Selina Smith

Hi guys,

 

Quick update - had the telephone interview this morning. It was only for 20 minutes and there was lots of information about the company given before I was asked anything. I was asked the following;

- When do you arrive?

- How far along with the teacher registration process are you?

- Do you have any holidays booked?

-What do you think about the company?

-Describle a time you have done curriculum programming based on a child's interest?

-How do you value parents and families?

-How do you make children feel respected and cared for?

-What is your pay expectation?

 

That was it! I now have a practical assessment based on photographs of a blank setting and I have to write bullet points on how I would improve it, which seems pretty straight forward. If successful on that, I will be given a face to face interview when I arrive in 2 weeks.

 

Compared to teaching job interviews I have had here, this wasn't half as scary or intimidating! Feeling slightly more hopefully :wink:

 

 

Sounds great SOJ, fingers crossed for you!! Xx

Hi RoxyRoo,

I come seeking advice again! I have a telephone interview for a Teacher post in a Goodstart setting next week and was wondering if you could give me some pointers on things you have been asked in the past. Thanks x

Wow!! Good luck @SOJ let us know how you get on!! X

You not here yet selina xx

Not yet Kirsty! 7 weeks and counting!! How have you settled? X

I hope you don't mind me asking but how long was the whole process of getting your 189. My partner has just sent his eoi away via an agent and I'm just curious as to how long yours took. Thanks

 

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Hi, it took 5 months from sending my EOI off x

Hi,

My 189 visa was granted in December 2015 and we will be leaving the UK at the end of August- myself, husband and two children. This is definately a permanent move for us with Australian citizenship all part of the plan. However I would like my children to have options of where they would like to settle in the future and this is a big reason why I voted for the UK to remain in Europe.

As as both of my parents are Irish, I have the option of applying for an Irish passport and will then apply for my children to have citizenship of Ireland by descent. During the 189 proccess I did sign forms to say I was only a British Citizen and did not hold a passport for any other country, if I apply for my Irish passport now will this cause problems for my 189? Will I need to fill in a change of circumstance form? Will this affect my application for citizenship of Australia in any way?

Thank you,

Selina

Do you have a degree? If so you could think about doing a one year PGCE course to go into teaching. You don't need post qualification experience to pass the skills assessment. I completely changed careers to be able to migrate to Australia so our life for the past 5 years has been about making the move and now we have our visa and fly out in August :-) My degree was in animal science but I was accepted onto an Early Years PGCE after volunteering in a local primary school. If you really want it you can do it! Good luck x

Is there any way to complete registration before we get out? I have gone through the Non-Practising Registration and the only problem I face is that my supporting docs must be certified by Australian High Commission which isn't possible. Am I able to get a contact who is on the list and practising in Australia to do this? If not any suggestions?? Thanks

I had a teacher friend who is living in Australia to certify mine. Luckily she was in the UK visiting family at the time and TRBWA were happy with all the documents I sent. X

Hi Selena,

 

 

I imagine there is a big difference between school and day care just like there is in the UK. All our planning is drawn from the children's interests so from there we will plan probably 1 or 2 max activities based on this a day that may carry over to other days as can be a different bunch of children. Every day, and I am almost certain that this is the same in all centres, we type up a daily journal which is written after the morning and is all about what the class have been doing that day with photos added to it. Each teacher/educator has key children that each have a portfolio. Every month we do an individual observation on the child and add a piece of art work. Displays around the room are backed up with links from the EYLF and our programming is on the wall which I do as a mind map showing how the interest started and how it has expanded. The EYLF can be downloaded. Take a look online and read through it. Early Years Learning Framework. It is also a bible. Everything we do stems from this, the same as UK. We get time off the floor to type up our childrens obs and to plan and prepare resources. You would need to do very minimal work at home. It is your choice really.

 

 

When are you moving here? Which state?

 

 

Roxyroo

I'll be arriving on the 1st September and will be living in Perth. Really hoping I can get some job leads before I head out. Any tips on

how to set out a CV and cover letter? I have no idea what Australian companies are looking for as over here it's always been an application form not a CV X

Thanks again for the help, it's great to speak to someone with experience x

Hi Selena,

 

I think we have crossed in other posts on here. I am an ECT in Sydney. Been here just over 3 years. The early years curriculum is very similiar. I only know this because I worked in Reception class in primary before coming here, which I know is the same curriculum for nursery schools. Its been quite a long time since I worked in nursery/preschool in UK but as the children start school later over here, I'm finding that I'm working with the same age group anyway. I am no where near as stressed as what I was in the school system in the UK. I work 8-3.30 and if I have to stay because of adult/child ratios, I bank that as time in leiu. I would love to be in school here, which I believe is not as stressful either but I am happy at what I do. I am the room leader and in charge of preschool for a long day care centre.

