teaching jobs -references/ application dates

[alphabetty]

Hi I have two questions for all of you out there

1) I am a new teacher (From Canada) I have a reference from my university prof who has seem me teach and who evaluated my teaching, I also have two great references from two teachers whose classrooms i taught in. How important is it to have a reference from a principal in New Zealand? I think if i went back and volunteered at one of the schools i did my placement at i could get a reference from the principal there, but is it worth it? Will a reference from a Canadian principal count that much or is it something that it is important to have?

2) what time is it best to arrive in New Zealand to start applying for jobs (for the 2012 school year) My Fiance and I are getting married in september, would october be too late to arrive in NZ?

thank you for your help!

[Carey]

Difficult to answer Q 1 but my gut feeling is that it would be helpful to have a ref from a NZ Principal.

Q2: most positions are advertised from Sept onwards. Don't change your wedding date though!

Good luck!

[auskiwi]

It used to be the 15 of October gazette that had all the following year jobs, though it does seem they're advertising a bit earlier these days. Definitely get all the references you can, as they will all help your application. I assume you know that www.edgazette.govt.nz is where most of the NZ teaching jobs are posted.

Amy.

[alphabetty]

Do either of you know if principal references are something NZ admin look for specifically from new teachers?

I have a choice of volunteering doing the same thing i did during my placements (which means less to put on my resume as i have already done it) in order to get a reference from the principal there, or volunteering doing something new - hopefully related to special education - which means I would be learning a different skill set and would have something new for my resume.

Which would be more important?

Sorry if this is a hard question to answer, there is so much to consider before I decide what to do this summer and I am trying to make an informed/ smart decision.

Thank you for your help.

[auskiwi]

In NZ, newly trained local teachers often have references written by their 'mentor teachers' (who supervised the student teachers during classroom practicums). Back in my day (early 90's - eek!) we also had letters written by the Dean of our School of Ed, which basically combined comments from all of our practicums into one document outlining our strengths etc. Schools do look for references from people who have actually seen you teach, so if you are planning on doing any volunteering etc, I would be sure to ask the principal to come in and observe you teach at least one lesson. That way they will be able to refer to what they actually saw you do.

Amy.