Dreams
I have received a lot of support for my intention to move to London to teach in the next school year. Actually, I expected more push back from people who have turned out to be my biggest supporters. It made me think that maybe I'm the one who is being a naysayer. After all I am a Libra, and we are always seeking balance in our lives. At the beginning of my exploration for a new life in London, I find myself searching for problems first in order to be prepared for any obstacles that may pop up. I can't help it. I did spend the first 35 years of my life being a pessimist. It's only in recent years that I have seen how futile it is to live always expecting the worst. I won't bore you with my beliefs in the Law of Attraction (although I wrote another blog about my spiritual awakening) but my change of attitude has brought some pretty great events and people into my life. But now I find myself thinking about all the hurdles between me and a life in London.
The first step I took was to go to the Department of Education website for England to see what I would need in terms of certificates to teach there. Was there reciprocity between being certified in New York and in England? I didn't really think so but was surprised to learn that there was a way to check my qualifications and submit a request to receive what is called "QTS" (qualified teacher status) from the DOE. I was even more surprised to learn that it was FREE to make this request! Any teacher in New York knows that you can't do anything through our DOE without making some kind of payment. Since it was Summer time (when the funds in my bank account are quite low), I was ecstatic to take the time to fill out the forms and email them out. It's been over a month since I sent out those forms, and I still haven't heard back. I find myself worrying that something has gone wrong and the DOE isn't going to give me the QTS...which is totally ridiculous considering I'm coming up on 34 years in education and have excellent references. But the negativity demon keeps whispering in my ear regardless.
The next step I took was to see what kind of employment options there were currently in London. For those who don't know, London is huge and is experiencing a real teacher shortage. You can say you live and work in London but still need 30 minutes or more to go from home to work on public transport. I began by using websites like Indeed and Linked In with the generic search city listed as London. I discovered that one needs to search the ad in order to find out in which part of London the job is located. While some of these names were familiar to me like Notting Hill (sigh...Hugh Grant) and Wembley (Live Aid's concert arena), others were a complete mystery to me even after looking at maps: White City (really?), Angel (which can be a rough area) and Lewisham. Whenever I saw a previously unknown part of London listed, I had to take the time to find out where in London it was and search for any information I could about it: East London (have to be careful but lots of hip neighborhoods), West London (the poshest of areas), North London (where I previously lived and I'm now realizing I did not explore at all), or South London (still not sure these areas really London as they look more suburban to me). These extreme generalizations are being honed as I learn more about the areas. Bottom line: there are jobs to be had but (pessimist mode) as with most glorious things, there is a catch.
In order for me to obtain a skilled workers Visa to legally work in England, the school has to be willing to sponsor me. That requires paying money to the government in order to hire me. The recruitment agencies, of which there are many for teachers, are the main source of jobs listed on Indeed and Linked In. They don't sponsor teachers although the schools that sign up with them may. So in order to avoid wasting any time in January when I hope to start applying for 2025 positions, I have been writing the agencies and asking if they work with schools who sponsor teachers. One of my many running lists I have in my London folder contains the names of agencies I've contacted (over 15 so far) and the responses I've received (a measly 4). One agency looks promising but they've asked me to get back in touch in February which to my hyper-time conscious mind seems to be cutting it too close. You see, I can't start searching for a flat until I know where I'm going to teach. I don't plan on driving and want to be sure that I can either live in the town where I'm working or settle somewhere near a tube line that will get to it (the Tube is my comfort zone...London bus schedules give me a headache). So the earlier I get a position, the more time I have to find an area in which to live (despite being incredibly expensive, nice flats in London tend to be listed and gone the same day).
Since the recruitment agencies haven't been very responsive, I recently decided to start looking at independent schools that may sponsor American teachers. That list has close to 20 names on it with only a few responses since it seems like all of Great Britain seems to go on holiday during August. From what I understand independent schools aren't run by "councils" which are local government agencies. Looking at the websites of these schools has both delighted and intimidated me. They look so well equipped and use familiar education buzz words like "equity" and "safe guarding students". The schools also come with ratings from Ofsted which is a government agency that checks schools and child minding businesses to ensure and rate their safety and effectiveness. Many of these independent schools seem to have ratings between good and outstanding. So this is a process that seems productive although that pesky Negative Nelly inside of me doubts that they would allocate funds to sponsor an American teacher (except of course for the American School in London which probably receives the most applications from U.S. teachers). That cynical side keeps creeping into my thoughts.
Although I've been able to devote a lot of time to this during my summer break, like all good things this is ending way quicker than I would like. I know once school starts up again, I will be so busy with my current (and last) American class. But unlike in my last post, I am certain that I will still be motivated in December to make this work. Negative Nelly can try her hardest-Fabulous Franny has a secret weapons. My love for London (as the underrated Cranberries sang) is growing every day.
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