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Guest missirish

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Guest missirish

Hi,

 

I'm a recently qualified primary school teacher moving to Australia in the coming months - at the moment it's looking like Perth but haven't finalised flights yet - and I'm wondering if there are any overseas trained primary school teachers working in Perth or elsewhere in Australia who can advise me on the job situation out there. What do you think the chances are of getting a job as a graduate teacher?

 

Any advice at all would be appreciated!

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  • 2 months later...

Hi there

 

I am moving to Perth in July and I will be much in a similar situation to you. I am also on the hunt for information for jobs, how to get them, routes to employment etc.. I have some information that I will put up soon, I am still researching a couple of points myself. Good luck with you hunt, i will post up what I find, when I find it.

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Unless you have some highly in demand spectacular skill set then your chances of permanent employment as a teacher in a place where people really want to live (eg metropolitan areas) are very slim. The notion that Australia is short of teachers is a myth - what they may be short of is Maths/Science secondary teachers especially in out of the way places.

 

If you are prepared to go anywhere in WA then you might pick up permanency in a rural/remote school (same goes for the other states as well) otherwise it is going to be a long stint of casual relief.

 

The only thing you really have going for you as a new graduate is that you are cheaper than a more experienced colleague so you may pick up a short term contract because you will cost a school less than someone with more miles on the clock.

 

It is regular news that young Australian teachers are leaving the profession in droves because they cant get their feet on the ladder without doing some hard time in the boondocks first. Maybe when the current cohort retire there will be a demand but they have been saying that for years and it hasnt happened yet.

 

For WA http://www.jobs.det.wa.edu.au/page.php?pageID=215

http://det.wa.edu.au/teachingwa/detcms/teachingwa/teaching-wa/global-content/apply-to-work.en?oid=MultiPartArticle-id-4081478

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Guest missirish

Thanks for your reply, the feedback is appreciated even if it isn't exactly what I wanted to hear!

 

I'm not expecting permanency, in fact casual relief work would suit me just fine as I wouldn't mind doing a bit of travelling at the same time. Do you think short term contract work will be easily accessible in the metropolitan area?

 

As regards to salary, I'm surprised to hear so many young Australian teachers are leaving the profession because of it, I can't imagine the starting salary could be any worse than here in Ireland... from what I've heard it is somewhere in the region of $39,000 a year for 4 year trained graduates over there? Does that sound accurate to you? Or would that change dramatically were you only to be working as a relief teacher on a day to day basis??

 

Thanks again!

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Daily casual relief should be available but you may have to travel all over to get it. Short term contracts - still quite a lot of competition for those - as I said, plenty of teachers wanting to live in nice places. You're more likely to get a term or two if you are flexible about where you live.

 

Beginning graduates dont start on much but I would have thought it a bit above $39k which is a pittance especially if you have a lot of travelling to do. CRT is usually around the $220 - 250 per day (depends on the state) so you need to be working pretty much every day to get a reasonable income (only 41 weeks work in a year, remember)

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Thanks for your reply, the feedback is appreciated even if it isn't exactly what I wanted to hear!

 

I'm not expecting permanency, in fact casual relief work would suit me just fine as I wouldn't mind doing a bit of travelling at the same time. Do you think short term contract work will be easily accessible in the metropolitan area?

 

As regards to salary, I'm surprised to hear so many young Australian teachers are leaving the profession because of it, I can't imagine the starting salary could be any worse than here in Ireland... from what I've heard it is somewhere in the region of $39,000 a year for 4 year trained graduates over there? Does that sound accurate to you? Or would that change dramatically were you only to be working as a relief teacher on a day to day basis??

 

Thanks again!

 

The wage might be miles better than the UK, but its still very very low when you look at what other graduates earn in Oz. Personally I like the high sounding number, but am quite aware that I am sticking my head in the sand if its a 'good' wage for Oz really for similar level jobs (ie 4 year degree).

 

The wages vary from state to state (if you google 'WA teacher pay' you should get a pay chart), but as a guideline, I would be on starting wage of $55K (if they don't take any of my experience into account, which they will apparently) in SA, and daily rate for relief teaching should be anywhere between $200-$300 a day (again, depending on how much experience they allow for) - I would have thought the daily rate is similar in WA as apparently it is in Vic, NSW and Tassie (from what I have been told/been bothered to look at, as we are defo. going to SA and always were, so looking at the other states was just being nosey lol).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Im in the same position as you, I basically live between Perth and the UK as my gf lives out there. But come July at the end of the UK school term il be making the big move. Iv found in Perth there ARE primary jobs out there but usually short term contracts BUT it very much WHO you know which counts and usually its a friend or someone you know the recommends you. However if you are preprimary trained you will have no problem getting a job. Wage for graduates start in the region of 62K and there is a 12% over the next 3 years, but as others have said it pittace compared to others in WA. Good luck for your move.

