Peripatetic Languages Teaching?

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

Emily G has posted this question and hopefully does not mind me moving it to the forum/discussion area where I am hoping she may get more replies:

Hi

After many years working abroad I am looking to teach languages at primary and or secondary level. Would really like to do this on a peripatetic basis - going into perhaps 2 or 3 local schools. Can anyone give any advice on the way in? Apply speculatively? Are there fixed pay scales for peripatetics or do you charge a standard hourly rate? What qualifications are expected or is the language specialism and experience key? Would be great to hear members' experiences. I don't yet have a PGCE but plan to do this in the future once the kids are a bit older. Thanks in advance!

[Sharon Bird]

Hi Emily! I've been working as a kind of peripatetic teacher as a Foreign Language Assistant for 3 years. Basically I'm paid £15 per hr but only for contact time, so all planning etc in my own time. It's a fixed term contract and I nnever know whether I'll be needed in September in the July, but so far I've built up from 2 hours to 8 over 2 years!

I have given up half my hours though to start a Flexible PGCE. My children are 10 & 7 and it's a lot of hard work!!!

I'm sure we'll have a lot in common so please feel free to keep asking questions!

Sharon

[beverley hopkins]

Hello Sharon

Very interested to read your reply to Emily as my situation is similar to hers. I have actually taught french to infants for 6 years as a volunteer at my local school. I have thought about approaching other schools for a paid position but have always thought that my degree would not be enough of a qualification on its own. I dont have any teaching qualification, is this strictly necessary or do you manage without?

Do you know of any qualification aimed exclusively at teaching primary MFL? I'm sure this is something that will be required come 2010. The courses i have seen advertised to teach non specialist teachers basic french in order to satisfy the curriculm send shivers down my spine.



Very pleased to have found this site ,hoping to see lots more good advice.

Beverley

[Sharon Bird]

Hi Beverley! The only teaching qualification I have at the moment (although I have just started a PGCE) is a City & Guilds Teaching Certificate, as I used to teach adults. That was sufficient to start off with, it just means I always need to have a teacher or TA in the classroom.

As I did more though I realised I really need a PGCE - if for no other reason than to be paid a fair rate!

Univ of Derby do a Primary PGCE with French (need degree in French so not basic) but really hard to get into. Newman College (B'ham) also do fantastic Primary PGCE's in various languages. Depends where you live and can get to!

Keep in touch!

Sharon

[beverley hopkins]

Hi Sharon

Many thanks for your message. I agree that the course at newman looks great. Unfortunately as I live in North Bucks and have 3 children, a full time course in Brum is out of the question.
Surely I'm not the only one in this situation. I really wonder if the powers that be thought about who would be qualified to teach Primary MFL when they decided to make it compulsory in 2010. A headteacher told me that she has heard tales of teachers put in charge of MFL teaching who simply stick the pupils in front of a DVD and hope for the best!

I plan to try and contact local LEA's to enquire about their intentions for MFL primary however despite the power or the internet it seems very difficult to find relevant people. Any tips anyone?


So glad I found this site, great info exchange and a chance for me to perfect my grumpy old woman routine!

Beverley.

[Barbara]

Qualified? Don't know what you mean! Primary teachers are 'Jack of all trades' and this is just one more 'string' they are 'adding to their bow', willingly or otherwise. From my experience of going in to 2, soon to be 3 Primaries as the specialist, the class teachers are happy to have me there as the main/sole deliverer of languages. As their language skills are refreshed by listening to what goes on in the lesson, some, but not all, will then do little bits throughout the week.

As far as training is concerned, I would assume that ALL LEAs will have been delivering language CPDs over the past 2-3 years to up-skill Primary teachers but these have not been compulsory so the skill levels in each school will vary tremendously from those with a language degree/living abroad experience through those with a GCSE to those with no language qualification/experience whatsoever.

And as for the Government, they may have lofty aspirations for the linguistic future of their little citizens, but there has been very little money given to schools to implement delivery of the primary languages strategy. As a result, very few schools, in my experience, have the financial resources to employ a languages specialist and so this 'burden' is being placed on the shoulders of the already hard-pressed classroom teachers or classroom assistants.

[Lorraine]

Hi Emily,
Like Sharon I work as a peripatetic. I had my name down on the local MFL co-ordinator's list for 2 years and I've just got 2 hrs a week last March, I am a fully qualified teacher so am paid supply rates at my appropriate pay scale. Again I have no idea how much longer I will be needed - the budget for next year had to be in by the end of May. So now is a good time to start knocking on doors as schools will know their resources and budgets for next year.


Yes all planning, making resources etc. has to be done in your own time and travel has to come out of your wages. If there are any resources you probably won't have any say in them until you've been there for some time.

My biggest problem is communication- there is none! and you never really get to know the children- so difficult when it comes to writing reports or doing assessments!

Having said that teaching Primaries is really enjoyable- they are very enthusiastic and there's lots of opportunities to sing songs, say number rhymes, tell stories and use puppets alongside the phonic and 'grammar'.