 

Anything else you want to know then let me know :wink:

 

Roxyroo

Thanks for your reply Roxyroo, it's good to know you aren't as stressed! You say you would love to be in a school do you know if there is much difference between working in a school compared to daycare (other than the holidays). Do you have any good links to the Early Learning framework? The EYFS development matters statements are like the bible over here, is there anything similar that you use when it comes to your planning or assessments?

I don't want to bombard you with too many questions!!

Thanks again,

Selina

To work in schools you need to be registered by the Teaching Registration Board.

 

So, if they accept you, then you can teach in any school. ACECQA does not come into play for school based positions if you already have the visa.

Thank you for clarifying Sammy1, I do have teacher registration for WA and working in a school would be my preference but it looks like the majority of jobs are for daycare which is why I've gone for an ACECQA assessment too.

Lilies, I'm not even sure if the course in Perth would satisfy AITSL requirements, you have to be assessed by them to be able to apply for your visa. Get in touch with them and see if they can offer any advice. Maybe look into a business/private school sponsorship? While I have been looking at jobs a few of them have said in the advert sponsorship is possible. Not sure for primary teaching but if you go to seek.com.au you might see something come up. There are lots of issues with a 457 visa though so make sure you do your research to see if this could be an option.

Congratulations Elizawho77 and good luck with the process. Keep us updated with how you are getting on X

Wow SOJ you have been busy and I'm glad all of the assessments worked out :-)

fingers crossed for a quick (and positive) decision from ACECQA for me!!

Have you looked into what you need for SA teacher registration, is it difficult? X

Quick update. I have managed to get a successful Acecqa assessment for ECT with the combination of my first degree and pgce. Now just need the visa to be granted!

SOJ that is fantastic news! It was hard work but you got there in the end!!! I've sent all my things off to ACECQA last week, because of my volunteering I now have over 80 days experience with 0-2 but they still messaged overnight to ask if I had 0-2 experience as part of my qualification (which I don't). So AITSL have said I'm a teacher, TRBWA have assessed me as a teacher but it's not looking likely that ACECQA will :-( Also trying to work out if I need ACECQA assessment to work in schools or if it's just for daycare????

We have our flights booked for the end of August so was really hoping to start getting my CV sent off soon so I have some job leads for when I arrive (how to set out my CV is a whole other issue).

xxx

Hi,

Just wanted to connect with any Early Childhood Teachers who are living and working in Australia. Would love to have a chat about the differences and similarities between the UK and Oz EY curriculum and how you find your working life over there compared to the UK.

Thanks,

Selina xx

Wow £20 is cheap. I got a solicitor to certify my AITSL skills assessment and at first was quoted £5 per page (this seemed to be the going rate as I called a few places up) but managed to negotiate it down to £50 for 18ish pages. Good luck with the job! Have you applied from the UK? X

Need some advice.....

For those of you that have had qualifications assessed my ACECQA who certified your documents? I can't find any info on who they think is acceptable.

Thank you x

I received my AITSL assessment today for SEN teacher! So excited.

 

 

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Congratulations! One more box ticked!! X

My mother in law missed her connection home due to her first leg having to divert around the ashcloud. China Southern put her up in a hotel for 10 hours then flew her home via Amsterdam. It was an inconvenience but it was dealt with and she survived! I think the thing to think about is whether you are looking for an "experience" or just a way of getting from A to B. If you're in economy you'll be in a tight space for several hours no matter who you're flying with! Personally I would save my money. It's 24 hours out of your life and long haul flights are like childbirth- pretty painful while you're going through it but as soon as you land you forget the pain! You can have your "experience" when you arrive with the money you've saved!

Hahaha I have never forgotten the pain of childbirth!!! But we did book with China Southern so it's all go from here on in. Thank you for all of your replies. @Bound4Tassie just a warning that if you want the extra migrant baggage allowance you need to organise this through the airline by phone and pay for your ticket then. We booked online when their offices weren't open and so far they have said we can't get the extra allowance :-( xx

Our family will be moving to Perth in August and we are now looking at booking our flights. China Southern has come up the cheapest by a fair amount (over £500). It's a 24 hour flight with a 4hr 55min stop over in Guangzhou airport. We will have our 5 year old and 1 year old travelling with us.

