ok looking to start teacher training Biology?
how do I go about it, the government website seems contradictory

got a degree and 10 years experience working in a lab so think im eligible for schools direct training, do I need to do Initial teacher Training too?

any other tips etc

cheers!

I’d suggest training via an ITT provider is a good idea. Eases you in gently, teaches educational theory, lets you see two different placement schools.

GB

The best way to find out is contact the universities. See what they say. To do my PGCE I didn’t need to do any pre course.

It’s a really tough year, I’m on my final placement and I can’t think of the last time I didn’t work all weekend and every evening till midnight.

It’s well worth it though.

Yes, you will need some recognised teaching qualification. Start with your local FE College for part time/evening courses. Courses will depend on what age group you want to teach?

Best way would be to do a PGCE, there used to be some on the job training schemes but not sure if they still exist.

Think long and hard before going for it though. Teaching is not the cushy number that everyone on here seem to think it is.

It’s a really tough year, I’m on my final placement and I can’t think of the last time I didn’t work all weekend and every evening till midnight.

and it will continue to be so for the first year as an NQT and then some.

Be prepared for hard work. Its tougher than you think.

Have you managed to arrange any shadowing in a school? IMO &E this is essential if you are to successfully obtain a place on a Teacher Training course.

Good luck!

I dont know what you have to do to get in! I applied for a pgce in primary and was rejected. Now bare in mind I have a degree in civil engineering, 20 years experience in industry, and a wealth of youngsters athletics coaching. I spent a year teaching kids in an after school athletics club, plus gaining classroom experience in my wifes class!
When I called sheffield uni, I was informed that becuse my degree was not in a national curriculum subject, I was rejected. I asked that if I had a degree in history, would I have been accepted, and the answer was yes, despite the fact my degree contains degree level math, physics etc etc.

My wife has been teaching for 20 years, and a high proportion of her colleagues, are complete dimwits. I was insulted at the rejection.
A deputy head I know, thought that queen vic died in the first world war, and the sun went round the earth.

TroutWrestler – Member
Have you managed to arrange any shadowing in a school? IMO &E this is essential if you are to successfully obtain a place on a Teacher Training course.

+1. All our students are told they need in school experience before applying for training. We run a final year module which helps them get this.

As the others have said, it’s tough. I was in your position 12 months ago and enrolled in a SCITT course. Your main options are GTP (paid but hitting the ground running), SCITT (School based but you pay) and PGCE (Uni based, you pay).

Biology doesn’t command as much of a grant as the other sciences but can cover up to the course fees.

It’s been the hardest year’s work I’ve done to date (including writing up my PhD) and will continue to be hard for the foreseeable but, and it’s a big but, definitely the most rewarding. I’ve got a job for next year [NQT] but there’s no guarantee of employment at the end of it. Of course as long as Mr Gove keeps chasing people out of the job there will continue to be vacancies but that’s an argument for another thread!

Good luck with your decision.

Edit: I’d also recommend getting in to school to see how things are run. For me it was a big shock going back into a school some 20 odd years after I’d last left!

If it is at all possible, I would do your training in Wales. Currently you only get 5 years to complete your NQT year in England whereas in Wales there is no time limit.
My PGCE ends in about 3 weeks and I cannot remember the last time I went on a proper ride! It is hard work but as above, it is worth it assuming you can get a job at the end (there’s loads if you are prepared to relocate).
All that said, the PGCE is currently in a state of flux in England and if Gove has his way, you won’t even need a teaching qualification to work in his free schools and acadamies! outragous I think as there is no way I could have stood up infront of 30 year 9 students and deliver a lesson to the stringent standards set by Ofsted (endland) and Estyn (wales). if you have any specific questions, drop me an email (in profile)

regards

EDIT: as above – get some (loads) school observations done. Ask youself ‘do I like being with kids on a daily basis and do I find them amusing?’ if the answer to either of those questions is ‘no’, then choose a different career. It’s relentless but rewarding.

Highclimber……if you didn’t complete your NQT within five years I suspect you’d be unlikely to ever complete it???

The NQT isn’t called the Nearly Quit Teaching year for nothing!

