Teaching Maths WA

[walk on the beach]

Hi,

 

We are moving to WA in January - YAY!

 

Unfortunately I have not yet been able to secure a teaching post, I am an experienced Maths Teacher, teaching years 7-13.

 

Can anyone give me a quick overview of how it works in OZ? i.e. in the UK we have Key Stages 1-5, with them doing GCSE's followed by A-Levels - what is the equivalent?

 

Thank you in advance for your help

 

A newbie on the site :-)

[Guest]

There is no equivalent of GCSE's in Oz - exams are taken in Year 12 and there are differences between the states, in WA it is the WACE http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Senior_Secondary/The_WACE

 

There is now a National Curriculum in Australia, we left over a year ago and my son's school had opted to be a pilot school.

 

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/mathematics/rationale

 

I don't mean to be rude but all this information is easily available online, I think you will need to be able to demonstrate how your experience in the UK is relevant to stand any chance of getting a job and to do that you'll need a good understanding of the Australian system.

 

My understanding permanent is teaching jobs in the major cities can be hard to get. Most newly qualified teachers have to take rural posts to gain experience. But you have experience and Maths is maybe an area with less competition so hopefully you will get lucky.

 

There is a large Catholic school sector which is independent to the state schools - have a look here for vacancies if you haven't been already

 

http://internet.ceo.wa.edu.au

[walk on the beach]

Thank you for your reply.

[Sammy1]

Hi,

 

We are moving to WA in January - YAY!

 

Unfortunately I have not yet been able to secure a teaching post, I am an experienced Maths Teacher, teaching years 7-13.

 

Can anyone give me a quick overview of how it works in OZ? i.e. in the UK we have Key Stages 1-5, with them doing GCSE's followed by A-Levels - what is the equivalent?

 

Thank you in advance for your help

 

A newbie on the site :-)

 

There have been many secondary maths positions on the jobswa site over the past three months. Have you subscribed to receive notifications and have you applied to those positions? That is the very first thing that you should do.

 

http://search.jobs.wa.gov.au/page.php?pageID=215&windowUID=0#report

 

You also need to make yourself familiar with the Australian National Professional Standards, as all government teaching positions require you to address these standards in your application.

 

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list

 

There is a great demand for maths positions as next year is the first year that year 7's will attend high school.

 

The Australian National Curriculum is gradually being rolled out across the country, with full implementation to follow in the near future. However, WA being WA is 'changing' a few things.

 

Private schools tend to use SEEK as one way to advertise jobs.

 

http://www.seek.com.au/

 

You should be in demand, especially as you are able to teach senior maths.

 

Hope the above helps.

[tina0101]

Have you registered? My husband had to register to teach in Queensland.

 

http://www.trb.wa.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

 

I think this is the relevant webpage for WA (not 100% sure).

 

It it did take 12 weeks for my husbands registration to come through, so if you haven't already registered and you need to, I'd get a shift on as nobody will employ you without it.

[walk on the beach]

Thank you for your replies.

 

Yes I have registered with TRBWA and I have been applying for positions. I haven't yet been successful mostly due to my CV and covering letter not containing enough detail (which I am rectifying). I am trying to make sure my experience can be made relevant to the Australian system hence the question. I have done lots of research into the curriculum content which is similar but I'm just trying to get an overview of how the parents/kids/teachers see the system as different from the UK.

[Sammy1]

Thank you for your replies.

 

Yes I have registered with TRBWA and I have been applying for positions. I haven't yet been successful mostly due to my CV and covering letter not containing enough detail (which I am rectifying). I am trying to make sure my experience can be made relevant to the Australian system hence the question. I have done lots of research into the curriculum content which is similar but I'm just trying to get an overview of how the parents/kids/teachers see the system as different from the UK.

 

The biggest and most important piece of advice I can give you is to look at the Australian National Professional Standards (see my previous post for web link).

 

You must address these when you apply for government schools. Use 'SAO' as the basis for addressing the criteria - Situation,Action and Outcome. It will be critical to your success.