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Primary School Teacher seeking work in Perth


dkm

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Hi Everyone

We came over to Perth 3 months ago on a PR visa. My skill was the one in demand at the time. Unfortunately I haven't been able to secure an interview, never mind a job. I have15 years teaching experience, a Bachelor of Education and Honours Bachelor of Education. I assumed (silly me) that I would get daily relief teaching work, but this hasn't been the case. I have applied for many vacancies and adapt my CV and cover letters accordingly. If there are any teachers who are in the system and are willing to offer some advice or possibly take I look at my CV, I would really appreciate it. Please PM me or add to this topic.

Thank you

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Hi there. Can't believe you can't find work! Where are you staying in Perth?

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You don't need to worry too much....seems to be tons in Early Child Care. Crazy staff turnover rate so I think it will be easy to find something there. The thing is, I am allowed to work in a Day Care to do relief, but not permanently as my qualifications are not for that age! I have met so many people who think it is insane as, according to them, there has never been a skill shortage in primary schools. I have met two fully qualified teachers who are working as assistants in a classroom and have been for many years as they cannot find work!

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You don't need to worry too much....seems to be tons in Early Child Care. Crazy staff turnover rate so I think it will be easy to find something there. The thing is, I am allowed to work in a Day Care to do relief, but not permanently as my qualifications are not for that age! I have met so many people who think it is insane as, according to them, there has never been a skill shortage in primary schools. I have met two fully qualified teachers who are working as assistants in a classroom and have been for many years as they cannot find work!

Thank you. You are right, there is a lot of work for early childhood! Where are you staying? We should arrange to meet sometime!

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I think if you work relief there might be lots to help get you started and once they see you reliable they come to depend on you. That is how it works in Age Care at the moment, my friend is the roster clerk............THERE would be no need for roster clerks if Australians held down a full time job, they are privileged to work shifts and very flexi hours, my husband an IT specialist now a Age Care worker saw it as an opportunity to become fully employed.

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There are very few permanent teaching posts in the metro area, there is an over supply of primary school teachers. The best you can hope for at this stage is relief teaching , put you name down at as many schools as possible.

Good luck

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I would guess the shortages that exist and drive to skills lists are remote towns etc, Perth etc I would imagine has a big supply being the main center.

Have you considered getting in touch with the WA education department and finding out where they may be needing teacher, maybe save a lot of time and frustration.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The same problem exists in Brisbane. Someone I know has 10 years senior school teaching experience at a top South African Boy's school. He got one interview only in Brisbane (well actually in Toowoomba). He had to eventually take an unrelated job. There are no teaching jobs around, or else they are all getting filled behind the scenes :( I suggest you cast your net wider and try a regional area. There may be some tutoring work? You need a blue card to work with kids, but you probably already have that. Good luck.

Edited by Bronwyn&Co
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:closedeyes: Yes lots of us teachers seem to be in the same boat. After4 years on a contract -my contract has not been renewed............ mmmmmm do I want to TRT again??

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This doesn't make for good reading. :blush:

My wife and I are both teachers (I'm high school and she is primary) moving at the end of the year.

Does a regional move really increase one's chances of landing something semi-stable quite a bit?

DKM, all the best. I trust something will work out soon.

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It depends very much what your speciality area/s are and if you are looking to work in state, Catholic, or independent schools. Catholic and some independent schools have specific selection criteria, which can make the potential pool of candidates very small. If you have met the criteria, you will get the job. Salaries between sectors are similar as are general employment conditions. There is one big difference and that is related to the ability to get a permanent job. As others have noted in the state system you have to go through a lengthy process to get permanency, simplistically that means you stay at the same school - some variation across the states, so only a general rule. ( and in WA there is a growing pool of independent public schools, which have a slightly different set of rules re employment).

Generally speaking in the Catholic and independent sector, you have 1 year of probation and if you are good enough or display enough potential, the job becomes a permanent job. As long as you don't screw up, the job can be yours forever or until retirement, whichever comes first!

