Transitioning from Secondary to Primary Teaching

[TheSportsTeacher]

Hello everyone!!

I am a current Secondary PE Teacher and been teaching for 2-3 years. I am looking to hopefully transition into Primary School teaching from September 2022. This gives me the whole of next academic year to prepare and get myself employable to Primary schools.

Any advice on what I can do during this time to maximise my chances?

I've replied on the primary forum, same advice here- supply if you can, transition activities fo yr 6/7 over the summer if your school is running them, lots of research into the primary curriculum and practice " I would like to work in primary rather than secondary because............." answers !

I work in a through school and am secondary trained (not PE). There are specialist PPA supply organisations/agencies that supply specialists to cover PPA in primaries - I used to work for one of them and although I don't recommend that particular organisation, it is a good way of seeing how things work in primaries and whether you are genuinely cut out for it. The added bonus is you are expected to follow their schemes of work and lesson plans so your planning time is cut enormously. Supply is also helpful, particularly if you're happy to go in as a HLTA as that's another way of seeing what happens and again, whether it works for you. I would also recommend contacting any local private schools who frequently have a huge PE emphasis and have more than the average school's PE staff - you might get lucky and be able to work across both the prep and senior schools.

It is enjoyable work but I find harder generally than in secondary. Behaviour is better but the need to be very, very, very clear with instructions is exhausting!

Do you intend to be a 'primary school PE teacher' - a type that is employed by some schools, often to cover PPA time for all staff, but frequently an afternoon-only contract - or a full-on primary class teacher across the curriculum?

If the latter, then you will need to do a LOT of work on the primary curriculum, in particular English, Reading and Maths, and how the subjects are taught in primary. It is a TOTALLY different job from subject-specialist secondary teaching.