I've done a bit of googling and it seems the airline itself has really good reviews but Guangzhou airport sounds a bit dire!!!

At at the moment the pro's are outweighing the cons........

1. A £500 saving on the flight.... Thinking that's a good amount towards a rental bond.

2. Short-ish flight time (compared to some of the 30hrs+ that keep popping up).

3. Nighttime flight so hopefully the children will sleep the majority of the 13 hr first leg.

4. Large economy baggage allowance plus extra for migrants (we aren't really shipping anything so we could possibly fit our whole lives into this allowance).

We gave Royal-Brunei a go a few years ago and were pleasantly surprised so are happy to try another airline that's not one of the major players.

The whole you get what you pay for comes to mind but a £500 difference is a lot of money to us.

Does anyone have any recent experience with China Southern that they wouldn't mind sharing with us? I have noticed that flight prices are going up fast so want to book ASAP and then we will have our target date so we can start getting organised!!!!

Thank you xxxx

When you say she is a qualified dancer does she have a degree? If she does she could maybe go into teaching and do a PGCE in the UK, this is a one year course. Once you are a qualified teacher your skills assessment is based on qualifications and you don't need to have any post qualification experience to apply x

I found farm work really easily in Queensland, this was 7 years ago though!! We landed in Cairns and stayed there for a while then got a bus to innisfail where we got work on a banana farm within a couple of hours of us getting there. We also found work on an Avocado farm in Childers which is a bit further down the East Coast. There always seemed to be work in Tully and Bundaberg.

I'd definately recommend getting the farm work out of the way if you want your second year x

Thank you Selina. Am I right in thinking that black and white documents must be certified? Also are all colour copies accepted or do they require official documents like passports to be certified. Lastly I notice that you have recently gone through the process, can I ask did you wait for your co to request medicals and police checks. Thank you in advance.

I waited for CO to request them as we wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible to make the move or validate. You must enter Australia 12 months from the date of your police check or medical (whichever is the earliest) x

Colour scans are accepted and do not need to be certified xx

Here's the link to the thread I was talking about.......

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/education/241536-aside-bachelor-degree-do-i-need-pgce-also-become-preschool-teacher-qld.html

I've had a quick google about the Early Years ITT as someone else has asked a similar question this weekend on another thread. As far as I can see it is similar to the GTP/schools direct scheme which AITSL will not recognise, it is such a new course that I can't find much info so sorry if I'm wrong!! I know the other person had called AITSL and asked about the Early Years ITT but AITSL used their usual response of 'we cannot suggest courses to get a positive assessment' I'll try and paste the link to the other thread. Have you thought about doing a masters in Early Years? Think that would count towards the 4 years of Uni education and Australia are leaning more towards teachers needing masters level education over the next few years (or so I've heard) xx

Hi selina! Seen a lot of your posts on here and wondered if you could help. I'm applying to uni in uk this September for either primary and early years PGCE OR Early years initial teacher training, not a PGCE but gives your early years teacher status. This is a relatively new course, and it covers 0-5, so will cover what AITSL are looking for. I don't know what will positively assess me as a EArly years teacher. I've tried contacting AITSL but they said they can't advise me on which course! Im

going round in circles! X

Hi Carly,

I don't know what to advise really, I have had a positive assessment with AITSL with my PGCE but ACECQA are a whole different kettle of fish that I am struggling with because of this whole 0-2 experience!! I'm currently volunteering at my daughters nursery in their 0-2 rooms but have a feeling even this won't be enough as ACECQA have told me I also need theory in 0-2 (which the PGCE didn't offer) as well as practical. I've been told my experience needs to be 'substantial' whatever that means!! I have never heard of the Early Years ITT course but have had a quick google about it. If you are going to be applying for your 189 visa as the main applicant I would be wary of going down this route as I know people that have gone through a similar schools direct programme have not had their qualifications recognised by AITSL. So the Early Years ITT may help you get ACECQA registration but may not be recognised by AITSL so you're in a bit of a catch 22!!! AITSL are only looking for teacher training in age 3-8 which the PGCE will cover. Hope that makes sense and helps a little xx