MiniCooper

After a 15 hour layover in Abu Dhabi, a 13 hour flight and an overnight stay in Brisbane it took just over 60 hours to get back to my home town of Yeppoon. I awoke in the morning to this beautiful sight.

Saturday morning Yoga on Yeppoon foreshore 

Hi,

I've not been on POI for ages but I found it incredibly useful when I was traipsing the web for info. It is very difficult to gain an insight into how life will be once you arrive due to some people having a great time and others hating it. Of course, naturally we gravitate to the more negative stories and feel that our experience will be exactly the same. It may well be for some however here is my story:

On 4th July (independence day, how apt) I flew alone, leaving many friends behind in Cyprus. As the plane left larnanca I sat sobbing watching the city disappear below. I was going to miss it, I'd had an incredible 3 years there but I was excited and apprehensive about our new adventure. I won't lie, the flight was horrendous. I landed ini Abu Dhabi and then flew for 13 hours to Brissy. I spotted the west coast of Oz and got excited hoping we'd be landing soon enough. 4 and a bit hours later we touched down. I was packed in between tow other people so do yourself a favour and ask for a window seat.

Anyway I got to Rockhampton airport with 3 gigantic suitcases and the first thing I noticed was how friendly people were. They kept offering to help me with my bags. I checked into a hotel, showered and slept, waking early to the glorious sunshine of the sunshine state. I went to the bank to pick up my card. It wasn't there. I had to order a new one to my temporary address. Two weeks later it still hadn't arrived so I had to get one delivered to the bank. Annoying but not a deal breaker. I visited centre link and sorted out my Medicare. Dead easy. I went online and sorted out my TFN and then spent more time searching for places to live.

Now I was in a position where I had a job to go to. Once I secured my PR I just applied for hundreds of posts and managed to secure a position in a very good school. I went into school, met people, prepared for the start of the new term and one of the guys even invited me onto his boat which was immense. Again, everyone was so helpful and interested in why and where I come from.

It took 4 days after the flight before I started eating again and even longer to stop waking up at 4am. The hardest thing though was my hubby not arriving until after the new term started, he followed 3 weeks after me. I definitely needed to arrive two weeks before the job commenced to sort out a rental and all the little fiddly bits. I spent days exploring, eating out alone, visiting botanic gardens, car show rooms etc. I must say it was very liberating doing it all independently.

Anyway so I booked temp accommodation for 4 weeks and a hire car for 4 weeks, which we extended whilst our GBP transferred over.

3 and a bit months on. We are renting at the beach with sea views (loads cheaper than the big cities) and we are walking distance to bars and restaurants for the first time since we have been together. It's a 35 minute drive to work which I'm not sure I will want to do forever. The apartment is lush but very poorly built. There are mould spots in places due to poor ventilation. I'd hate to see what it looks like in 10 years. the beach is gorgeous and just yesterday we visited Great Keppel island which was like somewhere in Thailand. The people are incredibly friendly and we have just bought our second car. We transferred some cash just before Brexit. We got almost 2:1. We didn't want to transfer anymore until the rate increased but we had to bite the bullet for the cars and lost a fair whack. If you can hang on, do!

Our shipping arrived, some of it was broken, luckily our apartment is furnished.

One piece of advice, pack some warm clothes. I packed dreadfully and had to buy new bits when I arrived and I packed lots of work clothes only to be provided with a uniform. So annoying.

One thing that is frustrating, recently there was a music festival on the beach. Hubby and I took a picnic bag with some wine. I noticed no one else was drinking - turns out after some googling that its against the law. WHY???

Everyone pretty much drives at the speed limit or under because its a criminal offence to speed. I'm sure if you get caught twice in a year you go to jail?? someone will correct me I'm sure. You need a boat license to ride a jetski. It just feels like there is a lot of red tape, however I did come from Cyprus where rules were a little lax.

