Teaching Vacancies in Australia

[Guest alohachica82]

Hi

 

I am a Newly Qualified Teacher in the UK. As jobs are hard to find in the UK due to the current economic recession I want to move to Australia to work. Can anyone help me with what work I could do or any agencies or sites I could look at to help me get started?

 

Kind Regards

alohachica82

[_shel]

Teaching in Australia is not as simple as being qualified in the UK. What are your qualifications and which state do you want to work in? And what age do you teach?

 

Have you looked on the diac site to see if you qualify for a visa, assuming you can pass the skills assessment and are eligible to register with the state to teach?

[PositivePixie]

Firstly, depends on how long you want to go for and what sort of teaching work you want to do.

 

If you are under 30 and have no dependants you could go over on a WHV, but will be restricted to supply (called relief over there) work - depending on where in Oz you go as well it could take several months for your registration to come through before you can work so something you need to look into for the state you want to go to. Each State and Territory is run pretty independently of each other, so once you are allowed to teach in one it doesn't mean you can teach in another btw - you have to register with each Teacher's Board in each state you want to teach in.

 

If you want to go perm. you will have to finish your NQT year (or rack up 12 months supply teaching - the summer holidays count as time worked for this) before you can apply for a visa. If you are Secondary you can either get State Sponsorship for SA (and a 176 visa) if you are a STEM subject teacher, or apply for a 175 visa. If you are Primary you will have to get State Sponsorship - SA are also sponsoring those. Its assessed on what your PGCE or BEd was in. If you have done a 3 year BEd you will have to do further study in Oz before you qualifiy, if you have done a 3 year undergrad + PGCE or a 4 yr BEd you are fine. You can check out the requirements for skills assessment on AITSL website.

 

For a handle on visas, go to DIAC (http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/), for specific state teacher's board information google is your friend (they have different requirements - eg I think in NSW you can only teach what your PGCE/Degree is in to a greater or lesser extent, whereas SA is less rigid). Be aware that Oz isn't rolling in teacher jobs, especially in the major cities in Primary, and some states have a points system where you have to work in the countryside before you can get a posting in town (although depending on where you are in the UK and what you teach the situation may well be better than you are having now ).

 

A few more details about yourself may give more specific information on here as well

[Quoll]

I wouldnt bother. Change careers perhaps. Teaching positions in Australia are very hard to come by especially in the nice places where people actually want to live. I think it is probably harder to get a permanent position in Aus than it is in UK if the loads of Aussie teachers heading to UK are anything to go by.

[_shel]

Too true Quoll, we're going back next fri after 14 weeks ( No jobs, they're not interested in UK qualifications even if they're higher than the job requires because they're not Australian! Hubbys a. Citizen & teacher with aussie, american & british qualifications but not the 1 qualification they think is holier than thou!

[PositivePixie]

I wouldnt bother. Change careers perhaps. Teaching positions in Australia are very hard to come by especially in the nice places where people actually want to live. I think it is probably harder to get a permanent position in Aus than it is in UK if the loads of Aussie teachers heading to UK are anything to go by.

 

I wouldn't bank on it Quoll - I know for eg in the SW in UK it is DIRE - over 800 applicants for each job, with jobs being cut anyway. Even in my neck of the woods there are over 300 applicants for each position - they just advertised my job for eg and got 367 applicants, and that's at a Catholic School.

 

Personally I'd rather move to Never Never if it meant a job, than to London (one of the only options in the UK - and not an affordable one imho and from experience) but then we would never even consider Sydney anyway. The Aussies coming over that I've met are staying in London - I've yet to meet one up here, whereas I met loads down south (obviously there are more people down there, but still, not a single one up here in 17 months now, in England's second city).

 

And the supply situation is completely different - here in the UK they now have untrained monkeys, sorry, Cover Supervisors and supply has gone down from a full time job to working 3 days out of 100 for a lot of friends I have still on the supply trail. The people I know in Oz teaching, whilst are not always just walking into contract positions, are at least working 90 odd days out of 100 odd on supply.

 

Obviously it varies depending on where you are in Oz, and I don't think anyone should think they are going to walk into a job, as well as realising the difference in the teaching job culture, however to say its worse than the UK is just misleading imho - it is SO bad here its scary, and going to get worse from the funding cuts getting rid of the 1:1 programme and so on, whilst it is cheaper and perfectly allowed for schools to put unqualified, untrained and clueless staff in front of classes long term.

[Guest alohachica82]

Hi

 

Thank you for replying my post. it's good to get as much information as I can whilst thinking about going to Australia to work.

