The NQT Year Thread

Can I ask, are you both working in independent schools? Its just I've never heard of rowing/scholarship debate groups/house duty etc in anything other than the independent schools that some of my friends from uni went to.... or are you in a "good" school in the state sector?

I'm going to visit 4 schools next week :biggrin:

The guy from the NQT pool I was in over the summer has contacted me about a vacancy in a school near me as I emailed to say I was still looking.... I think he is highly embarrassed though as the last school he sent me to offered me a job, then retracted it hours later after telling this guy that they were giving me a job so he sent me a message to congratulate me.... then I had to reply being like "have they not let you know? there is no longer a job for me to have..." :frown:

Just hope the job front goes better now - new term new start, I hope... I don't want to go through everything again like last time as it was horrible.

Reply 23

OP

Original post by oxymoronic

Can I ask, are you both working in independent schools? Its just I've never heard of rowing/scholarship debate groups/house duty etc in anything other than the independent schools that some of my friends from uni went to.... or are you in a "good" school in the state sector?

I think that Popa Dom is in an Independent school but I'm not....I don't do "scholarship debate groups" or house duty (though my school does have houses though that's not so uncommon in state schools now....the Harry Potter effect!). A few state schools have rowing clubs but not many....my school doesn't, it just does indoor rowing - so basically on a rowing machine.

Though also my school is a pretty good state school, although not Outstanding (it has Outstanding features) as they need to get their results up (above average but not high enough) it's very well regarded in the local area and is easily oversubscribed. It used to be a grammar school and has kept some of the traditional school things such as teaching Latin (extracurricular), a smart uniform (blazers and sweatshirts), and being very strict (there is a no-phones policy between 8.30am-3pm, even the sight of one means immediate confiscation until the end of the day....so far I've only seen a phone ONCE in the two weeks and that was a boy in my tutor group who'd forgot to turn his off in the morning. Immediate confiscation and no argument from him).

Oops...quite a lot of info there :redface:

Good luck with the job hunt! :smile:

Anyone in the Cambridgeshire area want a job as a TA? My school's recruiting...

Reply 24

Original post by dobbs

I think that Popa Dom is in an Independent school but I'm not....I don't do "scholarship debate groups" or house duty (though my school does have houses though that's not so uncommon in state schools now....the Harry Potter effect!). A few state schools have rowing clubs but not many....my school doesn't, it just does indoor rowing - so basically on a rowing machine.

Ahhhh okay, I was wondering where all of these schools had popped up from that suddenly had a river for students to row on!

Though also my school is a pretty good state school, although not Outstanding (it has Outstanding features) as they need to get their results up (above average but not high enough) it's very well regarded in the local area and is easily oversubscribed. It used to be a grammar school and has kept some of the traditional school things such as teaching Latin (extracurricular), a smart uniform (blazers and sweatshirts), and being very strict (there is a no-phones policy between 8.30am-3pm, even the sight of one means immediate confiscation until the end of the day....so far I've only seen a phone ONCE in the two weeks and that was a boy in my tutor group who'd forgot to turn his off in the morning. Immediate confiscation and no argument from him).

Your boy sounds cute. Some of my Y3s last term turned up with mobile phones. Dealing with 7 year olds with ipads/kindles/mobile phones who also get FSM and live in a very deprived area was not a situation I envisaged myself being in! How have you found being a form tutor? Do you have to do things like circle time with them? Which year group do you have? And (final question!) on the secondary PGCE do you get to do things like have your own form? As it sounds really stupid but one of the things that has always made me feel like a "real teacher" is doing the register and dealing with all of the stuff first thing in the morning with parents and kids who've forgotten dinner money/PE kit etc..... and I don't know whether you get that aspect on the secondary course?

Oops...quite a lot of info there :redface:

Good luck with the job hunt! :smile:

Anyone in the Cambridgeshire area want a job as a TA? My school's recruiting...

