SCITT based teacher training issue with AITSL

[Rob Frain 9]

7 minutes ago, benj1980 said:

Maybe if anyone else knows where it has gone they'll let you know!

If they accepted 65 last time, you should be fine...

Everything crossed. I did spot they did 35,000 invites in December. I hope this doesn’t mean there will be a delay or a greatly reduced amount in the next invite stages. 

[benj1980 412]

18 minutes ago, Rob Frain said:

Everything crossed. I did spot they did 35,000 invites in December. I hope this doesn’t mean there will be a delay or a greatly reduced amount in the next invite stages. 

That is the million dollar question! But you've made some progress at least and that's a good feeling. What I can tell you is that all states have a teacher shortage when you move outside major cities. It would appear the Federal Government are responding to this, so I am watching with interest. I do have limited contact with schools in other states but we have had a couple of teachers move interstate and they mentioned shortages as well. Hopefully it all goes your way and you'll be able to pick up a suitable role asap. What do you teach? Universities are picking up again, but you should avoid the increase in grad teachers in WA. Please note Phys Ed is competitive here, it is useful to have a minor subject (other than health studies).

[Rob Frain 9]

5 minutes ago, benj1980 said:

That is the million dollar question! But you've made some progress at least and that's a good feeling. What I can tell you is that all states have a teacher shortage when you move outside major cities. It would appear the Federal Government are responding to this, so I am watching with interest. I do have limited contact with schools in other states but we have had a couple of teachers move interstate and they mentioned shortages as well. Hopefully it all goes your way and you'll be able to pick up a suitable role asap. What do you teach? Universities are picking up again, but you should avoid the increase in grad teachers in WA. Please note Phys Ed is competitive here, it is useful to have a minor subject (other than health studies).

Im Computer Science and ICT. My wife is Physical Education but can teach KS3 maths. To be honest we’ll even do cover work if there is nothing straight away. We do have some contacts in schools an hour South of Perth. Things are looking good. 

[Rob Frain 9]

Do we know when the next round of invites takes place? Was the last one in December or is that a roundup of everyone they have done from October to December and they do invites every few weeks?

[SalT500 0]

Hi benj1980 -
Just wondering how you managed to get over on your SCITT qualification? Any advice?

For info: I have a PGCE through a SCITT partnership - because it is a partnership my cert is through the uni and I have got the uni to write observed teaching letter. What I don't have is the transcript....so am taking a bit of a gamble. I have later academic transcripts from further study which need to be included. I am taking a bet on them having some discretion but having spoken with ed dept in WA I don't think they deviate from the prescribed list much!

Any advice would be appreciated!! (Annoyingly on my first day of my PGCE someone said 'oh I hear they don't accept this in Australia' - didn't bat an eyelid at the time!!)

[Rob Frain 9]

9 hours ago, SalT500 said:

Hi benj1980 -
Just wondering how you managed to get over on your SCITT qualification? Any advice?

For info: I have a PGCE through a SCITT partnership - because it is a partnership my cert is through the uni and I have got the uni to write observed teaching letter. What I don't have is the transcript....so am taking a bit of a gamble. I have later academic transcripts from further study which need to be included. I am taking a bet on them having some discretion but having spoken with ed dept in WA I don't think they deviate from the prescribed list much!

Any advice would be appreciated!! (Annoyingly on my first day of my PGCE someone said 'oh I hear they don't accept this in Australia' - didn't bat an eyelid at the time!!)

Don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but you haven’t got a chance. I tried with AITSL for over a year and they eventually said no. 
 

it doesn’t mean you can’t teach over there as the authorities will allow you to - it’s just aitsl that won’t accept the skills! 

[SalT500 0]

35 minutes ago, Rob Frain said:

Don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but you haven’t got a chance. I tried with AITSL for over a year and they eventually said no. 
 

it doesn’t mean you can’t teach over there as the authorities will allow you to - it’s just aitsl that won’t accept the skills! 

Yeah I figure that is the end game - I was hoping to not mention the SCITT at all -  everything I have is from the uni itself. 

I have been looking into other visa options too - but nothing is straight forward at the moment. 

 

Edited March 10 by SalT500

[Marisawright 10,271]

36 minutes ago, SalT500 said:

Yeah I figure that is the end game - I was hoping to not mention the SCITT at all -  everything I have is from the uni itself. 

I have been looking into other visa options too - but nothing is straight forward at the moment. 

As a teacher you have two choices.   If you're young enough, you can get a Working Holiday Visa which gives you a chance to get to Australia and gain work experience here.  If not, you'll need to apply for a skilled visa (491, 189, 190) and for all of those, you need a 4 year teaching degree. 

Your only other option might be some kind of student visa to retrain or add additional qualifications, but given international student fees in Australia, you'd need very deep pockets.

