Articles on Teaching in the UK
FINDING A JOB
By Emily Wheelahan - Australia
Once I had made up my mind that I wanted to go back to the U.K. to teach, I next had to decide whereabouts exactly I wanted to live and work.
In 1999, I worked at a boarding school in Dorset, in the south of England. I was meant to be there for a year, but it ended up being only a few months. The reason being I was unlucky enough to break my ankle quite badly on my first school holidays and was forced to head home to Australia to recuperate. I was chased down a slippery slope by a highland cow in Scotland, but that's another story!
On reflection, I found boarding school life, combined with country life, a bit stifling at times, especially being a Melbourne city born and bred girl, hence I chose to head to London this time - where there is always plenty to keep one entertained.
There are also heaps of other antipodeans living and working in London, so it is not difficult to make friends with other like-minded people.
Once I had decided to head to London I began surfing the World Wide Web for jobs. I enquired at a few agencies about the possibility of finding a job I would be happy in and was impressed with the straightforward application procedure and speedy response from Southern Alps Recruitment. I had a telephone interview the same week, enjoyed talking to the principal of my school and decided to go for it. I am still at the same school and have just signed on for another year. It was also helpful being able to explore the school's website before I had my interview.
Accomodation
Once I discovered whereabouts in London I was going to be working, I searched the net for available rooms/houses close to school. I found the 'Gumtree' website to be incredibly useful. I ended up finding a four bed house in SE London and then found three others to move in with, using the Gumtree website.
My flatmates and I are close to a BR train station, as opposed to a tube line, so our rent is a bit cheaper, but it still takes us only 20 mins to travel into Blackfriars by train. We can get the tube from Blackfriars to wherever we need to go for the same price as a Zone 1-4 travel card (about four pounds - we live just inside Zone 3). There are also trains that connect to Victoria and London Bridge Stations.
There is a large shopping centre, gym and pool close to where we live and lots of nice bars, restaurants and cafes in a neighbouring area. Buses are convenient and reliable, taking us anywhere we need to go for 70p!
It's also pleasant being slightly further away from the constant hustle and bustle of London's busy streets.
Day-to-Day Stuff
School starts at 8.30am and ends at 3.30pm. There are five periods of one hour's duration each day and in a week I teach about 21 of those. I teach English to Year 7 to 12 students and will have eight different classes in total next year. I will have five of my own classes and three split classes, which are classes you share with other teachers. This is quite a common occurrence at a lot of government schools in London.
The students are definitely more challenging than those I have taught in Australia, however, the staff I work with are very supportive, which makes a world of difference. I definitely have to issue more detention notices and call parents more often, but once the students get to know you (as they have often had a lot of different teachers by the time they finish school), teaching them becomes easier. It's a matter of adjusting to your new environment I guess and adapting new strategies that work for you. I find it also helps to try and keep lessons as interesting and challenging as possible, even though the curriculum may not be at times! In addition, I always ask for help from those who I know are willing to and can help me. I have gathered some great teaching resources and ideas from other staff and try to share any bright ideas of my own around as well.
There are also plenty of extra-curricular activities staff can get involved in if they so desire. Extra staff are always needed to participate in camps, accompany students on excursions, help organise different sorts of activities, including drama and music productions, and coach sport after school - just put your hand up and ask!
London Life
There is just so much to see and do in London that it would be impossible to list everything here, however, rest assured that there are loads of great pubs (almost one on every corner), clubs, restaurants, galleries, museums, markets, parks and lots, lots more to keep you entertained. Soho is great for eating out and on a budget. The Camden and Portobello markets are great for picking up a bargain, including clothes and jewellery. Hyde Park is a relaxing place to work on your tan on those few and far between summer days. There are always plenty of latest release movies showing if you feel like chilling one evening, but if you really feel like being entertained, you can always go and see a musical at one of London's premier theatres. If you feel guilty about all those extra kilos you may have stacked on from drinking so much beer, you can always join a sports club and take up your favourite sport again, whether it be tennis, swimming, netball, rugby, Aussie Rules football or so on. There are heaps of clubs and teams around to suit just about everyone. At the moment I play netball once a week with some other players from 'the Commonwealth'.
If you need to take timeout from the hectic pace of life in London you can always escape to the country for the day or a weekend, or pop over to one of hundreds of European destinations, all just a hop, skip and jump away. There are frequent advertisements for low airfares and cheap weekend breaks.
If you are thinking of coming to live and work in London, jump on the net and start surfing through all the info you can find on different topics and places. Pick up a copy of TNT or Timeout magazine when you arrive and you will have just about all the information you need.
Overall, I have met some great people, travelled to some wonderful places and best of all had lots of fun! Teaching overseas isn't for everyone and there are the downsides of missing friends and family, dreary weather and the high cost of living, but an open mind and positive outlook can mean that you expand your horizons further than you could ever imagine!
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