteaching.education.gov.uk

For primary, the routes available are:

B.Ed. degree with QTS (takes 3 years), funded by student loans
Degree in curriculum subject + PGCE (takes 4 years), funded by student loans, possible bursary for PGCE if you're eligible for a shortage specialism.
Degree in curriculum subject + Schools Direct (takes 4 years). There is a small possibility of getting a salaried place on a schools direct program but these are usually only open to people with lots of recent classroom experience e.g. former TAs. Otherwise the funding is as for the PGCE route.
Degree in curriculum subject + Teach First (Takes 5 years). Degree funded by student loans. Teach first you would be paid a salary- but you would be placed in a disadvantaged school for most of the 2 years of the course.

You can't qualify just as a KS2 teacher, you have to be prepared to teach any age from 5-11 and should spend time in both key stages when training.

For secondary, the options are broadly the same, but there is no B.Ed route. You'd need at least 50% of your degree to be in the subject you want to teach, so for geography courses like environmental science may also make you eligible for a PGCE etc.

At secondary, the bursaries are much higher so for geography you'd get up to £28,000 for your PGCE year tax free, if you were able to apply this year.

If you're interested then it might be worth spending a week in a Primary and a Secondary school to see which you might prefer. It can be hard to get experience in schools, so if your daughter's school will have you then that would be great. Once there, you may find teachers will have contacts at the local secondary which they will put you in touch with.

When I did similar experience when preparing to apply for a PGCE I spent lots of time observing, and some time helping students with work and just chatting to them. In primary, I listened to students read as well. They won't ask anything difficult of you, and they wouldn't expect you to help out if you didn't feel confident. You might also be asked to help with things like putting up displays and organising the classroom.

Hope this helps a bit. There are other qualification routes available but I've covered all of the common ones, I think.

I thought I wanted to teach primary. Applied for course, but a delayed reference meant I missed the deadline. Then, last minute, the college offered secondary courses in three subjects at a satellite college nearer to where I lived. I enrolled thinking I could always switch to primary. As a slightly built and quietly spoken mummy, I couldn't imagine managing a class of lads who had no interest in the finer points on literature.

But I never switched. The best thing about secondary, after the dept/staffroom camaraderie, is the relationships with teenagers taking GCSEs and A' Levels. Years on, with my own children now grown up, I find teaching Years 7, 8 and 9 tedious, so I'm really glad I didn't go down the primary route.

Don't think in terms of what you enjoyed in school. Watch GCSE and A' Level Geography lessons. Watch primary lessons. Then imagine teaching every day. If you like what you see in Geography, I imagine it would be a good degree subject for secondary or primary.