[SalT500 0]

9 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

As a teacher you have two choices.   If you're young enough, you can get a Working Holiday Visa which gives you a chance to get to Australia and gain work experience here.  If not, you'll need to apply for a skilled visa (491, 189, 190) and for all of those, you need a 4 year teaching degree. 

Your only other option might be some kind of student visa to retrain or add additional qualifications, but given international student fees in Australia, you'd need very deep pockets.

Thanks Marisa - an agent did suggest redoing teacher training...to be honest I thought if I am having to pay so much to do more study then I am doing a new degree in something else!! I found a shorter course in Sydney which retrains existing teachers for a year but only accepts residents! What a shame...(and not so young sadly - the age is the issue with my partner his job is on the skilled list but he is 47 - he will look for jobs and try employer sponsored (is economics professor))

If I can figure out a transcript with the uni then I might risk it for a biscuit. (Money down drain possibly...but would love to move)

Thanks for replying - appreciated

Edited March 10 by SalT500

[Marisawright 10,271]

3 hours ago, SalT500 said:

....my partner his job is on the skilled list but he is 47 - he will look for jobs and try employer sponsored (is economics professor))

If I can figure out a transcript with the uni then I might risk it for a biscuit. (Money down drain possibly...but would love to move)

Did the agent say your partner had any chance?  There are some very rare exceptions to the age limit and I'd be dubious whether an economics professor would qualify.  

I'm not sure what you mean by risking it.  If the transcript from the university doesn't prove you hold a 4 year degree, it's an automatic rejection.  No point trying.

The problem with getting a qualification in something else is that for most occupations, you need both qualifications and a few years' experience to stand a chance, so it's a really long-term plan.

Edited March 10 by Marisawright

[SalT500 0]

11 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Did the agent say your partner had any chance?  There are some very rare exceptions to the age limit and I'd be dubious whether an economics professor would qualify.  

I'm not sure what you mean by risking it.  If the transcript from the university doesn't prove you hold a 4 year degree, it's an automatic rejection.  No point trying.

The problem with getting a qualification in something else is that for most occupations, you need both qualifications and a few years' experience to stand a chance, so it's a really long-term plan.

Like the original poster I have a PGCE which was not organised directly by a university - although the awarding uni have basically let me give them the text for the letter regarding observations; what we cannot sort easily is the transcript. The irony is now I teach postgrad students in a school of ed at on leadership and management in schools. More or less teaching on the very kind of stuff AITSL might take grievance with me missing from my training!! 

Marisa - forgive me for taking your time, but if you come in on a skilled visa do you have to work in that field? I have another qualification on the list (but no up to date with experience - so would need to sort that). It is not a field I am keen to work in again (especially if have to dip toe in here to gain recent experience).

[Marisawright 10,271]

5 hours ago, SalT500 said:

Marisa - forgive me for taking your time, but if you come in on a skilled visa do you have to work in that field? 

No, if you can get a skilled (not employer-sponsored) visa, there's no restrictions on what kind of work you do once you arrive.

[benj1980 412]

On 09/03/2023 at 21:52, SalT500 said:

Hi benj1980 -
Just wondering how you managed to get over on your SCITT qualification? Any advice?

For info: I have a PGCE through a SCITT partnership - because it is a partnership my cert is through the uni and I have got the uni to write observed teaching letter. What I don't have is the transcript....so am taking a bit of a gamble. I have later academic transcripts from further study which need to be included. I am taking a bet on them having some discretion but having spoken with ed dept in WA I don't think they deviate from the prescribed list much!

Any advice would be appreciated!! (Annoyingly on my first day of my PGCE someone said 'oh I hear they don't accept this in Australia' - didn't bat an eyelid at the time!!)

I requested a transcript and the request went to the Head Registrar. It was on letterheaded paper but i'd suggest it looked like it was created in Excel. The University in a reply to me stated that they had received quite a few of these requests and were looking at ways to work with the SCITT going forward. The University was confident that the SCITT was ensuring that what was on this piece of paper was being completed to the full. 

I tried without this transcript previously and it was rejected.

[benj1980 412]

On 10/03/2023 at 07:25, Rob Frain said:

Don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but you haven’t got a chance. I tried with AITSL for over a year and they eventually said no. 
 

it doesn’t mean you can’t teach over there as the authorities will allow you to - it’s just aitsl that won’t accept the skills! 

Did you seek communication with the Head Registrar Rob? I know I am not the only person who came over via the SCITT route.

[benj1980 412]

For reference my transcript was called a reference transcript. It stated the following:

• Name
• Student ID (Uni ID)
• Course studied
• Length of course

Within the transcript table:

• Modules and credits
• Days it took to complete
• Detail of the module

No final grades provided. But it had the letterhead of the university, which presumably is the crucial element! The most ridiculous thing is a SCITT is a more robust way into teaching. You have more time in the classroom learning your craft instead of discussing theory. You still complete assignments but you have a superior amount of time immersed in the classroom. I have worked with/for Uni's since and confident in what I am saying! In fact, a lot of feedback from schools in Australia is graduates haven't had enough exposure to the reality of the classroom. 

