It may have been my question that was never answered, I think I saw somewhere that someone thought it was frivolous or stupid. But really when you get a new job you want to mesh in terms of attire. Anyway, I think its perhaps slightly dressier than the rural school I student taught at and went to. We had very casual Friday's where pretty much every Friday teacher's wore jeans, here you'd only do that on non-uniform days.
I'd say for women dress slacks, normal cute tops, dresses, etc. are fine. You can get away with fancy flip flops at my school as well. There is fairly big range, some teachers wear suits everyday, other rarely do (if ever).
As for packing summer and winter clothes, I'd ship sweaters since they usually aren't heavy really just take up more space. I shipped myself things I wouldn't need right away and packed the necessesities (thought my shipped stuff arrived first since my luggage was lost for a while). I'm surprised at how much I've accumulated here! |
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Yeah, good question. I asked this one too way back when with no answer and I felt like I was diving in blind folded.
What Jess has said is correct for my school as well. In fact the dress code may be a little more relaxed for women here than back in the states as women can also wear sleaveless here. The only things which SEEM to be taboo are denim and gym shoes. Best bet though is go with the "would it be appropriate to wear in the local high school" acid test though.
Men generally wear a nice top...even an polo top at times...with a tie, nice dress or casual dress trousers, and some kind of nice to semi-casual jacket.
"Matching" isn't even a requirement as folks over here have a more free-form understanding of what can be worn together than us matching-made new worlders. But irons are still in fashion here. |
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Thanks for the thorough replies re dress code. Now I desperately need the other 2 questions answered, especially re a personal life with sport, hobbies and family. Are weekends generally free or do you even need those as well to prepare and plan?? It seems like the planning involves a written lessonplan for every single lesson given each day. Is this true?
Thanks again for bearing with this unsure new UK teacher... |
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| Hi, sorry, only just remembered another question. Is there anybody out there who knows about work permits and visas? I know that if I get a work permit, my husband is free to do any job in the UK without one, BUT if he gets a job he really likes and is willing to get him a work permit, and I'm battling, can the family then go on on his new permit, or do we have to change all visas, and even more importantly, should we be able to change it there or do we have to come back and start the whole process again? I cannot get the answers from the UK visa website, if anyone has more on hands information or a contact, knowledgeable person I could ask? |
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For the personal life question, I'm not the best to answer. This is my very first year to teach ANYWHERE, so it was extra difficult just in that sense. I am quite a keep to myself type of person and I found that for me personally doing things in the evenings really stressed me out, I felt I should be at home doing planning. Now that it is later in the year and I am more settled, I don't mind being away in the evening, but I still try to keep meeting friends for dinner or shopping to the nights when I have easy days the following day. I know lots of teachers here though who are involved in after school activities (both at school and away). You can usually get by with just doing Monday planning and some marking at the weekend.
Marking here is completely different to what I ever experienced in student teaching. For English there is not multiple choice exam to give at the end of studying a piece of literature. All end of unit assessments are marked according to the KS3 marking criteria and are always a written assessment (usually an essay, sometimes a letter, or newspaper article) so you know 30 essays once a term for 9-11 classes, that adds up! (I have no idea what the marking is like in comparison for other subjects)
Lesson plans: You don't need a fully developed written out formal lesson plan unless you are being observed (or know you've got a good lesson and so want to have a copy of it to put in your folder if you are going through QTS). My lesson plans are usually abbreviated in my lesson planner and followed through by power points.
As for work permits, I've found that the UK website is pretty much rubbish for getting information from. My best guess is that whoever gets the job between the two of you first will then get the visa/work permit tied to the specific job giving the opposite spouse more freedom to look (and the school they go to less hassle). Hope that is somewhat helpful! |
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