Teaching in Brisbane

[AnniS]

Hi All,

 

My husband and I are moving to Brisbane in January and I have a couple of questions about my job. I know that permanent jobs aren't easy to come by and the best way in is through supply/contract work. I also know that I have to register with the Queensland College of Teachers and Education QLD if I want to work in a state school. My questions are: I haven't totally completed my NQT here in the UK (1 term left though I have taught full time for a year), so do I need to apply for full or provisional registration? Also, can I get these applications sorted before leaving the UK? Oh,and can anyone give me the names of any supply agencies? We will be living in New Farm for the first 3 months and hoping to stay in the city after that.

 

Thanks! Anni

[wolvesaussie]

hi we moved to Melbourne and registered as teacher in victoria before we left the uk. sp its probably possible to do in qld as well. we found it easier to do from uk while still had access to uk school as u need reference etc

[Emma132]

Hi Anni,

I've been teaching for 18 years but still had to apply for provisional registration. I can't remember the exact rules but you can only apply for full QCT registration when you've been teaching in Queensland/Australia for a year. If you "pass" the year then you can apply for full registration.

I'd love to know how you get on as I'm trying to find a job for the start of their year in January - although being in the UK is difficult. Failing that I think we might move later on in the year.

The registration came through a little over the 4 week deadline; it took 5 weeks so don't worry too much if it's a bit late.

Emma

[milliem]

Hi All,

 

My husband and I are moving to Brisbane in January and I have a couple of questions about my job. I know that permanent jobs aren't easy to come by and the best way in is through supply/contract work. I also know that I have to register with the Queensland College of Teachers and Education QLD if I want to work in a state school. My questions are: I haven't totally completed my NQT here in the UK (1 term left though I have taught full time for a year), so do I need to apply for full or provisional registration? Also, can I get these applications sorted before leaving the UK? Oh,and can anyone give me the names of any supply agencies? We will be living in New Farm for the first 3 months and hoping to stay in the city after that.

 

Thanks! Anni

 

Hi there

 

 

Queensland is a long drawn out process for teaching.

You can apply for registration before you leave the UK. I needed to be registered in order to secure QLD state sponsorship for my visa. It took around 3-4 months for them to process the application so the earlier you do it, the better. As a teacher not trained in Australia, you will have a provisional registration valid for one year and renewable for one year. Then after 200 days teaching in Australia you can apply for full registration. It's a bit of a faff to progress to full registration as you have to amass lots of evidence of competency logged and evidenced against the Australian teaching standards. I guess it is similar to an NQT year in the UK. I never did an NQT year in UK myself so it was new to me.

I found it fairly easy to do though as its essentially a paperwork exercise; logging planning, PD, meetings, training, observations, competencies etc. Then you need to have a mentor or school principal to sign off on your evidence to say that you are competent.

 

Once you have your provisional registration you have 2 years to complete the provisional to full criteria, otherwise you lose registration. That means you have to be working as soon as possible. I registered in 2011 but did not arrive and start working in QLD until January 2013. Therefore I will be outside the 2 years by 6 weeks. So I have to apply for an extension for a year. When you are teaching all your professional development must be logged with QCT and you have a certain amount of hours directed and non directed to complete each year. They can audit at any time and ask for evidence of what you claim. One of the ladies I work with was audited last year.

 

You can register and apply online with QCT but all your qualifications and references need to be sent by post.

 

When you have your initial QCT registration unfortunately you are not done. Then you need to register with the department for education and employment if you wish to teach in Queensland state school system. This only takes a few days. There is lots of information on teaching in Queensland on their website. Once you have this you can register with TRACER to work a supply teacher and they will decide an hourly rate of pay for you. You complete a form to say which areas you are happy to work in. You also have to have an interview and compile a portfolio of your skills and experience. They can then place you in a school. You are also then able to apply for positions within the state school system. In the state system you can work in a metropolitan area on a temporary contract.

 

I am not familiar with the rest of the process as I don't work in the state system but someone else might be able to help on this. As far as I understand you can only apply for a permanent position in a metropolitan zone if you have accumulated regional points. This means a certain period of teaching in the outback or remote areas. Apparently it all works on a points system.

 

You can apply for jobs in private schools as soon as you have you Department of Ed registration and these are normally advertised on the school websites or with supply agencies. 'Smart Teachers' do a lot of private school placements.

 

Hope that is as clear as mud. Sorry, it's a convoluted system which involves a lot of hoop jumping.

 

What subjects do you teach? Maths, Science, Japanese and Tech tend to have more jobs available than other subjects.

 

Good luck

 

Millie

Edited September 18, 2013 by milliem
spelling

[Emma132]

Thanks for taking the time to share Millie, that's really useful info for me too. I teach science so I'm hoping that there will be something available, I might need to try private schools though as my husband's job will probably be based in the CPD. Although if I'm offered supply work it might be a good way of seeing what the different schools are like.

Thanks again, Emma

[Emma132]

Agencies:

Smart teachers

ANZUK

Tradewinds

 

Try https://smartjobs.qld.gov.au/jobtools/jncustomsearch.searchResults?in_organid=14904&in_jobDate=All&in_multi01_id=1108&in_skills=teacher

too. It lists some state school vacancies.

[milliem]

Thanks for taking the time to share Millie, that's really useful info for me too. I teach science so I'm hoping that there will be something available, I might need to try private schools though as my husband's job will probably be based in the CPD. Although if I'm offered supply work it might be a good way of seeing what the different schools are like.

Thanks again, Emma

 

That's good. You should be fine if you are science as they are always looking, particularly for physics. I am also from a science background. In Queensland you need to teach at least two subjects and maths is usually coupled with science. I teach mostly senior maths and science. Next year I am hoping to do less maths but will see what happens. Smart teachers do a lot of private school placements.

 

good luck. If you need any help let me know

 

Millie x