 

#FACT: If WA was it's own country its would be the third richest country in the world!

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#FACT: If WA was it's own country its would be the third richest country in the world!

 

What a silly thing to say - if SE England was a country on its own it would take the vast majority if not all of the wealth of the UK - different regions have different proportions of a nations wealth, tis a well known phenomenon. Unfortunately, the wealth is not in teaching, nor anything else other than mining.

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WOW!! Dint expect that reaction....you need to chill a bit....it was just a bit of fun. And yes it is all mining, and the point I was making due to all the money flying around, WA is very expensive to make and that why the teachers wage looks huge compared to the UK wage.

 

LOL at England having wealth, how much money does England owe to certain organisations? 800bn?

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Guest SupportPants
Im in the same position as you, I basically live between Perth and the UK as my gf lives out there. But come July at the end of the UK school term il be making the big move. Iv found in Perth there ARE primary jobs out there but usually short term contracts BUT it very much WHO you know which counts and usually its a friend or someone you know the recommends you. However if you are preprimary trained you will have no problem getting a job. Wage for graduates start in the region of 62K and there is a 12% over the next 3 years, but as others have said it pittace compared to others in WA. Good luck for your move.

 

#FACT: If WA was it's own country its would be the third richest country in the world!

 

I'm pretty sure wages for graduates start at 52k not 62k.That's the equivalent of around an 18k sterling lifestyle. Like many jobs here I expect it's who you know not skills that would get you anything other than a short term contract.

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Graduate Teacher Pay Scale 2010, there has been a rise in 2011 which im not sure and teachers have been promised a 12% payrise too over the next 3 years.

[TABLE=width: 365]

[TR]

[TD]Level[/TD]

[TD]Salary as at October 2010[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2.1[/TD]

[TD]$56,112* = £37,807[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2.2[/TD]

[TD]$61,567* = £41,483[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

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Guest SupportPants
Graduate Teacher Pay Scale 2010, there has been a rise in 2011 which im not sure and teachers have been promised a 12% payrise too over the next 3 years.

[TABLE=width: 365]

[TR]

[TD]Level[/TD]

[TD]Salary as at October 2010[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2.1[/TD]

[TD]$56,112* = £37,807[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2.2[/TD]

[TD]$61,567* = £41,483[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

 

56k is a little better - about 20k British salary . It's a real error to calculate salaries on the current exchange rate as it ignores the cost of living difference. The average is around 2.25 -2.5 which gives you an idea of lifestyle.

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Guest missirish
Im in the same position as you, I basically live between Perth and the UK as my gf lives out there. But come July at the end of the UK school term il be making the big move. Iv found in Perth there ARE primary jobs out there but usually short term contracts BUT it very much WHO you know which counts and usually its a friend or someone you know the recommends you. However if you are preprimary trained you will have no problem getting a job. Wage for graduates start in the region of 62K and there is a 12% over the next 3 years, but as others have said it pittace compared to others in WA. Good luck for your move.

 

 

Thanks - that gives me a bit of hope, even short term contracts would be brilliant for me as I don't mind moving around a bit. I'm in the process of sorting out paper work to register with the Western Australia College of Teaching, its working out 400 euro just to apply - ouch!!! So hoping that all goes through ok... by pre-primary do you mean that primary teaching qualifications aren't relevant in preschools over there?? I've seen a lot of advertising for Early Years work and was hoping primary teachers would be qualified for this too!!

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by pre-primary do you mean that primary teaching qualifications aren't relevant in preschools over there?? I've seen a lot of advertising for Early Years work and was hoping primary teachers would be qualified for this too!!

 

UK Primary Teachers are not qualified to work in the role of Pre Primary. It is a different capacity in Australia that needs particular qualifications. In the UK you have Primary and Secondary Teachers whilst in Australia you have Pre Primary, Primary and Secondary Teachers.

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UK Primary Teachers are not qualified to work in the role of Pre Primary. It is a different capacity in Australia that needs particular qualifications. In the UK you have Primary and Secondary Teachers whilst in Australia you have Pre Primary, Primary and Secondary Teachers.

 

There is specifically 'Early Years' training in the UK that counts as Pre-Primary in Aus (according to skills assessment from AISTL at any rate), but its specifically the Early Years, not just Primary.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest yodayoda

Hello, I`m aware primary is off the SOL but how much experience do the states that still want primary teachers require. Do you just apply for a 2 year sponsor visa from the state and then you can apply for residency once there???