Internet is weird. There is 4g everywhere which is great but you don't pay for speed you pay for like 15gbs of data...? or something like that. Hubby deals with that. Doctors are expensive unless you go to a bulk billing doctor and then its free. Car insurance is similar if not a bit cheaper. I don't think shopping is more expensive but we do visit farmers markets for veg and stuff. And in Cyprus food was relatively expensive. Eating out and drinking can cost a bomb...but then sometimes it doesn't so swings and roundabouts. I went to a 'hairdresser' I use the term loosely who turned my lovely blonde hair orange, hacked at it (it was halfway down my back) gave me square layers and ripped off half my eyebrow. I then had to pay someone else to fix it (not my eyebrow thats still refusing to grow). So please do your research as that ruined mine and hubby's weekend when I was crying about the 'monster' who hated hair.

We haven't made many friends yet, but its still only early and we are rather enjoying exploring on our own. I did meet a cousin in brissy whom I have not seen in 10 years or something and we have friends coming to stay on the weekend. I used to play netball but the season has just finished and I went along to rugby but the matches are at 7:30 at night! I'm an early bird so will perhaps wait until I'm a bit more settled before getting involved in that.

I know its super rambly but I'm just trying to remember stuff. It's hard to believe we started the process only a year ago and have been here almost 4 months. I can barely remember all the panic and worry now. I know at the moment those going through it are panicking about not getting everything done, not liking it, not getting a job etc. Its a leap into the unknown, but do you know things just have a way of working themselves out. We love it here. I am currently on school holidays and this morning I took a stroll along the beach and spent the afternoon in the pool. Life is good, oh and hubby got a job within a week of applying so its not all doom and gloom. I'm sitting here writing this at my dining table with floor to ceiling windows that look out across the bay. It can't all be bad can it?

Anyway, when I was reading these stories myself way back when, I promised I would come back and post. I do hope its helpful.

Visa Granted ( 489 state sponsored ) - 18th May

Resigned UK job 23rd May ( 10 years experience teaching Physics & Chemistry )

House sold last week ( hopefully ! )

Heading for the Gold Coast in August.

Already QCT registered and in touch with agencies.

Hoping to find work from the start of term four.

I know there's plenty of you who have trodden this path before me.

Any advice, guidance, pitfalls or general stuff to watch out for much appreciated.

I'm not expert as I've not arrived yet however, I imagine you have already had a look online for work but if not some jobs advertised are for a term 4 start. Push your agencies. They often don't send you the jobs so check their websites daily and ask them to send you deets for jobs you like. Once you are in contact frequently they will more often than not put you in contact with schools. Good Luck.

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new to the forum and have some questions regarding finding a teaching job if anyone can help.

I'm a native French speaker but I have been teaching in the UK for 10 years (French/German teacher).

Visa SI/189 was granted on 04/05/16 and I am now looking for a job in Oz.

 

Does anyone know how easy it is to find a French teaching job out there? I would actually go where I can find a post to start with.

Would you register to get the teacher accreditation before you apply for any job or after when you actually get a job offer?

I'd like to start in January 2017.

Any suggestions welcome!

Hi there.

OK so heres how i did it (I'm tech though not languages):

I had a look where a lot of the jobs were. I didn't really want to go to Sydney so we decided on QLD. I registered with Queensland Teacher registration as it takes 3 months.

I then registered with agencies and had interviews with them. I applied for every job I could find using Seek, Teachers on.net and applying direct to schools. Within a week I was invited to 4 interviews, 3 of them though the agencies. Two of them were remote and I got two job offers from two interviews.

Do your research and tailor your covering letter to that school.

The head of the school where I will be working contacted the teacher registration board to rush my application through. I also think with certain states you can transfer them across if you go to a different state. NSW is a complex one and you cannot actually fully register until you arrive (I may be wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me).

So I would probably settle on a state, register as a teacher and then get in touch with agencies. Meanwhile start applying for every job you see. Good luck.

