PaulRaynor

Sorry I am going mental! I meant $400 a DAY !!!

Just to add I never had any problems with the department accepting my PGCE

Worlo if you come to QLD supply work is controlled by TRACER Teacher Relief and Contract 'something' Register. It is a resource unit controlled by the Dept of Education and is brilliant! No need for agencies at all, not that there are many here anyway. The supply rate at $400 an hour is one of the best rates in Australia and to join you have to produce your Queensland College of Teachers registration number. After that schools and particularly individual teachers may ask for you regularly. Thereafter a Principal is able to offer you anything up to full time contract for a year. They can't of course offer you a full time position. once you are in it's not that difficult. I'm on supply and never short of work, except maybe at the moment but its the start of the school year everyone is healthy but in a a week or so it'll pick up nicely. Good luck Paul

You are right Marisa "Passed down to us in our folklore" Sometimes I wonder if its a question of pride. There is an old saying 'Pride comes before a fall.' I remember a teacher at school talking about the subject of pride many years ago. She suggested aspects of pride are positive. Pride in your children, your parents, the qualities of your partner etc, but if you feel the need to express regularly the pride of where you come from there might be an element of doubt in your mind, she offered. When I return to the UK in August this is something I will take with me and it is evident in "the first person plural" if that is the right expression. (Someone will correct me if it isn't). Our this and Our that. I hear it every day in the press, all media and everyday conversation. Our highest mountain, our deepest lake, our barrier reef and our boys who just thrashed the poms at cricket. I wonder if there is anyone in the UK who refers to London as "Our nations capital?" So it goes on, a film trailer on TV announced in that deep gravelly voice, "Starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney and "Australia's" Cate Blanchett. Why is there a need to do that??? But the best one I ever heard was "Our stars are better and brighter than those in the northern hemisphere." OUR STARS !!

Emptiness and loneliness are things that I too live with every day, but every day that goes by is a day closer to home!

Drat! I have to put my departure back to August now because my teaching job isn't available until September. Thought I was down to 88 days. Never mind. A crisp 37 degrees in Brisbane today, 41 tomorrow ! So much for the outdoor lifestyle huh?

Interesting point Jane. As a primary school teacher with experience both here in Brisbane and in the UK I can suggest there is one thing that differentiates us, OFSTED ! It doesn't exist here although some would suggest it is coming. Therefore no school is labelled as outstanding, good or needing special measures. I have worked in schools here that could be classified under each heading. There are league tables but they are very vague, so I guess there is no way of comparing the systems.

Happiness - Priceless!

Izzi, a few years ago when my mother passed away I had to go back to Swansea to sort out problems with her estate. I was gone 6 months so had to support myself somehow. I signed on at the Education Dept at Swansea City Council and after the usual checks I got heaps of supply work! Then subsequently I was offered many full time positions by Head Teachers of a few schools. It was really that easy. If you go back start the process before you leave as the CRB check takes ages! Agencies will get you work but if you can sign on directly with the council the hourly rate will be greater. Paul

Very near Blackheath and Greenwich though, which have a lot going for them!

This time next year I want to be in a house on a Sunday morning that has a conservatory, so I can watch the rain pelting down on my lush green lawn with the Observer spread all over the place, listening to Desert Island Discs, the roast spitting in the oven. A place where I am no longer a foreigner, woodsmoke in November. Oh and could someone be so very kind and arrange for it to snow at Christmas 2014 please? Much obliged. Paul

No problem. I went to a seminar held by Protocol a few months ago and met two young teachers there who hadn't even finished their final Prac! They had already booked their tickets to London and the agency said they could find them placements. You might like to consider going down the supply route first in order to establish a rapport with one or two schools. If you hit it off the Head can offer you a job in the state system straight away. Something they can't do here only a contract. You then have I think 4 years to get QTS (although that period might have changed). Some of the agencies have a good social calendar too so you won't be lonely. Good luck, you'll be fine!

