Anyone with relief teaching experience in Auckland?

[aphistory]

My husband and I moved to Auckland from the US in Oct. My husband was able to find a job, but it doesn't pay much. I've had no success in landing a permanent teaching job, so it looks like I'm going to have to rely on relief teaching for awhile. What are the chances that I'll be able to work 5 days a week? I applied at 13 high schools around my home, and also signed up with Oasis (though I didn't get a single job from them the first two months I was here). Also, I haven't been able to find any information about how much relief teachers make a day. I taught for 6.5 years in high schools, though two of the years I started late so they may not be excepted. Any information would be wonderful.

Amber

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

I know we have some teachers among the members, so you should get some help soon.

Have you talked to the principals of any of the schools where you hope to be employed? - they might tell you where they find their relief staff, and the rate of pay.

Are you registered with NZTC?

[GrumpyGoat]

I have not tried to find a job yet but I have done a LOT of info seeking in the year + that we have lived here.
What I have found (in ChCh):
Relief teachers earn MORE than teachers. The way it was explained to me was, basically, teachers earn X amount over the course of the year (including holidays) but since relief teachers would not be entitled to pay over holidays, the X amount of pay is divided amoungst the days that they actually work. Does that make ANY sense?
From what I understand (again, not first hand experience) is that relief teachers earn @ $200 per day in ChCh.
Also, I have been alerted to the fact that some schools keep a "relief teacher" on staff. The ones I have met work 2-3 days a week (every week) to fill in for teachers at the school when they do pull out activities and need someone to cover their classrooms.
Also, from what I understand, finding relief work is not difficult--in fact, I would think you should easily be able to fill 5 days a week (from what i have been told in ChCh).
The key is to put together your CV (and include a nice photograph on it ---which is just TOO WEIRD to me as an american!!) and go around to meet the principals personally. Just a meet and greet to give them a face/impression to go along with the piece of paper (CV).

I hope this helps some. I am sure that some Aucklanders will be along in a bit to give you more Auckland-specific information (which could conceivably cancel out everything I typed)

Good luck with your job search!!

[GrumpyGoat]

Oh, and I have been told to stay away from the agencies (by kiwi teachers) who said that you don't really need them as it is easy to book your own relief work and the agencies take a percentage of your pay.

[batgirl1001]

My husband went to relief teach at 2 schools when he first arrived last year. I have to say that it was a tough beat.....he hit the ground running and basically went around to perhaps 50 schools or so in the Auckland area to ask for relief work.

It is not easy. Many schools have reliable "relief teachers" on staff and they are usually the ones that schools call first rather than pick an unknown. Your best bet is to find a more permanent relief position- one say to cover someone on leave to ensure you get the necessary teaching experience needed for a permanent job.

The best is to go for the direct approach--> ask to see the HOD, VP or P at a school after doing your research on the school. Sometimes you might get lucky- they are looking or people, haven't advertised yet or just in a good mood for a chat.

The other option is to visit the Ed Gazette regularly for vacancies for relief teaching. Do note that although schools advertise round the year most of the vacancy ads appear bi-yearly around April and August.

Of course you need to get your qualifications, experienced assessed by NZQA and then registered with NZTC before dropping cvs all over the place. This takes a few months.

As for salary assessment, once you are fully registered and hired for relief work, you are paid something like almost $20 a day or so (minimum wage) until your salary is determined by the ministry. You can earn anywhere up to over $200 a day if you have considerable experience and qualifications.

Another option you can consider is to sign up for the NCEA refresher course (which is now, not free) where overseas teachers familiarise themselves with the new NZ syllabus. Auckland Uni (Education Dept) runs this course through the schools but you need to contact them to ask where/when it will run.

However my husband describes this course as more "a pain in the a*&" and not really useful if you already have teaching skills and experience. It is more to pacify the schools that you have adequate skills and familiarity with the NZ syllabus.

[Sam'n'Kelv]

It is more difficult to find a teaching job now than it was a couple of years ago. The recession means that teachers have opted for security and have remained in posts where previously they might have moved. However, I know for a fact that my own school (South Auckland) has not yet filled all the teaching posts. We are still looking for a teacher of English.

[aphistory]

Lukewarm responses, that's what I was afraid of. I'm still hoping for a real teaching position, and I've had 3 schools (of 13 I applied to) say I'm on their relief teacher call list. I have all my teacher registration complete, and just received my PR last week so hopefully I'm getting more desirable. I teach social studies, the dead baby of core subjects.

I will see come Feb.

Thanks for the info.

[Carey]

Just to second that it is worth getting to actually meet the Principal or DP, so they can see you don't have 6 heads or whatever. We frequently need extra relief teachers, so persevere.

[akp713b]

Hey, I was in the same position as you last year. I teach history and social studies and though I had the advantage of being NZ trained at Auckland Uni I had the disadvantage of being a brand new teacher with no experience.

I applied to 14 schools for a permanent job and got not a single reply or interview. So then I applied to a dozen schools for relief teaching. Two of them told me I was on their list, but I wasn't called in until week 9 of term 1 and only then because one school was having a massive trip with a dozen teachers on it. In all of term 1 I was called up 5 times. However, I was on the North Shore of Auckland, my friend in South Auckland was being called in every single day, though he had the big advantage of having attended his main school as a student just a few years earlier.

I kept applying for regular jobs and finally got an interview which resulted in my getting a Long-Term Relief position from the start of term 2 at a high school just minutes from where I live, and not one of the ones I was on the relief list at. At the end of the year I was made permanent in the position.

While I was working there I discovered that the school only used two or three full-time relief teachers, all who had once been full-timers at the school and semi-retired or took maternity leave. It seems most high schools do that.

The other piece of bad news I have to tell you is that I happen to know that the number of students studying to be history and social studies teachers at Auckland Uni in 2009 was double the number in 2008, so there is way more competition out there. Hopefully because of your experience you will be chosen over them even though you're coming from overseas. Good luck!

[aphistory]

Thanks a lot for your response it was very helpful. I live in Mt. Albert so I sent my CV to 13 schools around here, but not down in Manukau. I'll do that today. I also plan on submitting my CV in person later next week to the schools that have not replied to my email.

With luck I will have some steady work in a few weeks. As for the abundance of social studies graduates, this seems to be the case everywhere. When I choose my major in college a professor laughed at me and asked if I liked being unemployed, I didn't realize he was asking a legitimate question. Though I've always managed to get a job at the schools no one else will work at, it's a bit of a niche in the market.