Thanks

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Guest littlesarah

Considering the wage for a relatively junior uni academic (which requires a PhD, tertiary teaching qualification and often a few years relevant experience), new grad primary teaching actually looks not too badly paid!

 

BTW, consider that a straight conversion doesn't really take cost of living into account, because the exchange rate is skewed (high AUD, low GBP).

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest nick2704

My OH is from Perth, although has lived in UK with me for a long time. He's moving back in a few weeks and am going in a few months once visa comes through. He's going to start doing Primary teaching at Uni next year and says that Perth is crying out for male primary teachers.

 

I know lots of folk in UK, esp male teachers including primary who struggle even for supply work on a day to day basis. Because there is a lack of graduate positions in the UK anyway so many people have done a masters in teaching and there seems to be a huge supply problem in the UK, I wonder if thats the same in Oz?

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Male primary teachers do have some advantage but primary teachers (in general) are NOT in short supply in metropolitan areas and he might find he has a lifetime on supply (if he is lucky) which isnt conducive to getting settled. He should probably add some other strings to his bow too - specialize in music or special ed or one of the Asian languages perhaps. Alternatively, expect to live miles away from a major city at least for a few years

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  • 1 year later...

hi all, I know this is an old post just wondered how any of you guys got on moving out there ? my girlfriend has just finished her pgce and has just got a job for her NQT/QTS but after that we planned to move out to Australia as my brother has work for me (bricklayer) and am able to get a visa this way thro sponsorship, but am worried about how easy it will be for my gf to get a job out there. she has done her degree in early years and then her pgce in primary, we are also looking at living in mandurah which is about an hour south of perth is that classed far enough out of the city to have a better chance at jobs ?

 

any help would be great !

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If her undergrad is early years.not only are you laughing in terms of jobs,bit would be easiest and best (imho) to go for the pr visa based in her skills. The only little thing is sometimes early years is hard to prove, as it covers from ages 0 here, whereas in the UK its only older children, but as long as she reads the regulations etc and shows the evidence clearly it should be like a walk in tje park :)

 

Her NQT and QTS means *nothing* outside of the UK btw, so are only worth doing if she wants to return to teaching state school teaching, but as there is no longer any time limit on completing induction, there wouldn't be a problem with you two coming to oz before the end of her nqt year is up. Getting a job back in the UK will be much of a muchness anyway.

 

Hth a bit, mandurah area is SO lovely, hope you enjoy it :)

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Thanks for the reply, we lived in mandurah for about 4 months in 2011 when we originally were going to migrate but when we got to oz we found out she was pregnant so it made sense to return for her to finish her teaching qualification.she wants to do Nqt/qts as a safety barrier just in case we ever do need to go back to uk especially as she was lucky enough to get a job here !

 

To do the pr on her skills I thought she had to have so many years teaching experience before we could do that? Also she wants to teach in a primary school why does the early years degree help so much over there ?

 

​Thanks again

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Thanks for the reply, we lived in mandurah for about 4 months in 2011 when we originally were going to migrate but when we got to oz we found out she was pregnant so it made sense to return for her to finish her teaching qualification.she wants to do Nqt/qts as a safety barrier just in case we ever do need to go back to uk especially as she was lucky enough to get a job here !

 

To do the pr on her skills I thought she had to have so many years teaching experience before we could do that? Also she wants to teach in a primary school why does the early years degree help so much over there ?

 

​Thanks again

 

From next year all child care centres will be required to have a trained early childhood teacher - be aware though, that the wages are much lower than government schools. So, there will be more opportunities for early childhood trained. However, to work in a childhood centre as a teacher you will have to prove that you are qualified in the very early years.

 

To work in a government primary school in WA, then early childhood covers Kindy up to year 3.

 

It is still very difficult to obtain a position in metro areas and competition is very fierce - Mandurah is part of the south metro area within the ed department.

 

Start researching now and make sure that you are aware of the National Professional Standards for Teachers - nearly all applications (government) require a lengthy written response to those in their selection criteria.

 

.

Edited by Sammy1
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her pgce is in primary and that's where she wants to teach, just her undergrad was in early years. does that mean she could teach in both over there ? as here there are 3 different pgce's one for early years,one for primary and one for secondary and she is doing the primary one.

 

are there many job opportunities around the mandurah areas for a primary school teacher or would she need to be looking at quite a lot of travelling?

 

ive only got a small window to do sponsorship so we want to come out next july but this means we will have a little bit left on credit cards to clear down which should be easy enough to do if we are both working, that's our only worry really.

 

thanks again for any info and for the fast replys it is very much appreciated.

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