Cheers

I just hope its less stressful and more fruitful than in the summer but at least now the added pressure of also teaching full time and doing all of the QTS/PGCE stuff has gone because I can do things like visit schools before applying :biggrin:

And thanks but no thanks on the TA front.... I don't live in Cambridgeshire anyway and think I'll try at getting an NQT post for a wee while longer before I resign to becoming a TA. Not that there's anything wrong with being a TA, I think it'd be quite a cool job - My TAs have been amazing! I imagine in a lot of schools it might be a good way of getting a foot in the door for teaching positions later down the line, but right now I just have this image of me being a TA in a NQTs class who was doing the job I want to be doing. I couldn't hack that right now! :smile:

Reply 25

OP

Original post by oxymoronic

Your boy sounds cute. Some of my Y3s last term turned up with mobile phones. Dealing with 7 year olds with ipads/kindles/mobile phones who also get FSM and live in a very deprived area was not a situation I envisaged myself being in! How have you found being a form tutor? Do you have to do things like circle time with them? Which year group do you have? And (final question!) on the secondary PGCE do you get to do things like have your own form? As it sounds really stupid but one of the things that has always made me feel like a "real teacher" is doing the register and dealing with all of the stuff first thing in the morning with parents and kids who've forgotten dinner money/PE kit etc..... and I don't know whether you get that aspect on the secondary course?

Generally on secondary PGCE you get attached to a form class and it sort of depends on you and the form tutor to decide how much you get involved. Some people completely take over, or maybe take them one day a week or something, others just generally support the form tutor, take the register if they have to deal with a pupil, take them to assembly etc.

I hate the term 'circle time' haha but only because it is such a Primary School thing and (try to keep this story short) when I used to work as a manager on summer camps I had a staff member who was a Primary Teacher and insisted on doing 'Circle Time' with 11-17 year olds. They were all like "Errrr wtf?!"...I have Year 9s and they would cringe if I told them we were doing circle time! I have a schedule of things - assemblies two mornings a week, planner signing and silent reading on Wednesdays, then things like team building challenges, quizzes on the recent news stories, oh and we are doing stuff about the Olympics so our form have to follow Finland (possibly the WORST country to be assigned!) through the year, as well as some British athletes.

A lot of things that you'd do in Primary you don't do in Secondary. It's not my concern if they don't have their PE kit....it's their PE teacher who will sanction them for that. We have a fingerprint system for dinner money so they top up their account (or parents can top it up online) then they use their fingerprint to pay for lunches so not a big deal either. Main things are giving announcements/letters and either doing the sessions or chatting to them about how things are going.

Original post by oxymoronic

And thanks but no thanks on the TA front.... I don't live in Cambridgeshire anyway and think I'll try at getting an NQT post for a wee while longer before I resign to becoming a TA. Not that there's anything wrong with being a TA, I think it'd be quite a cool job - My TAs have been amazing! I imagine in a lot of schools it might be a good way of getting a foot in the door for teaching positions later down the line, but right now I just have this image of me being a TA in a NQTs class who was doing the job I want to be doing. I couldn't hack that right now! :smile:

Ha I wasn't aiming the TA thing at you - it was a general advertisement! :smile:

Reply 26

modgepodge

14

Original post by oxymoronic

Can I ask, are you both working in independent schools? Its just I've never heard of rowing/scholarship debate groups/house duty etc in anything other than the independent schools that some of my friends from uni went to.... or are you in a "good" school in the state sector?

I'm going to visit 4 schools next week :biggrin:

The guy from the NQT pool I was in over the summer has contacted me about a vacancy in a school near me as I emailed to say I was still looking.... I think he is highly embarrassed though as the last school he sent me to offered me a job, then retracted it hours later after telling this guy that they were giving me a job so he sent me a message to congratulate me.... then I had to reply being like "have they not let you know? there is no longer a job for me to have..." :frown:

Just hope the job front goes better now - new term new start, I hope... I don't want to go through everything again like last time as it was horrible.

How could they offer you a job then retract it? What reason did they give? That must have been so horrible :frown:

Well done on visiting 4 schools - I've applied to 3 this year so far and have got visits booked with 3 more. Fingers crossed!

