With the struggle of finding a teaching role in Canada many teachers look at overseas teaching as an option for using their qualifications, and being able to teach as soon as they graduate. For many people this is a last resort, and as a result they can often get cold feet about making the move across the pond; but why is this a last resort? I have been supporting overseas teachers in the UK for many years now and have found that many teachers don’t know how teaching in the UK can not only offer a job role straight after graduation, but can also offer a great opportunity to increase their skill set and confidence as a teacher, so read on and I will explain why...
Being newly qualified in another country:
It’s no secret that schools in the UK are different from Canadian schools, but this is not something to be afraid of especially for newly qualified teachers. In the UK all newly qualified teachers are offered a mentor to guide them through their first year of teaching. The mentor will spend 2 hours a week with you and will visit areas of progression and show ways to refine your teaching skills.
There is an incredible amount of money put into the education system in the UK, this means there are a fantastic amount of resources available to you; an interactive white board in almost every class room and lots of schools will use innovative programmes to get their students more involved within the class. Which can offer you the freedom to be creative and fun in your lessons.
Behaviour:
Student centred learning is a term that most British schools use to show the teaching style they are looking for. Student’s centred learning means noticing each student as an individual, getting to know their characters and using this as a platform to get them interested your lessons and in turn achieving their potential. Poor behaviour is often a front used by young people to cover up that they may not understand something, they may be dealing with things outside of school, or struggle with a subject area and so teachers involved in the process of looking at these areas and finding solutions, or ways to support them.
Your personality also plays a huge part on how the students behave in your class, our schools look for teachers with a personality, who can get to know people around the school and can use a little humour in their lessons, and not be afraid of the students. Firm but fair approach is the tact used by most schools, allow the students to make a little noise in the class, do group activities and reward good behaviour.
Accommodation:
The media can often portray the idea that England and London in particular as an expensive place to live, however what is often not portrayed is that the salaries are comparable to the cost of living. If you live in London your salary will be higher than teachers in other areas of the country and if you live in the North of England your salary will be lower, so instead of looking at the best salary it’s important to look at the kind of life style you are looking for and using the experience of moving to the UK to get the most out of it.
At Career Teachers we try to make your search for accommodation as easy and cost effective as possible, we work with a number of companies who offer lower deposits and great housing for International teachers whether you are looking for something cosy or luxury. Going the extra mile for us comes easily, we become your guide to the UK and know that each person will need different support. Being able to offer personal advice is one of the most helpful things for my teachers. I only moved to London 2 years ago and so I am able to offer support based on my own experience, I have even done direct searches for houses and flats, contacted landlords and provided housing references.
Finances:
As a company who specialise in supporting overseas teachers who are looking to relocate to the UK we have a number of financial ways we can support our teachers. One of the main things is a guaranteed pay contract, this is you’re your promise of immediate work and pay as soon as you come to the UK. This can be given to both teachers who are looking for supply or long term roles and shows our full commitment to you. We are also able to offer a refund of up to $750 CAD on your flight. There are some great places to look for cheap flights, such as sky scanner.com
Before you make the move it’s important to know how much you will need to save. You will need to consider the cost of your Visa, health surcharge, flight to the UK and a deposit for your housing and your rent. On average we would recommend that you will need around $3000 dollars in total for these.
Do it on your own:
You don’t need to be afraid about moving on your own, there is a great community feel within our schools and lots of schools will buddy you up with other international teachers who are already working there. London is a fantastic place to live for a great social life, there are so many fun and free things to do, and there are social clubs for sports, book clubs and foodie clubs. There are also lots of social media groups for Canadians in London which can help you meet other Canadians around London and tell you places to shop and eat if you are missing your home comforts. We also have a great community of teachers and have found that something our teachers really enjoy is our monthly events. We have had Halloween events, been to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and celebrated Canadian Thanks Giving with a traditional dinner. This is a great way to get to know other teachers who are in a similar situation to you and make friends in your local area. We will do as much as we can to support our teachers and I have even given guided tours of London to show people the different areas and help them get more familiar with their surroundings and how to get around.
All in all England has some amazing opportunities to offer Canadian teachers apart from a teaching job…it’s a great way to see the world, be able to travel around Europe on the weekends, refine your teaching skills or learn some new ones. The Youth mobility visa is only offered to a few countries around the world and with such an amazing things at your fingertips why not see the UK as your first choice for teaching?