[Rob Frain 9]

10 hours ago, benj1980 said:

Did you seek communication with the Head Registrar Rob? I know I am not the only person who came over via the SCITT route.

I didn't though my skills assessment took close to a year from memory involving some pretty high up people from AITSL, Liverpool John Moores University and my SCITT. In the end the reasoning was that it was the SCITT and not the University that placed me on my work experience. Pretty poor excuse to be honest. Everything else in the end was fine. 

[cg9456 1]

On 18/01/2023 at 23:56, Rob Frain said:

My visa wouldn’t go through as it wasn’t Liverpool John Moores who gave me the placements in school in my Scitt year it was the training provider and they would t budge at all after about 4 months of going back to AITSL. 
 

We’re now wondering do we go for the 189 visa or do we go for the sponsored one from WA? What are the pros and cons of both?! 

That is so weird? I know three people who did Teach First where Teach First chose their training school, but they then did a full-time PGCE alongside Teach First and all three of them were accepted (one literally one week ago!). This really makes no sense at all.

[cg9456 1]

On 11/03/2023 at 02:50, benj1980 said:

For reference my transcript was called a reference transcript. It stated the following:

• Name
• Student ID (Uni ID)
• Course studied
• Length of course

Within the transcript table:

• Modules and credits
• Days it took to complete
• Detail of the module

No final grades provided. But it had the letterhead of the university, which presumably is the crucial element! The most ridiculous thing is a SCITT is a more robust way into teaching. You have more time in the classroom learning your craft instead of discussing theory. You still complete assignments but you have a superior amount of time immersed in the classroom. I have worked with/for Uni's since and confident in what I am saying! In fact, a lot of feedback from schools in Australia is graduates haven't had enough exposure to the reality of the classroom. 

This whole thread is so frustrating. I just replied to the OP saying three Teach First graduates (is that different from a SCITT? I'm not sure?) got accepted by AITSL, one just last week!

[benj1980 412]

Teach First is different. It's got real mixed results in terms of teaching retention, that said the academic element to it is robust.

[Marisawright 10,271]

On 28/03/2023 at 01:33, cg9456 said:

 three Teach First graduates (is that different from a SCITT? I'm not sure?) got accepted by AITSL, one just last week!

Yes it is different.

[SalT500 0]

On 11/03/2023 at 02:50, benj1980 said:

For reference my transcript was called a reference transcript. It stated the following:

• Name
• Student ID (Uni ID)
• Course studied
• Length of course

Within the transcript table:

• Modules and credits
• Days it took to complete
• Detail of the module

No final grades provided. But it had the letterhead of the university, which presumably is the crucial element! The most ridiculous thing is a SCITT is a more robust way into teaching. You have more time in the classroom learning your craft instead of discussing theory. You still complete assignments but you have a superior amount of time immersed in the classroom. I have worked with/for Uni's since and confident in what I am saying! In fact, a lot of feedback from schools in Australia is graduates haven't had enough exposure to the reality of the classroom. 

Thank you so much for this Benj. I have contacted my university and now wait for their response (they seem to open emails bi-annually....)

 

On 10/03/2023 at 21:24, Marisawright said:

No, if you can get a skilled (not employer-sponsored) visa, there's no restrictions on what kind of work you do once you arrive.

Thank you Marisa! I contacted the other accrediting body and they said I would need 6 months full time work to update my 'currency' (skills). I will be speaking with an agent soon to see which visa has the better chances...and maybe looking for a 6 month job.... 

Thank you so much for the replies

[cg9456 1]

On 29/03/2023 at 00:00, benj1980 said:

Teach First is different. It's got real mixed results in terms of teaching retention, that said the academic element to it is robust.

I just got my AITSL skills assessment approved so I guess you were right.

[benj1980 412]

9 hours ago, cg9456 said:

I just got my AITSL skills assessment approved so I guess you were right.

Congratulations! Such a major hurdle!

[Claire_88 0]

Morning Ben

regarding my SCITT I have been denied. I have a transcript of my pgce and a letter from Bath spa on headed Paper saying my teaching hours were affiliated with SCITT.

would you be able to screenshot your transcript

so basically would I need a transcript of my teaching hours on bath spa headed paper but no mention of SCITT on there and just bath spa to sign it? 
 

Your information so far has been very helpful 

thanks

Claire

[benj1980 412]

Hi Claire, I'm not going to screenshot a personal document and I would recommend that you don't do it either on a public forum. 

My transcript says that my SCITT was an associate institution of my university and was on university headed paper as I mentioned previously.

My transcript was called a reference transcript. It stated the following:

• Name
• Student ID (Uni ID)
• Course studied
• Length of course

Within the transcript table:

• Modules and credits
• Days it took to complete
• Detail of the module

 

It's bloody frustrating. Some people seem to get a positive result, but more are disappointed. AITSL need to have a hard look at themselves.