Hello,

I have found this thread incredibly helpful and insightful. I have used it many times throughout our visa process and have been given advice and guidance by kind individuals. It also made me realistic. Some posts did make me worry and resign myself to the fact that i may have to do my time as a relief teacher in the first instance (forever maybe?). I have spent a considerable amount of time questioning my decision to move to Australia due to the fact I might not get a job. Although I saw others found employment, human nature made me lean toward the more 'negative' posts. I'll admit I was terrified!

However, fear not teachers. There is hope yet! I have spent the last couple of months adapting my CV and every single cover letter to each individual school after copious amounts of research. I have trawled the web for jobs all over QLD, willing to go where the work is. I have spent late nights and early mornings on Skype interviews with agencies and schools. I have done my research and alas...I have a job. In fact I've had two job offers out of two interviews. I was offered a third interview this morning. Now, my job is not right in the city, in fact its probably classed as remote and the other job was rural but if you put in enough hours and are willing to move away from the cities you might just strike lucky.

Yes my subject is a shortage subject and I am still relatively cheap but with a fair amount of experience, however I have been teaching supply for 3 years. So don't get disheartened just be aware you will have to work your socks off to get noticed.

So huge thanks to all of the helpful responses to all of my questions over the last few months.

I am sure you already know but QLD curriculum has now moved over to join the Australian curriculum and they are in the process of bringing in external assessments so if you are Secondary, it might be worth consulting the QCAA website as well for information on the proposed changes.

 

Pedagogy is a big deal in Queensland right now, with most schools buying into the American Marzano ASOT or DOL framework.

 

Interviews in Qld are much less involved than the whole day affairs in the UK. It should be all done in 20-30 minutes.

 

They will most likely ask about:

pedagogy

Differentiation

Use of Data

Planning

Literacy

Visibly Learning

Behaviour / positive culture

 

Skype a pretty good deal as you can have post it notes in your field of view with all the examples you have thought about beforehand.

This is really informative thanks ever so much.

Hi again,

Does anybody have an Skype interview tips for a teaching post?

Researched some potential interview questions, got a whole load of QLD curriculum info etc, but just after some personal experiences.

Many thanks

Hi,

I am in the process of applying for a Visa and have applied for a PCC for that reason, however will I be required to apply for an ICPC once in OZ (providing visa is granted of course) to enable me to work in schools?

Many thanks.

Sorry for dull post but just had to share. After 4 months from the decision to embark on our PR visa journey, to getting references, transcripts, certification etc, today I received a positive skills assessment. Yay. EOI has been submitted. Now for the long wait for an invite.

Bit of an anticlimax mind. Thought I'd be way more excited.

Hiya, I sent off my AITSL application over two weeks ago and was wondering if anyone could tell me how long it takes for them to confirm receipt of the application.

Many thanks.

What a refreshing post. Massive thanks to all the people who have taken the time to post positive stories when there are quite a lot of negative and disheartening stories out there. I have just put in my assessment of skills and obviously still have a bit of a wait before I can even submit an EOI but I'm so excited and really keen to get our move to OZ in gear so once again, thank you to you all.

It is not called Manual Arts in WA. It is called Design and Technology. The focus is strongly on the design process now, the old manual arts notion has had its day.

 

Your Autocad skills, together with graphics and ICT should put you in a strong position. There are very few women teaching D and T and many D and T teachers are due to retire, so that is also in your favour.

 

Perth has a strong demand for Design and Technology, Maths and Science.

Sammy, this is really interesting. I am currently collating my documents for skills assessment and super excited! I am a Design Tech Teacher specialism in Graphics and Resistant Materials. My husband got a job in Cyprus as an Engineering teacher so I have been supplying whilst out here but. Its just nice to see some positive feedback regarding job situation.

We are still not certain on where to move to as the OH wants to go back into Engineering and that front seems all doom and gloom. With that in mind, you say there are few female DT teachers...is that specifically in WA?