Teaching in England

[Ashley Y]

Hello,
I am a 26 year old from Mississauga and am planning to move to England to teach this coming fall. Any advice on the following (or anything else) appreciated.
-Timeplan as a recruitment agency
-Living in Kent
-Getting around
-Supply vs. full time teaching positions
-Meeting people

Thanks so much!
Ashley

[SarahLeeds]

I got a teaching job through TimePlan when I first moved here (2 years ago) I got a permanent position right away so I don't know what supply teaching is like here. I think I would have found it stressful though to have to find my way to a different school everyday in an unfamiliar city.
Timeplan is a good agency. They give you lots of info about what you need to do before you arrive (setting up bank accounts, finding a place to live) They are very honest about what the schools are like. The curriculum and kids are very different here. The only complaint I have about them is that they told me they would come by the school when I first arrived to check that everything was working out and that they would organize nights out with other timeplan teachers. Neither of these things happened and it would have been nice as I knew no one when I first moved here.

Hope this helps!

Sarah

[Ashley Y]

Thanks so much for the reply Sarah! It's sad to hear that Timeplan didn't make good on their promise to organize nights out with other Timeplanners. I am going alone too so I was counting on that to make some friends! Did you find it easy to meet people there? Were there a lot of international teachers at your school?

[Classroom Canada]

Hi Ashley,
I taught in London for 3 years with 2 different agencies before starting Classroom Canada. I write a blog to help people like you understand more about teaching in England regardless of which agency you are with. I think you'll find most of your questions are answered in there - http://www.classroomcanada.blogspot.com. Since you're already with Timeplan, please don't see this as an advertisement to work with us, but more to help you understand all the aspects to your move abroad from a Canadian perspective. We also don't do much work in Kent and focus more on Central London.

Also, our teachers now have a blog - http://www.classroomcanadateachers.blogspot.com.

Networking is the best thing to do right now while you are still in Canada.

Good luck in your research & in your teaching in England next year!
Cheers,
Victoria Westcott

[heathermac]

Hi Ashley,

I live in Waterloo On, and I got a job through TimePlan, starting in Sept. and so far they have been very helpful! I have been offered a permenant position from the south office, so i won't have to worry about supply teaching. And I'm hoping that it will be easy to meet people as well, as I'm also going over on my own.

Good luck!