Hi KT11 What are you doing at Uni? If its a Batchelor of Education then the qualification is acceptable with the UK. I am a teacher in Brisbane returning home next year too. Check out the agencies like Protocol Education, Smart Teachers and Timeplan. They hold regular seminars here about teaching in the UK and say there are many placements to be had. Good luck let me know how you get on. Paul

I so hope my return home next year is as happy as yours. Your adventure is over. The next one continues.

Hey Buttercup, how fascinating you quote The Beautiful South! For me their song 'Pretenders to the Throne' sums up Brisbane to a tee. I love the song but the lyrics "Your town is dragging me down, dragging me down down down" and "How can you like this place when it never even rains?" Just says everything lol!

1st April 2014 for me. After 15 years in Brisbane just 169 days to go! lol!

Tink thank you always for your input, you have helped me with your kind words before

Hi Rosie, I am a primary school teacher here in Brisbane and can let you know that your elder daughter would be in year 1 when you arrive. The little one would be pre-prep age until January. As the academic year is the same as the calendar year they would also not be the youngest in their class which could be a good thing. I have also taught in the UK and returning to the same year group as theirs in Australia has proved a little difficult. It probably depends on an individual school or the LEA's policy. Important thing to remember is that their peer groups will be nearly a year and a half further on in the system when you get home although it shouldn't make a lot of difference at their ages. It is entering secondary school where the problems begin. ​Paul

This'll make you laugh. My street went under during the 2011 floods in Brisbane. I remember standing in my garden looking at the resceeding waters and the debris left over. There were dead cane toads everywhere, the guy across the road even found one in his letter box! In another part of town a dead bull shark was found in the street having been washed up from the creek and the stench of raw sewerage was everywhere. Then my neighbour came out, stood beside me and said, "You must be used to this where you come from" ​Ha ha ha ha!

No Traffic Jams in Brisbane???? Are you kidding me???

Tim Tams ? You can get them in Tesco's ! lol

I found that an objective viewpoint was almost impossible to achieve. For instance if you are researching suitable schools or nice suburbs to live and ask local people they will just tell you the area they live, or the school their kids attend. No one will warn you of the unsavoury areas of town. In Brisbane I have had first hand experience of the floods two years ago, now so much of the south east of the country is on fire, houses raised to the ground, lives lost and still people tell me I am privileged to live here for it is beautiful and this is the lucky country

I empathise so much Whichway. 13 years ago my wife, young family and I emigrated to Brisbane for a medical reason involving our elder son. The climate was wonderful for them and they have grown up happy so I have no regrets. When we lived in London we both loved entertaining and had wonderful dinner parties with all our friends who were couples and had young children like us. We are both teachers, she had a lot more experience and had no trouble finding a contract to begin with then a permanent post at a posh private school where she is now. Socially the sexes seemed to be segregated where all the fun seemed to be had on"girls nights out". Not wishing to spoil her fun I let her do what she wanted. I couldn't find a job so easily and wanted to socialise with new friends, couples as we had done before. The husbands didn't seem to want that, preferring the usual fishing, camping and going to rugby/league AFL matches. I had no interest in this and couldn't contribute as much as I tried. Eventually I put my hand up and said, "I'm in trouble here" We decided to take tango classes for something to do together but just ended up kicking each other ha ha! We then booked ballroom dancing classes which I was looking forward to but her best friend Melissa said she wanted to go. She was going through a divorce and my wife felt sorry for her so once again and like a fool I let her go, for it was there she met her current partner. I have no grudges and apportion no blame, life for her in Australia turned out exactly as she wanted, but it was for her and not us as a family. I have no family left in the UK as they have all passed away. Our sons have grown up now and are studying at Uni/TAFE here in Brisbane. I want to see them through that and then return home. I have set a date, Sept 2014. We came with such hopes and dreams, the 4 of us together. Now I return alone