I came from a similar situation and did a PGCE about 8 years ago. I’m not sure how much the situation has changed as we moved overseas a few years ago.
I did a few days at my daughters primary school and a few days at a secondary school prior to starting. I really enjoyed the course (I did mine at Institute of Ed in London). The NQT year I think was tougher as I did mine at what at the time was a fairly disfunctional school which had a habit of churning over NQTs and staff (had 1/3 staff turnover the year I was there).
The PGCE is a year of solid work but no harder than my honours year at uni or times during my PhD. You just need to stay on top of the work and realise that long rides will have to be put aside for most of the year. On the bright side, you will forevermore get school holidays (or time to redecorate another part of the house as my wife calls it).

.if you didn’t complete your NQT within five years I suspect you’d be unlikely to ever complete it???

it’s concieveable that some people don’t always go straight into NQT year and understandably so. The reason there’s no time limit in wales is to allow Supply teachers to complete their NQT which you currently can’t do in England IIRC.

Fair enough, but probably not a good enough reason to relocate (unless already in Wales obviously) to Wales to complete a PGCE. If you’ve not got through your NQT within five years of a PGCE then I maintain you’re probably not going to.

Apply for a PGCE rather than try to do it through a school.
Visit local schools and find out what it’s like.
19 yrs in and now head of a sixth form, it’s harder than ever, and not because of deteriorating student attitude.
Lots of positives too though

Apply for a PGCE rather than try to do it through a school.

Why’d you say that boxelder?

I’d say the SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training for those that don’t know) option has it about right.

You get straight into school and start teaching which is what you need. You also receive training as per a Uni based PGCE and qualify with a standard PGCE at the end of the day. It’s not an easy route but, upon reflection, a good one.

Lots of positives too though

Whenever I hear / read a teacher say this I wonder who they’re trying to convince. And imagine them weeping into a pile of marking beside a Michael Gove dartboard.

Because when it comes to getting a job, if there isn’t one in the school where you trained, you’re at a disadvantage. Also depends on your training school.

Because when it comes to getting a job, if there isn’t one in the school where you trained, you’re at a disadvantage. Also depends on your training school.

I trained at two schools during my SCITT course, like most University PGCEs, and have a job at a third. I’m not trying to get into an argument but it’s interesting to see the perspective of someone in the sector.

I completed a GTP (maths) about 9 years ago. Worked/trained in 1 school and did a placement in a second school toward the end of the year. The course wasn’t overly difficult but the fact I was straight into a full time job teaching with no training at the beginning was a shock to the system. Lots of hours a week. Lots of planning. Most GTPs are run better than this now though and the SCITT seems a good option. The benefits of the PGCE are that if you make mistakes on your first placement then the second placement you get to start again. Being based in 1 school for the GTP/SCITT option can mean any early errors are hard to make up for.
I’ve trained a fair few teachers now and the main requirement is a personality. If you want any advice PM me.

Just watch season 4 of The Wire several times.

Fair enough, but probably not a good enough reason to relocate (unless already in Wales obviously) to Wales to complete a PGCE. If you’ve not got through your NQT within five years of a PGCE then I maintain you’re probably not going to.

The other issue with the time limit on NQT is that some of the free/academies won’t allow you to complete your induction so if you change jobs after spending a few years in such a school, you could find youself in the position of not being able to teach in state schools. Saying that, I do believe there is a possibility the time limit for induction will be abolished in England but currently it still stands that you’ve got 5 years.

cheers everyone, lots to think about!

advice?…don’t do it.

(one of the best and toughest jobs going, if you love it, you get it. If not, don’t do it.)

Good luck and take care because teaching has become very target driven and the tracking and intervention will drive you made as you are held accountable for some things that you have no control over.

But here are some of my tips
Just remember they are only kids.
Don’t shout as some will get far worse at home.
The lab tecs and TA’s are you friends as they will everyone teach and are good for advice.
Watch super nannie as its good for classroom management training.
Be consistent as kids like routine.
When you have a dog’s dinner of a lesson remember that it happens to all teachers from time to time.
Play to your strengths you have to teach your way (I find the mad professor act works for me).
Make as few resources as possible from scratch as most thinks have been done before and share everything as you tend to get more back.
Buy cake for your department for no reason.
Don’t make explosives in your lab, do it outside with an electric heater or you will get spanked.

Don’t shout as some will get far worse at home.

Noisy teacher; noisy classroom