The Job and What it Involves
As a teacher you play a big part in the development of a young person’s life. Being a teacher isn’t just about passing on academic knowledge, teachers must also immerse themselves in the daily lives of their pupils.
Many teachers see their work not as a job but as a vocation, because they can inspire and leave a lasting impression on a child’s life.
The Main Areas of Work
If you want to be a primary teacher, you will train to teach all the national curriculum subjects.
If you choose to teach at secondary level, you may teach one or more of the national curriculum subjects in depth, or one of an increasing number of vocational subjects on offer.
Qualities Required
Unless you have a thoroughly open mind, a good sense of humour and excellent people skills teaching probably isn’t your calling. Every day you are engaged in intensive two-way conservations with children and young adults. This teacher-pupil interaction shapes much of our society, so strong communicational abilities are a pre-requisite for teaching.
Qualifications
To become a teacher your must have at least a GCSE in maths, history and science and a minimum of two A-levels.
You must take part in a teacher training which come in three forms, undergraduate teacher training, postgraduate teacher training and employment-based teacher training.
The undergraduate option takes 3 – 4 years full time or 4 -6 years part time; you will finish with a degree and have experienced teacher training.
The postgraduate training, known as the PGCE lasts for 1 year and includes 18 weeks of hands on experience in a college; you may be eligible to a bursary of up to £9000 depending on the subject.
The employment-based teacher training is the most popular as you receive a salary, from £16, 113 and takes 1 year to complete; once fully qualified you can embark on your induction year, starting on a salary of £20, 627 in a school you have previously worked in. You can continue to headmaster who could earn over £100, 000.
Route to Success
There are a number of ways in which teachers can progress in their careers, either within the classroom or in a leadership role.
In secondary schools you could move up and across the management structure to take on a senior management position such as deputy or assistant head and ultimately head teacher.
In primary schools you can take on responsibility for coordinating key areas such as literacy, numeracy or special educational needs; and you can move into senior management by becoming a deputy head or headteacher.
There are also several schemes that are targeted at leaders in education. The Fast Track Teaching is a scheme aimed at talented teachers with the ability and ambition to make rapid progress into their careers and achieve leadership positions sooner rather than later.
Middle leaders in primary and secondary schools (established subject or special educational needs coordinators) can take advantage of the ‘Leaders from the Middle’ programme, which provides professional development in the form of face-to-face and online training and works towards developing school, team and individual priorities.
The National Professional Qualification for Headship is suitable for those wanting to become a headteacher.
Salary
Newly qualified teachers earn between £20,133 and £33,936 on the main salary scale. Once they have gained sufficient experience they can progress onto the upper pay scale which ranges from £31,878 to £41,004.
Star Player
Clarissa Farr, Head teacher at St Paul’s Girls’ School has recently involved herself in a renovation of the schools image by offering 1 quarter of its places to intelligent girls from London council estates, launching a £5 million appeal to fund the girls.
Farr said “Although we are attractive, we are also off-putting to some. St Paul’s has an august and iconic reputation but some of that is negative, such as the idea that it is a hothouse for the wealthy middle classes.” She will no doubt give the lucky quarter of gifted females who aren’t able to pay the £13, 000 annual fee the chance for a bright future, where many go on to Oxford and Cambridge university. A star player herself as she can see the potential in all and is willing to give them an opportunity and to treat all girls as equal, ignoring the background and focusing solely on her intelligence.
Further Information
National Union of Teachers (NUT)
http://www.teachers.org.uk
Teaching and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)
http://www.tda.gov.uk
Education Data Surveys
http://www.educationdatasurveys.org.uk
British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA)
www.becta.org.uk
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
www.dcsf.gov.uk
Dyslexia Institute
www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk
General Teaching Council for England (GTCE)
www.gtce.org.uk
General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW)
www.gtcw.org.uk
Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR)
www.gttr.ac.uk
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
www.hefce.ac.uk
Higher Education & Research Opportunities in the United Kingdom (HERO)
www.hero.ac.uk
Learning and Skills Council
www.lsc.gov.uk
Learning Wales
www.learning.wales.gov.uk
National Curriculum online
http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/
National Grid for Learning (NGfL)
www.ngfl.gov.uk
New Opportunities Fund (NOF)
www.nof.org.uk
National College for School Leadership
www.ncsl.gov.uk
Ofsted
www.ofsted.gov.uk
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
www.qca.org.uk
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
www.qaa.org.uk
Skill: National Bureau for Students With Disabilities
www.skill.org.uk
TeacherNet
www.teachernet.gov.uk
Teacher Support Line
www.teachersupport.info
Teacher Training Recruitment Forum, Wales
www.teachertrainingwales.org
Teachers TV
www.teachers.tv
The Teaching Awards
www.teachingawards.com
UK Libraries Plus
www.uklibrariesplus.ac.uk
Universities & Colleges Admissions Service
www.ucas.com
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