Does this sound familiar? Finally, an amazing teaching job is advertised. It is close to home and the role is a combination of all your skills, experience and professional interests. You spend a weekend working on the selection criteria and making sure your referees are prepped and your CV is up to date. You apply just shy of the deadline…and you wait. And wait.
And wait.
If you are an Australian teacher living in a metropolitan area this may sound like a regular groundhog day experience.
While regional Australia struggles to attract candidates for lots of reasons, it is a whole different story in the cities. Maybe it is time to flip the script and experience what it feels like to be “in demand”. England’s current teacher shortage allows you to accept not just the only job going, but the right job, in the right location, teaching subjects of your choice, with support and mentoring from Engage Education and your new school.
For at least the last two decades, Aussie teachers have supported the British education system with quality teachers travelling to the UK to live and work in Europe and develop professionally. UK teaching experience is a professional fast-track to exciting opportunities and progression in the UK, as well as back at home. It allows young teachers the chance to experience another culture, another education system, to travel around Europe for 13 weeks of the year, leapfrog into roles in international schools in Europe, the UAE, America and Asia, or come home with a wealth of cultural capital and many professional points of difference.
Cassie, an Australian teacher that worked in the UK with us for a year and returned home reflected on her time: “Teaching in London was wonderful and I feel it really made my resume stand out from others to potential employers when applying for jobs after returning home, and I gained a great role straight away at PLC in North Sydney when I got back from my time in England.”
England has been struggling to train enough teachers to keep up with the increase in population and there is a genuine need for overseas teachers to fill teaching roles in schools and keep classroom sizes manageable across the country. Let’s not pretend it’s an easy profession; teaching takes energy, expertise and dedication. The one year PGCE qualification that British teachers gain leaves many new British teachers underprepared for their new career and often Aussie teachers with a four year degree have more strategies in their teacher toolbox to thrive in the job.
We’ve helped over 1000 teachers from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa relocate to England. We take our role very seriously. We support Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Irish teachers to transition and succeed in the British education system. We believe transparency and a bespoke approach to mentoring gives our teachers the best start. We fly our candidates to England on a nine day round trip, at our expense, to meet and interview with schools in person. We offer one-on-one mentoring, group PD year round, and lots of advice and help with banking, accommodation and getting started. We offer a £1,000 loyalty bonus and make sure all our teachers are paid in line with the British Teacher Pay Scales.
What’s the catch? There isn’t one!
To find out about our award winning relocation support, including ‘iday’, our range of work options, support package or visa options, register your interest and take your career to England in 2019.