 

I thought I'd come on and answer a few of the questions that were asked. I am 29 and have no dependents. The age range in which I am trained to teach is 5-11 (Primary) with a specialism in languages (Spanish, Italian and German). The states I would like to work in are New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. I ideally would like to get a job in Sydney as I have friends living there but I don't mind where I go. The only problem I have is that I don't drive in the UK.

 

From what I have read (please tell me if his is true or not) it seems that it might be better for me to do my year abroad working after I have finished my NQT year. The reason I want to do it now is that it is so difficult to find a job. Is this what the posts are saying?

 

I want to thank you for your help so far and hope that you can continue helping me.

 

Kind Regards

alohachica82

[Guest alohachica82]

P.S Does anyone know if there is a similar forum like this for jobs in New Zealand?

[PositivePixie]

P.S Does anyone know if there is a similar forum like this for jobs in New Zealand?

 

There is a VERY active thread on NZ on the overseas forum on the TES website, it doesn't sound like jobs are as plentiful as a few years ago over there from browsing that thread (ie I walked into a job a 18 months out of my PGCE via an overseas telephone interview and Auckland teaching Agent about 6 years ago (admittedly in an Auckland low decile school in a shortage subject) - now people seem to be struggling to get something from overseas), but if you ask a question on it I'm sure the people on the ground will be able to advise with regards to your preferred area etc

 

If you just want to do one year overseas then yes, you need to finish your NQT, or you won't be able to teach when you come back to the UK (ever possibly, in a state school, because of the time restrictions on finishing your Induction). If you want to stay perm. again, yes, because you won't qualify for the visa otherwise. In terms of finding a job in Australia, it won't make a huge amount of difference imho - in Sydney you will find it really really hard (never say never lol), apart from supply, but you will be in grotty schools all over the place, from what I have heard.

 

Overall, imho, if you want to go to Oz to teach you need to be a) ULTRA flexible (with both area and what you teach, as well as if you actually teach at all!) b)mega positive c) put in the hard yards and d) never expect a full time, perm. job - contract is the way things work over there it appears.

 

If you want a general something enough (ie being in Oz as a teacher, rather than 'working in a top Indy school in Manly in Sydney') and are any good, it will happen. If you only want to go because there aren't any jobs here, move to another part of the UK.

[Quoll]

Too true Quoll, we're going back next fri after 14 weeks ( No jobs, they're not interested in UK qualifications even if they're higher than the job requires because they're not Australian! Hubbys a. Citizen & teacher with aussie, american & british qualifications but not the 1 qualification they think is holier than thou!

 

It is difficult, isnt it? If you had said you would head off to Wilcannia you might have got something but who wants to live in a place like that?

 

Hope your return is really great and you can pick up the threads of your life again.

[Guest alohachica82]

I want to move to Australia because I want a chance to have a completely new experience and to work with children abroad. I understand from all the information that I have gathered that I will have to wait until I have completed my NQT year before i even think about moving abroad.

 

As for moving to another part of the UK I would do it if I could afford to! I am looking all over the UK and it is proving difficult as a lot of schools want to employ experience teachers due to the current funding crisis in schools.

[Freckleface]

Too true Quoll, we're going back next fri after 14 weeks ( No jobs, they're not interested in UK qualifications even if they're higher than the job requires because they're not Australian! Hubbys a. Citizen & teacher with aussie, american & british qualifications but not the 1 qualification they think is holier than thou!

If you really want to stay here maybe you should consider going bush for a couple of years? Short term pain for a long term gain?

[PositivePixie]

As for moving to another part of the UK I would do it if I could afford to! I am looking all over the UK and it is proving difficult as a lot of schools want to employ experience teachers due to the current funding crisis in schools.

 

Exactly the opposite - schools want NQTs because they are only on M1, and they get extra funding to cover your NQT release time etc (which an unscrupulous school will mis-spend), they don't want expensive top of the scale and Upper Pay Scale teachers who have the experience, as we cost too much, unless we are willing to take on loads and loads of extra responsibilities and so forth. Schools get the same amount of money for teachers no matter who them employ, so they can spend that on 3 NQTs, or 2 UPS teachers - which is better for the school? (I guess the answer depends on a lot of things, but at the end of the day you need a certain ratio of pupil:adult)

 

You are at the absolute best and easiest time of your career to get a job currently, believe me - the amount of UPS teachers I know in the UK that can't get a job, due in great part to their cost.

[Quoll]

Exactly the opposite - schools want NQTs because they are only on M1, and they get extra funding to cover your NQT release time etc (which an unscrupulous school will mis-spend), they don't want expensive top of the scale and Upper Pay Scale teachers who have the experience, as we cost too much, unless we are willing to take on loads and loads of extra responsibilities and so forth. Schools get the same amount of money for teachers no matter who them employ, so they can spend that on 3 NQTs, or 2 UPS teachers - which is better for the school? (I guess the answer depends on a lot of things, but at the end of the day you need a certain ratio of pupil:adult)

 

You are at the absolute best and easiest time of your career to get a job currently, believe me - the amount of UPS teachers I know in the UK that can't get a job, due in great part to their cost.