Reply 27

OP

Original post by Popa Dom

still find it weird to have pupils say thankyou at the end of a lesson

I'm loving this too! :biggrin:

Though obviously not from all of them, but many of them. It's nice :smile:

Reply 28

Original post by Popa Dom

Halfway through the first half term, hows it going? Had your first observations yet? Am justhaving a bit of a mare with the portfolio as my school's NQT provision is being inspected next week meaning we have to get our portfolios at least started..It's like last June all over again!

How the hell are we approaching half term already??? Its going so fast!

Reply 29

OP

Original post by oxymoronic

How the hell are we approaching half term already??? Its going so fast!

DO NOT COMPLAIN!!!

I can't wait for half term! I said in a previous post that I had "settled into 11hr days"....well I've now settled into 12hr days minimum. Getting into school for 7.15am and leaving at 7.30pm, getting home, making dinner then doing some marking before bed. I swear it would be easier to live in my classroom!

After half term my Year 11s go onto controlled assessment = no planning for their lessons, PHEW! :smile:

Reply 30

Original post by dobbs

DO NOT COMPLAIN!!!

I'm not complaining it was more of a "oh god we're already at half term and I'm still jobless and it definitely is no longer the start of the year" sort of comment. Would give anything to be in your position, seriously. You're so lucky to actually have a job and be doing what you thought you'd be doing this time this year when you thought about your life as a teacher :smile:

After half term my Year 11s go onto controlled assessment = no planning for their lessons, PHEW! :smile:

How have your department found those? From what I've read in the TES it seems some schools are loving them and others are having the idea.

Applied for about 6 or 7 jobs now and should find out if I have interviews either today or tomorrow. I think I had a good application and totally nailed the person spec but I haven't had a phone call yet so I'm getting less confident. Been doing supply, its kinda weird in that its damn good pay for turning up at a school, doing the work you've been left by the teacher and going home at 3:30pm.... with an ENTIRE hour for lunch time because you don't have anything to do meaning you just have to sit awkwardly in the staff room but I'd rather have my own class as its just so hard when you don't know the kids. I've just been treating them as if they're my own class in terms of expectations and behaviour management but it still sucks to not know all of their names.

modgepodge

x

How have you been getting on? What happened with those vacancies you went for?

Reply 31

modgepodge

14

Original post by oxymoronic

How have you been getting on? What happened with those vacancies you went for?

I'm now up to 10 apps since september, as well as the 9 before the summer holidays. Had an interview last week (just the teaching task) but found out today they haven't shortlisted me for formal interview :frown:

No feedback in the email either so going to have to chase that. Got another interview this week so fingers crossed. Feeling a tad more confident now that I've got a positive response from some schools.

Have now registered with Teaching Personnel who seem very professional and helpful. Haven't paid my CRB yet though due to interviews (only had the meeting last week, seemed silly to pay £44 when I had an interview the next day) but as I don't have a CRB which is less than a year old I can't do any work for them at all til it comes through :frown:

very frustrating, as I registered with them in August and only met with them in early October, and I didn't realise they'd be so strict with the CRB thing. Had 2 days supply couple of weeks back booked direct through a school,wrong age group for me though so I don't think I impressed massively (no disasters, but TA was v v experienced and I didn't get the impression she loved me!)

Reply 32

OP

Original post by oxymoronic

I'm not complaining it was more of a "oh god we're already at half term and I'm still jobless and it definitely is no longer the start of the year" sort of comment. Would give anything to be in your position, seriously. You're so lucky to actually have a job and be doing what you thought you'd be doing this time this year when you thought about your life as a teacher :smile:

How have your department found those? From what I've read in the TES it seems some schools are loving them and others are having the idea.

Yeah I know I'm lucky but it still doesn't remove the fact that I am worked off my feet at the moment. I was meant to do the Great Eastern Run on Sunday and had to back out of it because I had too much planning to do! Urgh.. :smile:

In terms of Controlled Assessment, well I'm not sure, it's nice that I'm not going to have to do much planning but I haven't done any of it in my school yet so don't know how it's going to go. Not sure of the opinion from the department but seems like they've done it a couple of years now and sticking with it. We'll see! :smile:

Reply 33

Original post by dobbs

Yeah I know I'm lucky but it still doesn't remove the fact that I am worked off my feet at the moment. I was meant to do the Great Eastern Run on Sunday and had to back out of it because I had too much planning to do! Urgh.. :smile:

What are your plans for half term then? Are you off next week or the following one?