Areas that are generally in demand are Sciences, particularly Physics and Chemistry, Maths, woodwork, LOTE, specifically Japanese and French.

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I don't think you should be too discouraged but I do think you will need to be flexible wrt location and also open to taking something else if you struggle to find teaching jobs. Try to bring enough cash to live frugally for about 6 months imho (difficult, I know). You will probably need to 'follow the job'.

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I have been offered a position for this term - 3 days per week, assistant role working with special needs. The reality is that assistant work is less than half what you'd earn as a teacher - but it might be a stepping stone and open more doors. I still find it strange that Primary Teachers were on the demand list, we were given PR based on my skill, yet I cannot even secure one interview. We had to complete detailed information about exactly where we planned to live when applying for SS too and it is not a regional sponsorship. We have met with our agent from South Africa (he lives in Perth and flies to Jhb every month) and he says it is still early days.......

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That's the thing, even if your skill is on a demand list that does not guarantee you a job. There are so many graduate teachers looking for jobs as well , job in teaching are tight in the metro areas, good luck

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The Skills in demand list can be quite retrospective, it is based on recommendation's by the Australian Workforce and productivity Council and focuses on current, emerging and predicted skills needs......................they don't always get it right.

There is more competition for teaching posts in metro areas, that is why many education departments off incentives for teachers to teach at rural schools, this is just an indication of some of those incentives, taken from NSW Education

  • additional training and development days
  • a rental subsidy of 90% in the most isolated locations and 70% in some other isolated locations
  • eligibility to apply for incentive transfer, special provisions for transfer which provide you with priority for appointment to a vacancy at another school in an agreed location after serving a required number of years in a rural or remote school
  • compassionate transfer status for your teaching partner, if you are appointed to and moving out of some rural and remote schools
  • an annual retention benefit of $5000 for teachers in around 40 isolated schools (listed in the table below)
  • a number of locality allowances such as a climatic allowance, an isolation from goods and services allowance, vacation travel expenses, reimbursement of certain expenses related to medical or dental treatment and an allowance for dependants. The allowances are paid in addition to your salary, and
  • one week of additional summer vacation for schools in the western areas of NSW.

I have a friend that is headmistress of a small school and she says that you are given points for every year you are at a rural school and once you have x amount of points you have more chance of securing a post at a school in an area of your choice.

Also in some states, teachers apply and are placed in a pool and can be sent to any school within a defined area.

Similar info for incentives in Queensland http://education.qld.gov.au/hr/recruitment/teaching/rural-benefits.html

WA http://det.wa.edu.au/careers/detcms/workforce/careers/teachers-and-school-leaders/career-opportunities/teaching-in-the-country.en?oid=com.arsdigita.cms.contenttypes.ArticleSection-id-14140512

Moranbah is classed as rural and has a school transfer rating of 4

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  • 1 month later...

Yip - my wife has been looking around for a teaching position in Brisbane for 5 months, she hasn't even been able to secure an interview.

No luck in securing interviews with private, gov, teachers assistant - that's with 20 years teaching experience. I think it may be time for her to go back to varsity and re-skill at her age!!

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Yip - my wife has been looking around for a teaching position in Brisbane for 5 months, she hasn't even been able to secure an interview.

No luck in securing interviews with private, gov, teachers assistant - that's with 20 years teaching experience. I think it may be time for her to go back to varsity and re-skill at her age!!

It's so frustrating Brad, she has my sympathy. The person I was talking about earlier in this thread, actually found a teaching job 2 weeks ago. He got very lucky because a brand new teacher had lost it & walked out 2 weeks into the new year, and my friend was available within a week.

Ps. Has your wife considered a Cert IV in training? Depending on her subjects she may get Tafe work.

