As ever Primary teaching jobs are in short supply in the North of England, so I have been asking an old school friend who teaches in South London a few questions about the job market for Teachers in the London area.
It went something like this:
Q: Which are the authorities that are most likely to have vacancies? The ones we are aware of are Newham, Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham, Waltham Forest, Lewisham, and Luton.
A: The ones you suggest are still the best bet as they are tough areas not as able to attract teaching applications as some others. You could add Greenwich to the list. They they tend to put their hands up for every initiative going which means lots of extra work - that's why they have so many vacancies.
Q: What's the situation like generally?
A: Jobs seem to be drying up at the moment. One problem is that a lot of overseas teachers were brought over when vacancies were hard to fill and now that the job market has changed people are tending to stay put.
Teacher recruitment agencies are another way forward. Some NQTs are taking Teaching or LS Assistant posts in order to get a toe in the doorway and the agencies also cover these. However, as you know, living cost are very high in London.
Q: Don't you have things like the key worker scheme to help with accommodation costs?
A: There are key worker schemes but I don't know how long you have to be employed to get a place. One chap in my school got a council flat in a decent block but he was working for the school for at least a year before he moved in. I know he was offered a couple of pretty ghastly places first of all but he made a fuss until he got what he wanted.
Q: Which agencies are worth trying?
A: My school mainly uses Protocol and Select.
Have you any insights on getting jobs in London you'd like to pass on? Why not add a comment below?
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