Hi Folks

Happy New Year!

Could I ask if anyone here has taken part in the GTP Teaching Scheme? I have applied and hopefully will be leaving my stagnent IT career behind to do something a little more worthwhile. Just interested in how people have found it, etc?

cheers

I did GTP in Science. Mainly it will depend on the school you are at and if you get good support. I did mine at THE lowest achieving school in England with a shite mentor and it was a bloody nightmare at times, stayed at that school to do my NQT year and then moved in my second year at a nicer school and its pretty good now.

Good advice. I have targetted nicer areas with good schools and so far its looking good.

My wife is mentoring a GTP at the moment.

How does she find it, feels it produces the right teachers and training? cheers

I did the GTP in the third worst school for behaviour in Yorkshire. No support, total baptism of fire, but loved every second of it though. I'd say it was probably the hardest route into teaching though, given the fact I've mentored Fasttrack, GTP and PGCE students since.

It is a lot of work for the student and she finds it more work as a mentor than a normal B ed student. You need to find a good school ( by that I mean supportive and used to having students) a mentor who is committed to helping you and most importantly you need to be certain it is what you want to do. You need to be a quick learner who can take onboard how you can improve and develop as a teacher. It really helps if you already have some teaching skills, this lady was a TA for many years.You also need to be very organised as there is a lot of course work involved too on top of your teaching commitments.

Hi – I qualified as a Primary Teacher through GTP and have also mentored a few students too (although primarily PGCE). If you're going for the primary route then feel free to PM me and I'll offer up all the gory details!
In a nutshell – the hardest year of work I've ever done (by a long way), but also one of the most rewarding.

All sounds very fullfilling!! Still want to go for it. Used to be a collecge lecturer teaching engineering apprentices, so have a little experience. Thank you for all the advice. It has to be better than being a corporate clone all your life!