Edited by Bronwyn&Co
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To be honest I do not think the work force planning folks are getting very much right at this time. Right now Australia is not even able to provide sufficient jobs to absorb the people there already and they still giving out a lot of visa.

There is still an expected 50'000 people to lose there jobs in the next 3 years in the automotive sector.

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It's so frustrating Brad, she has my sympathy. The person I was talking about earlier in this thread, actually found a teaching job 2 weeks ago. He got very lucky because a brand new teacher had lost it & walked out 2 weeks into the new year, and my friend was available within a week.

Ps. Has your wife considered a Cert IV in training? Depending on her subjects she may get Tafe work.

Tracey doesn't have a Cert IV in training - how long does a course like this take to get done?

I suppose at the end of the day she just has to keep plugging away at it, ultimately you only need one 'yes' !!

Edited by Bradporter
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Tracey doesn't have a Cert IV in training - how long does a course like this take to get done?

Brad look online but I get the idea Tafe is cheaper than the courses you pick up via Seek links. My husband did it 2 years ago and I think he did about 1 week full time and about 8 weeks of homework. I think it's about $1,600. It was quite difficult. You have to do it if you want to teach adults, as far as I can see. Maybe your wife can look at Tafe/UNI jobs on Seek and see what they require, and whether it's an option. I'm wondering if she is a high school teacher?? I don't think it will work for primary school teachers.

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Brad look online but I get the idea Tafe is cheaper than the courses you pick up via Seek links. My husband did it 2 years ago and I think he did about 1 week full time and about 8 weeks of homework. I think it's about $1,600. It was quite difficult. You have to do it if you want to teach adults, as far as I can see. Maybe your wife can look at Tafe/UNI jobs on Seek and see what they require, and whether it's an option. I'm wondering if she is a high school teacher?? I don't think it will work for primary school teachers.

Hey Bronwyn,

Thanks - I'll pass this information over to Tracey. She is a high school teacher, taught English and Geography - head of department for English. She has time on her hands so I think this is something for her to look into.

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Hey Bronwyn,

Thanks - I'll pass this information over to Tracey. She is a high school teacher, taught English and Geography - head of department for English. She has time on her hands so I think this is something for her to look into.

Another option is teaching English to foreigners. I don't know much about it, but contact OnYellowBrick Road or Hadenoughof Juju on here :) I think they will have info for you about that.

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I belong to another Australian forum (not for immigration) and they are having a similar discussion about primary teaching.

Here is part of the discussion:

I am in WA and graduated 3 years ago, in WA there is very few jobs. I was told there was going to be a big shortage in teachers by 2013, this all changed due to the GFC as teachers can no longer afford to retire, add to that the department employment changes, IPS schools and government budget costs and the chance of obtaining a job are extremely slim.

I am sitting here unemployed, my only income is relief teaching and that is very rare and erratic. I have applied for approx. 30 jobs and have only just got my first interview for a fixed term position of 6 months, should I get it, I will be once again unemployed for the last Term of the year. Most positions advertised have between 100-400 teachers applying, such is the situation in WA.

I'm not trying to be negative - just keeping it real...

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am a hight school teacher by training but I have run a Playschool for the last 7 years and maybe that's where us lost teachers need to be looking.... I think you just have to enroll for a "Certificate 3" in early childhood education and that seems to be enough to get started. Maybe some of you have made the switch and can shed some light on how to do is Ozzie style?

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All my friends and family members in Australia all reckon you must just keep applying to everything. They send out their CV's for hundreds of jobs and might get one or two responses. The trick is to just keep trying and don't give up... :)

On the teachers being on the skills shortage lists, I believe the reasons are because of future/expected/predicted/modelled shortages that will happen. Yes the GFC has forced older teachers to carry on but ultimately they will retire. I was also told that new schools are also being planned...

The projections are for shortages a few years from now... (this information was from one of the government officials at the Galager show in 2012)

Those shortages are probably always going to be more relevant in the small country towns?

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