PGCE - Current Students Thread

After you get QTS you can do as much short term supply for up to five years from that date. After that you can ONLY teach in an position which counts towards your NQT year until you complete it. I don't believe there's any limit on when you can complete NQT itself though as you've said you'd probably struggle to do it after a long break.

Xxx

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Don't want to hijack any previous conversation thread, but I'm due to start my PGCE this August. I thought I'd ask some current students, what response do you normally give to students who ask "Are you a student teacher?".

Thanks for this. It's not something I've ever actually needed to know, but I've kind of absorbed bits over the years. I'll try to remember it for future reference.

In other news, I taught my last ever lesson today.

Don't want to hijack any previous conversation thread, but I'm due to start my PGCE this August. I thought I'd ask some current students, what response do you normally give to students who ask "Are you a student teacher?".

Congratulations on making it through!!! And we'll done for all the good you've done. A career in teaching is an amazing thing to do with your life.
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Oh dear. What is the effect of not being withdrawn?

I don't know. There could definitely be an impact financially. I'm really confused right now as the uni gave me zero info about how withdrawal would affect me in terms of student loans, bursaries etc. Ive had no contact with any of them since the meeting where they told me to withdraw.

Don't want to hijack any previous conversation thread, but I'm due to start my PGCE this August. I thought I'd ask some current students, what response do you normally give to students who ask "Are you a student teacher?".

Time to call on the student union, maybe?

In other news, I taught my last ever lesson today.

Did you cry? Will you miss teaching? Will you work in any school as a volunteer teacher? What are you going to do from now on?

P.S. Don't leave us! TSR needs lovely ladies

In other news, I taught my last ever lesson today.

Thats awesome, congrats. Make sure you put your feet up, have a nice glass of wine and relax x

Thanks! Actually, despite a lifetime of teaching, I don't drink, but I shall be hitting the chocolate! It's trips week next week, so I shall be on lots of coaches to places but I'm not responsible for anything, just making up numbers. Could be worse.

It's only just hit me that I no longer have an income and am living off my savings with no job lined up. I don't know why it's taken so long to hit me but sat in my hotel room I was thinking about what I'm going to do when I get home and then I realised I can't do much...I will have no income for the foreseeable future. Anxiety setting in...

I am going to sign up for supply. I don't know much about it though. Is it enough for a reliable income? How often do you get work?



Congratulations, I can't imagine the relief you must feel!

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It's only just hit me that I no longer have an income and am living off my savings with no job lined up. I don't know why it's taken so long to hit me but sat in my hotel room I was thinking about what I'm going to do when I get home and then I realised I can't do much...I will have no income for the foreseeable future. Anxiety setting in...

I am going to sign up for supply. I don't know much about it though. Is it enough for a reliable income? How often do you get work?

Congratulations, I can't imagine the relief you must feel!

From what I was told during my induction day to my NQT school, sometimes it's better to become a cover supervisor that's hired by a school rather than an agency?

In response to this and Samus' post below...

Supply varies from week to week and can depend on whereabouts you are in the country.

I did agency Cover Supervisor work in the year before my PGCE. At first (January) it was rubbish. In one week I only did 0.5 days work, other weeks were 1-2 days. Some of this was exams invigilation/TA work rather than covering lessons so the rate of pay was lower (£45-£55 per day).

Once I'd been doing it for a while it got better. I think some schools gave the agency positive feedback of my work and asked for me back. By March I was doing 2 days per week as a TA in a PRU and 1-2 days of cover in various schools. I then went to a school for what was supposed to be a day or two of cover, which then turned into 5 weeks when they found I was a languages specialist. After that role ended, things really picked up - I was getting 4-5 days per week, and then landed another long-term cover role in my subject, this time for 10 weeks.

I may have had an advantage in that I was a language specialist but not a qualified teacher at the time, so they could pay me less (I was on £65 as a Cover Supervisor, but negociated £80 for the longer term MFL roles, but it's still significantly less than a qualified teacher).

But a friend of mine started supply in September (having just done her NQT year, but she was leaving in December to go travelling so just needed something for a couple of months) and had more or less the same experience as me - slow going at the start, but once she'd been to a couple of schools she started to build up a reputation and the same schools asked for her back so she was getting 3-4 days per week, mostly in the same couple of schools. She turned down any work at Cover Supervisor rates and this didn't seem to be detrimental to the amount of work she was offered.

Hope this helps.

Don't mean to hijack your guys conversation but this thread seems an appropriate place to ask!

I'm volunteering as much as possible in primary schools to build up my experience, get used to expectations etc. I'm looking to do some reading aswell though to clue myself up.
Can anyone recommend any good teaching books? Specifically primary. I've Seen 'how to teach' by Phil beadle but I understand this is mostly secondary teaching advice.
'How to be an outstanding primary teacher' is the only primary based one I've seen, is it any good? Any reccomendations welcome!
Sarah x