Will really depend how desperate they are in your area and how the schools use their money on whether you're successful.

Good luck. Lorraine

[Barbara]

Hi Emily

I replied to your original post 3 days ago but for some strange reason it has not appeared so here goes again.

When I returned to the UK 5 years ago I did some volunteer work in a local primary (not ELL) for a couple for terms. I did this for a couple for reasons: firstly I couldn't commit myself to employment at that time but wanted to keep my brain active and secondly, I saw it as a way of being able to use a local head teacher/classroom teacher as a referee once I did start applying for jobs. I managed to get the first ELL job I applied for and although my hours have reduced with that school, I have since managed to find additional work at another school, with the possibility of yet more work in a third school all by word of mouth and on the recommendation of my Headteachers who were contacted by other Heads in the Authority who were looking for someone to help deliver ELL for them. My experience is therefore that having contacts is probably THE most successful way of getting work in the Primary sector. Having said that, do contact the Primary Languages Consultant in your area and do look on the local LEA job vacancy sites.

If you are going to apply speculatively then your best bet is to target schools in your area which don't appear to be doing languages yet ( I say appear because it is not always apparent from the site and schools sometimes receive support from the High School.) The easiest way to do this is to go to their sites and look for any mention of Primary languages - on the curriculum pages, class pages or by looking at staff profiles. My experience of looking for work this way however was very disappointing as whether I contacted schools by email or wrote, including a stamped self-addressed envelope, I rarely received a reply.

I would agree that, by now, schools will know how much of their budget is to be set aside for languages. However I would also think that if a sizeable amount, ie the sort of money needed to employ a specialist for perhaps half a day to a day a week, is on the cards then schools will have already advertised for the post on the authority vacancy website. Short, fixed-term contracts are the norm and so you tend to live in uncertainty as the months up to your renewal approach.

There is a good degree of uncertainty and the work is tiring as you rush from class to class, all the time trying to be just as enthusiastic at the start of one class as you were in the previous one, but it is highly rewarding as the kids are (mostly) really keen and are so happy to see you.

All the best.

Barbara

[Emily G]

Hi all

Many thanks for your replies which are encouraging, but also indicate how uncertain it is as an outside specialist. I would love to teach languages in the future, but having one three-year-old daughter I am not ready yet to embark on a PGCE. However with this new initiative with primary languages as of KS2, I am very enthusiastic about getting involved. Since my first post I have managed to get involved in a German club at our older daughter's local primary. I'll see how that goes! Have been disappointed to see German is not so much in demand in one of the LEAs due to the local grammar school having closed its German department. Still, I hope to go to the neighbouring LEA and keep German alive!
Vielen Dank / merci!

[Sharon Bird]

Good for you - just get involved with as much as you can. If it's of any use, Open Uni and some others now do a FLEXIBLE PGCE, which you can take up to 3 years to complete. I've just started and am fitting it around kids (10 & 7) but it's tough!

It might also be worth trying a lunch or after school club, poss free at first? You can also work for La Jolie Ronde or Le Club Francais. Good luck!!

[Lorraine]

Ooh Emily,
you mentioned you were keen to keep German alive- anyone who knows me knows this is one of my passions- our LEA is phasing it out as from Sept. and I'm desperate to somehow keep it going- even our 'public independent' phased it out a couple of years ago. So keep plugging it!
Do have a look at sub-group Prima Kinder where I'm keen to get a list of resources tohether for those of us who want to persevere.
Viel Glueck [still haven't worked out how to put umlauts on this site], bonne chance
Lorraine

[Emily G]

Hi all

Thanks a lot for all the posts and advice - much appreciated! Did some phoning around the schools and checking websites and have been contacted to set up a German lunch club at a local primary. The one at my daughter's primary last term went well and the kids were really enthusiastic. Thanks Lorraine for info about the sub-group - will be checking it out.
Bis bald!
Emily

[curly119]

Hi all, this is an interesting discussion and I'd love to know how you all get on! I would like to echo the point made by someone else about networking, language clubs etc. I think this is a very productive way to get involved and "show off" your skills. I am working as a La Jolie Ronde licensee doing after-school/lunchtime French clubs and also quite a lot of early years work. My degree is in Linguistics and I have always loved French. I have a young family (girls 5 and 2) and I am very much enjoying this work. I am now thinking that a career in the classroom (hopefully including mfl!) is the way forward and looking at primary pgces to start next September - flexible part time ones. I didn't realise the OU did a primary pgce, thought it was just secondary so I will definitely be looking into that. I am hoping to continue with the language clubs alongside my pgce (yikes, not sure if I can manage it all though!). At the moment I'm also volunteering at my daughter's school 2 hrs per week and taking a Spanish evening class - I get the impression that Spanish is becoming more and more popular so I figured this would be a smart move. If anyone has any advice/ideas on how to get where I want to be I'd be very grateful.