 

Same in Australia, they will take the bottom of the scale people over the top of the scale people because they are cheaper and in some states that is really important as the schools are on school based management. I have an ex colleague, well qualified, excellent teacher, top of the pay scale - took her 4 years to get a permanent position in rural Victoria (Ballarat) and even then, not with the government system!

[PositivePixie]

Same in Australia.....

 

Surely its just common sense that this is the same around the entire world in Government run/funded education systems though? At the end of the day, Public Sector the world round will always pay the lowest fees to everyone working for them - always have, always will. Therefore, the cheapest staff will always be the most in demand, whether in UK, Oz or USA etc, whether in teaching, nursing, law or social services. It has been in every country I've worked in, in every area of public sector that I've worked in.

[Guest kar893]

I will be 35 in December. I have 12 years senior buiness sales / marketing and training experience. I am starting my PTLLS course in the UK (Prepared to teach in lifelong learning sector) The next step would be DTLLS Level 4 (Diploma to teach in lifelong learning sector) I also hold a Level 3 Diploma in Holistic massage. From what I can gather on this forum UK qualifications don't stand for much in OZ? Would it be best to study in OZ then. My passion and interest in Psychology, human behaviour, training, learning and development, business. Ideally Queensland coast is my preferance. What would be the best route for me to package my passion, experience and willing to qualifiy in a area that is in demand and I would enjoy? I have a choice to pursue my own training business or go back into full time employement within the Learning and Development Corporate Business sector and study part-time. What I don't want to do is study for two years to find out it was a waste in terms of being regonised in OZ? I have emailed a migration agent too so just doing as much research as I can. Planning a holiday to OZ in the next year anyway.

[_shel]

Those qualifications won't allow you teach in tafe in Australia. You need Cert iv which you can do online. But teaching in tafe & uni out here is highly competitive and most are on part time casual contracts. You'd have to do that for a number of years before you had a chance at even a part time perm role

[Guest Pixie10]

I think if you're a teacher in the UK and you are coming to Oz- flexibility is the key... maybe do relief teaching through an agency combined with another job...take what you can and diversify!

I'm currently teaching in a city where the council has stopped any long term teaching contracts being offered so its all 12 month contracts or agency short/long term employment.... also we have the most primary teachers per square mile than any other city in uk as we have so many teacher training facilities... over 500 people have applied for my job... no one has been interviewed yet but we've already been told it will be an NQT who gets it as they are cheaper!!

 

I wouldnt go into teaching in the uk now and honestly I dont think I'll be teaching in Oz much...

[Guest SupportPants]

I think if you're a teacher in the UK and you are coming to Oz- flexibility is the key... maybe do relief teaching through an agency combined with another job...take what you can and diversify!

I'm currently teaching in a city where the council has stopped any long term teaching contracts being offered so its all 12 month contracts or agency short/long term employment.... also we have the most primary teachers per square mile than any other city in uk as we have so many teacher training facilities... over 500 people have applied for my job... no one has been interviewed yet but we've already been told it will be an NQT who gets it as they are cheaper!!

 

I wouldnt go into teaching in the uk now and honestly I dont think I'll be teaching in Oz much...

 

I've found teaching the same in Queensland. Short contracts are the norm and even worse the state system tries to send you into the outback where you must accumulate points before you are allowed to work where you would like to live. Even the short contracts are hard to get unless Maths of science. There is a glut of primary teachers here too and I know quite a few who qualified when I did three years ago who are still seeking their first position.

[Guest alohachica82]

Can you tell me which schools want to employ NQTs because most of the schools I have applied for in the South of England (all over from London to Cornwall, not just one part) all want experience and believe me I am going for everything going! I am trained for KS2 but am having to go for KS1 jobs as well. Can you tell me where you are finding out your information please?

[_shel]

If you really want to stay here maybe you should consider going bush for a couple of years? Short term pain for a long term gain?

 

 

Not an option really as it's effecting both of us. I'd have to study HE to be able to get a living wage as my quals are not good enough for them either. As I'm still on a spouse visa I wouldn't get funding to study. And the grandparents are in Newcastle NSW so if we were to go out west we may as well be back in the UK were we can study and earn a wage & we'd see them just as much!

 

We'll go back to the UK and I'll study there and be back in a few years, easier for me being married to an aussie to do that I suppose!

