Te retrain or not to retrain, that is the question.

[DumbledoresGirl]

Actually, I want to know if I should do a refresher course or not, but it wouldn't have made such a nifty thread title.

I have been out of teaching for 11 years (apart from a brief return 5 years ago). Should I do a refresher course (not common round here, ie not provided by the local authority so I would have to pay for one myself presumably and go to a local college) or should I just look straight at jobs?

I can't decide/don't know what to do.

Could you approach a local school and ask if you could do some refresher training with them?

dg, I haven't taught other than 1:1 for 7 years. but the othyer day I did 5 mins in dd's class and it was brill. It all comes flooding back.

Is there any way you could volunteer for a few sessions or something somewhere? ime teaching courses are less useful than they kmight be...

Possibly. Not my children's school though - I cause too much trouble as a parent there!

Years ago, I went for a chat with a headteacher about a job - a very informal chat - and she did not want to employ me as I was out of date then! But it occurred to me too late that I ought to have offered to attend the school in my own time (unpaid) to get up to date before the job started. I could try that option again.

It is just really off putting that my local authority does not offer refresher courses (my last local authority did). It is as if they don't care how up to date you are!

call your local adult ed place and ask if they do one off day courses. those are fun to teach and would get you back in in a roundabout way.

yes I spose there's all the curriculum and guidelines and gubbins. but those are easy to catch up with surely? I like your plan of offering to attend in your own time. that should impress them and would probably be better than a refresher course.

Thanks for thoughts.

TBH, I don't want to go back to work at all, but needs must. I have managed to convince dh that I can't start before January next year (give ds3 a term to settle at school) so I am only casually looking at what is available right now, but if there is a course going in September and I was to go down that route, I suppose I would have to apply now.