In terms of Controlled Assessment, well I'm not sure, it's nice that I'm not going to have to do much planning but I haven't done any of it in my school yet so don't know how it's going to go. Not sure of the opinion from the department but seems like they've done it a couple of years now and sticking with it. We'll see! :smile:

Hmm interesting, the vibe I've got from my friends in secondary and from the TES is that no one is a fan of it. Less planning though!!

In other news I've come to the conclusion that the people who create applications forms for teaching posts have clearly never had to fill one in. Yes, it looks all pretty but as soon as I go to type my name let alone anything longer it all becomes unformatted then I have to spend longer making it look remotely professional than I actually do filling the damn thing in.

My interview situation has changed - now got 100% success rate of applications to interviews as I've heard from 4 schools in the last 24 hours :biggrin:

Reply 34

OP

Original post by oxymoronic

What are your plans for half term then? Are you off next week or the following one?

I'm off the following week, so one more week to go until freedom! All my lessons for next week are pretty much planned except for a couple of Year 11 lessons which I'll do over the weekend :smile:

I'm off to Oxford next Friday night to see an old friend from high school who lives there now, then picking up a friend from uni there to go to another friend from uni's engagement party on Saturday in Bristol, then staying with my old housemates from Bristol and going out with them and some of the PGCE'ers from Bristol on the Sunday...THEN on Monday going to London to see a couple more PGCE'ers, then back to Cambridge for a week of planning/MEd reading hah! :biggrin:

Original post by oxymoronic

Hmm interesting, the vibe I've got from my friends in secondary and from the TES is that no one is a fan of it. Less planning though!!

In other news I've come to the conclusion that the people who create applications forms for teaching posts have clearly never had to fill one in. Yes, it looks all pretty but as soon as I go to type my name let alone anything longer it all becomes unformatted then I have to spend longer making it look remotely professional than I actually do filling the damn thing in.

My interview situation has changed - now got 100% success rate of applications to interviews as I've heard from 4 schools in the last 24 hours :biggrin:

Ooh well done! Good luck with the interviews :smile:

I agree about the application forms - would be better if there was one standard form to use for all schools!

Reply 35

OP

Original post by Popa Dom

3 hours to go till half term ,woo! Just one more lesson after this one (pupils are sitting a test right now, probably think I'm hard at work lolz..) then a whole week off, can't wait! What are people's plans? Assessment, reflection and planning or sleep hard party hard?

Ha I haven't been on TSR at school!

But yes so happy it's half term. I got in from school at about 4.30pm and went straight to bed (still with shirt and trousers on, managed to remove shoes and tie) with a splitting headache and just so tired. Slept til 7pm :biggrin:

Just spent a couple of hours watching tv and marking some homeworks which might sound crazy but at least they're out of the way. Looking forward to a relatively relaxed week :smile:

Reply 36

Piggsil

16

I wonder if I can join this thread? I finished my NQT in 2010, but I moved country so I am basically doing a kind of NQT here now :p:

Also have gone from Secondary to Primary!

Reply 37

OP

Original post by Becca

I wonder if I can join this thread? I finished my NQT in 2010, but I moved country so I am basically doing a kind of NQT here now :p:

Also have gone from Secondary to Primary!

Why did you decide to move to Primary? :smile:

Teaching the little Norwegians eh? :P

Reply 38

Piggsil

16

Original post by dobbs

Why did you decide to move to Primary? :smile:

Teaching the little Norwegians eh? :P

It wasn't a decision as such. I just was applying for teaching assistant jobs, and got one in a primary school (goes from age 6-13 here). Now they've employed me as a teacher! I mainly work with 2nd grade now, so they are 6/7 now and will turn 8 next year. They are teaching me loads too.

Reply 39