[Freckleface]

Hope it all works out for you. :yes:

[PositivePixie]

Can you tell me which schools want to employ NQTs because most of the schools I have applied for in the South of England (all over from London to Cornwall, not just one part) all want experience and believe me I am going for everything going! I am trained for KS2 but am having to go for KS1 jobs as well. Can you tell me where you are finding out your information please?

 

Certainly - I have 1 friend in SMT in Herts, 2 in London (in different boroughs), 1 in Brum, my current school, 4 other schools in this area - that is all personal knowledge, not hear-say (ie I personally know and talk to someone/more than one person on the SMT that is responsible for hiring in those schools). They are all talking about budget cuts and tightening belts and how they can't afford staff anymore, and how when they interview they have to give the job to an NQT because they just can't afford anyone more experienced.

 

Are you getting invited to interview, but then after interview being told you didn't get the position because of lack of experience? If so, without being harsh, that probably isn't the reason. A lot of the time, there isn't really a reason x candidate won out over y candidate, its just their face fits better. If you aren't getting invited to interview, you need to work on your application pack.

 

Seriously, you are in a MUCH better position for getting a job than UPS teachers at the moment (of which I also know loads and they really can't get a job, a lot of time they have been outright told it's because the school can't afford them - why the school bothers to interview them then I don't know - they know the budget before they interview them after all!).

 

Polish the interview technique, give a better interview lesson, look older, calmer, more collected and experienced than you actually are and you'll find the right job for you. It worked for me (a Secondary trained teacher who had only 12 months supply in Primary offered the 2nd primary job I was interviewed for despite everyone saying I would never get get a primary job in the UK under the current climate, as I wasn't primary trained, am top of payscale and don't play the piano). And get ye to the Career Clinic section of the TES, Theo is grand and helps a lot. Have a shufty here as well: http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/t/526940.aspx (the unemployed teachers forum) - this thread in particular I thought was interesting to see comments from loads of people missing out on jobs and from them you can see if they are more expensive teachers or cheaper NQTs etc, as well as it just being interesting. The entire forum might help with regards to gaining a job here though as well I thought.

 

The SW is cronic for jobs btw, especially in Primary - I wouldn't hold your breathe on working down there. London seriously is your best bet - get on the NQT pools for the different boroughs, you won't have the 'lack of experience' problem, as its specifically for NQTs and that's what the schools sign up for - at the very least they will have to think up a different excuse lol.

[northernbird]

I wouldn't bank on it Quoll - I know for eg in the SW in UK it is DIRE - over 800 applicants for each job, with jobs being cut anyway. Even in my neck of the woods there are over 300 applicants for each position - they just advertised my job for eg and got 367 applicants, and that's at a Catholic School.

 

Personally I'd rather move to Never Never if it meant a job, than to London (one of the only options in the UK - and not an affordable one imho and from experience) but then we would never even consider Sydney anyway. The Aussies coming over that I've met are staying in London - I've yet to meet one up here, whereas I met loads down south (obviously there are more people down there, but still, not a single one up here in 17 months now, in England's second city).

 

And the supply situation is completely different - here in the UK they now have untrained monkeys, sorry, Cover Supervisors and supply has gone down from a full time job to working 3 days out of 100 for a lot of friends I have still on the supply trail. The people I know in Oz teaching, whilst are not always just walking into contract positions, are at least working 90 odd days out of 100 odd on supply.

 

Obviously it varies depending on where you are in Oz, and I don't think anyone should think they are going to walk into a job, as well as realising the difference in the teaching job culture, however to say its worse than the UK is just misleading imho - it is SO bad here its scary, and going to get worse from the funding cuts getting rid of the 1:1 programme and so on, whilst it is cheaper and perfectly allowed for schools to put unqualified, untrained and clueless staff in front of classes long term.

 

I work in a primary school. Recently we had 500 applications for 1 job, per capita that works out higher if my very basic maths serves me correctly. The situation for teachers in WA at least if they don't have permanency is dreadful, my colleagues tell me it is no different in other states. You say you are happy to go and teach in the country but I wonder if you have any idea of what that actually means. As a newly arrived pom the best you can hope for is relief teaching, don't plan on getting a permanent job in the near future.

[Quoll]

I work in a primary school. Recently we had 500 applications for 1 job, per capita that works out higher if my very basic maths serves me correctly. The situation for teachers in WA at least if they don't have permanency is dreadful, my colleagues tell me it is no different in other states. You say you are happy to go and teach in the country but I wonder if you have any idea of what that actually means. As a newly arrived pom the best you can hope for is relief teaching, don't plan on getting a permanent job in the near future.

 

ACT is the same and I hear similar things from Vic and NSW teachers - and the situation in Qld has been well known for several years now. But, what do I know? I only worked in education for 25 years. It's one of life's little ironies for teachers - you have to be permanent to be permanent!