Moving into the International School Sector

Since moving back to the UK from Japan, life has changed a lot.

I'm currently on my 5th year of full time teaching and it is now time to move on.

It is now the end of January 2020 and since moving back in August 2014 I have:

• Completed my PGCE
• Completed my NQT year
• Completed a masters in education
• Completed the training to qualify as a SENCO (master's level qualification)
• Begun a course qualifying me as an assessor of exam access arrangements (hopefully to be completed this summer)
• Taught full-time for 5 years
• Worked part-time as an examiner for GCSE English language
• Had 2 children (now 5 months and 3 years old)

I am properly exhausted from the last five and a half years!

But it is time to move on to teach abroad. I won't say to much about the process and difficulties involved in applying for a position at an international school, but, it is, perhaps not as easy to secure the position you really want. There is a lot of competition from teacher from all corners of the globe for the best schools with competitive packages. Having a family - wife and two kids - also blocks you from applying to a large proportion of schools who simply won't consider someone who wishes to bring their family with them. Personally, I wanted to work at an IB school, and a lot of the IB schools show a huge preference for teachers who have previous experience in teaching the IB - this was a major obstacle for me but, luckily, I was able to find a IB school that would consider me and did offer me the position I am about to step into. But, I will be honest, there was a point where I felt I wasn't going to be able to secure a job at a school that I really wanted to work at. Luckily things turned around for me and everything fell into place. I think that all the extra study I have done, and the international experience of living in Japan for 10 years, made me a more appealing candidate for them.

So, I am really happy with the school I'm going to work at. I don't feel it right to publish all the details of the package here, but I (and my wife!) are extremely happy with the school's package and I am so excited, not just to be moving to China, but to work at the school I'm going to and have a chance to teach the IB. My oldest son is going to love the school - he'll be joining their kindergarten.

Onwards with the tidying up, throwing away etc. We have 6 months to get ready!

My five and a half years in the UK have been a great time for personal and professional development. It has been hard, but well worth it. But it's now time for a new chapter.

UPDATE: Covid-19 locked down China and the job was cancelled. But I found another job in an IB World School in Dubai instead. All change!

Raising money to save someone's life

Dear anyone reading this (!)

I haven't posted for quite a while but am still teaching, now in a state comprehensive.

But this post is not about me - it's about Suvanna.

Suvanna is a very close friend of a friend of mine and she is in desperate circumstances. She has cancer and recently had an operation to remove a tumor from her brain. Please see the picture through the link below.

Suvanna lives in Thailand where it is very difficult for ordinary people to get radiation and chemotherapy, which is what she needs now. Through fund raising we are hoping to fund her treatment. The doctor has informed her that without this treatment she has 3 years to live.

Please could you visit the link below - it will take you a fund-raising website where my personal interest in this is explained and more details regarding Suvanna's situation. If you can donate, please do - it is immensely appreciated. Please share the link and others to do so too.

Thanks,

Laurie

https://www.gofundme.com/please-make-savanna039s-magic-happen

Hey! I'm British! Don't make me pay International Student rates!

That's right - you might be born and bred in the UK; you might have a UK passport; you might have lived in the UK for almost all your life; but if you've been abroad for the last 3 years you're at risk of losing entitlement to funding and in danger of paying international student fees.

Find out why and how you can avoid this financially disastrous situation - see the tab 'Applying for a PGCE' above.

Daikichi

New Content: Taking the QTS and taking the PGCE interview.

Hi. It's been a long time since I worked on this site. Doing a PGCE in English has turned out to be everything people say it is - an awful lot of work! It hasn't left me with much spare time at all. However, it is half term now and I'm half way through the course. Actually, my half term is only 2 days - university sessions continued from Monday to Wednesday.

I've noticed a few brave souls have attempted to blog about their PGCE experience as it happens but gave up soon with the workload bearing down on them. I'm not even going to attempt it. But when I have time I would like to write something about the experience.

Today, I decided to continue where I left off and added two new sections:

• My experience of taking the QTS tests.
• Taking PGCE Interviews.

You can locate them at the bottom of the tabbed page, 'Applying for a PGCE'.

Daikichi

Applying for a PGCE from abroad: preparing your application, flying back for interviews, and the QTS tests.

Hello people.

If you are considering applying for a PGCE from abroad then you've come to the right place.

I live in Japan but I applied for a PGCE and have an unconditional offer.

If you click on the tab above entitled 'Applying for a PGCE' you will be directed to a page with lots of information about how to achieve this goal. Hopefully, it has some handy tips for people who are applying from abroad which you won't find anywhere else on the net.

Recently, I added some new content:

• How to prepare your application before the application process opens.
• What to do after you've submitted your application and when you are offered an interview by universities.
• Preparing for your QTS tests.

These are listed as numbers 6 - 10 on the before-mentioned page. 

These all need some extra consideration if you are applying from abroad:

How are you going to maximise your chances of getting offered interviews all within a few days of each other, thus making it possible to travel back to the UK once and take 3 interviews during the trip?

When are you going to take the QTS tests if you live abroad?

Will you have enough time to book your flight back to the UK after being offered an interview?

All of these questions are relevant to your situation if you want to apply for a PGCE from abroad.

Click on the tab and browse the content!

Hello people and greetings from Japan.

Here is some new content I have posted on the 'Applying for a PGCE' page. To view all the information I have written regarding the subject, click on the tab above.

The new content is regarding taking observations in British state schools which is a requirement that must be fulfilled prior to application.

These are the subheadings of the content that I have posted on the before-mentioned page:

OBSERVING LESSONS BEFORE APPLYING - WHERE, WHEN AND FOR HOW LONG?

MY EXPERIENCE OF OBSERVING LESSONS.

GETTING READY TO APPLY - REFEREES.

GETTING READY TO APPLY - YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT.

I hope that, if you are thinking about applying for a PGCE, this page will give you some tips and things to consider that you won't find anywhere else. Although it is useful to anyone thinking about applying for a PGCE, it also has some extra tips for those people who are thinking about applying from abroad, as I did. Click on the tab above!

Are you thinking about working in Japan?

Hello everyone.

If you are thinking about working in Japan as an English language teacher then you've come to the right place.

I've just added new content to the page with the tab above entitled 'Finding a Job in Japan'. Just click on it and read on.

The content that I've added on this page recently is regarding the following:

• Taking a TEFL course and getting a CELTA certificate.
• Applying for the JET Program and taking an interview.
• Working for an English conversation school chain.

Hopefully you'll find some information there that will help you.

I'll be adding more and more content regularly, so keep checking back!