Employment

My PGCE year has come to an end. All that I'm waiting for, from my department's side of things, is my results. I am confident that I have passed, I put enough work in and I didn't find the exams difficult, just grueling.

The big issue now, for me, is finding a job. I was holding out for a vacancy at one of the schools that I had my teaching practice at, but that seems to have fallen through. All of the vacancies that I have applied for haven't been successful. So, my only hope is sending my CV to schools and hoping that they are interested in taking me on as a volunteer, possibly as a relief teacher. To be honest, I feel that I'm a bit of a failure because I've been unable to find a job, even though I know that I can't be the only PGCE graduate in this position. It's early days yet (it's still 2012!), and I know that I have some time left.

I'm considering the possibility of investigating schools that aren't working in mainstream education, such as the many fantastic Waldorf and Montessori schools that are in Cape Town. I bookmarked some of them a while back, I think their principles are excellent and I admire schools that try to make learning as engaging as possible. While usually you need to have an education qualification specific to their educational philosophies, some schools offer on-the-job training for mainstream teachers like me. It's a long shot, but maybe one of them will be generous enough to take me on and let me show them that I can do this.