Serious for a change

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 11:58

i desparately want to do teacher training and have just applied. the uni has rung me this morning to say that they won't even look at my application as i have no science gcse, which strictly speaking is not compulsory if you are born before 1979. i did all languages.
i have another route to go down but i am really upset. they weren't even sympathetic and tried to blame it on me for not knowing 20 years ago that i might need science.

I was soooo happy this morning.... i dont think the gods love me today.

02 Dec 2003, 12:11

Emily

That sounds like total and utter bollox to me!
Mrs 303s sister is a teacher and only qualified less than a year ago, she didn't even have maths!

Seek a second opinion and don't let the bast*rds grind you down kid.

Steve

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 12:15

the uea are apparently really strict, and theya re allowed to be. your sister in law might have done an equivalence test for maths but there isn't one for science.
right now... i'm completely flattened.

02 Dec 2003, 12:21

That's a real pain! Why not see if your local 6th form college or whatever can fit you in on a quickie science GCSE course now? OK, it'll mean you're a year later doing the teacher-training, but it might be worth a shot.

02 Dec 2003, 12:22

Don't they do concise courses? So you won't have to waste a whole year?

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 12:26

IF i do science gcse this year and get pass result in august i can ring them up and beg for a place. which makes me feel so like kicking them in the teeth.

02 Dec 2003, 12:29

emilystrange wrote:IF i do science gcse this year and get pass result in august i can ring them up and beg for a place. which makes me feel so like kicking them in the teeth.

you might want to ask debaser if she has any ideas - she might have some knowledge of whats required for this kind of thing...

bummer

02 Dec 2003, 12:30

If you tell the Uni that's what you're planning now, they might give you a conditional offer?

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 12:33

markfiend wrote:If you tell the Uni that's what you're planning now, they might give you a conditional offer?

i did that already its in my personal statement. which they admitted to not having read properly but didnt seem to care.

Thanks QB i will try

MrChris · 02 Dec 2003, 15:01

Grrr, evil sods. One in three people in teacher training in the UK right now do not even have six a-c passes at gcse, which the government seems to consider the minimum standard of education. they let these people in because they desperately need teachers, then they reject perfectly intelligent people because they lack some ancient qualification in a subject they will never teach! i suspect the forms are initially read by people who are not necessarily teachers themselves, and who may have large chips on their shoulders.

a few years ago i was close to embarking on teacher training myself, but i couldn't get through these hoops very easily, and gave up. i now teach at university, where i've needed no teaching qualifications whatsoever, and they give you a job if they think you can do it well. i would keep on at these wasters. if it doesn't work out, don't narrow your horizons or downsize your ambitions. do the opposite.

good luck, anyway

Padstar · 02 Dec 2003, 15:11

You can teach me if you want

Im very attentive!

Often naughty though...

Paddy.

mayhem · 02 Dec 2003, 15:19

This kind of thing makes me grind my teeth- so few good people would consider teaching these days, they should nurture all the interest they get from the likes of our Em.

My brother was very sensible & got a chemistry degree. He's a postman now.

Give em hell kid

M

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 15:20

thanks chris and everyone i dont feel quite so 'emma emily' now. *sob*

paddy dear, i've got a very strong right hook for a small girl. so you'll have to learn to recite off by heart. hahaha

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 15:23

mayhem wrote:This kind of thing makes me grind my teeth- so few good people would consider teaching these days, they should nurture all the interest they get from the likes of our Em.
Give em hell kid

M

'our em'. actually thats made me fill up. cheers guys you're all lovely. xxxx

Clucking Belle · 02 Dec 2003, 15:51

What do you want to teach?

02 Dec 2003, 15:52

Clucking Belle wrote:What do you want to teach?

presumably not chemistry

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 15:54

no. primary. thats why its so really stupid.

CorpPunk · 02 Dec 2003, 15:57

F*ckers. Maybe you should try secondary or university, where you can most likely specialise in languages/linguistics, and not have to qualify in subjects across the board. Unless you have a burning desire to work with the kiddies, in which case, you're insane

.

But either way, good luck and keep trying!

Clucking Belle · 02 Dec 2003, 15:59

[quote="CorpPunk"] Unless you have a burning desire to work with the kiddies, in which case, you're insane :wink: .[/quote]

Or Belgian.

CorpPunk · 02 Dec 2003, 16:02

Clucking Belle wrote:
CorpPunk wrote: Unless you have a burning desire to work with the kiddies, in which case, you're insane .
Or Belgian.

Main Entry: BelÂ·gian
Pronunciation: 'bel-j&n
Function: noun
Date: circa 1623
1 : a native or inhabitant of Belgium
2 : insane

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 16:07

no its the kids. i KEEP telling you i'm strange.

Carrie · 02 Dec 2003, 16:08

Having just invigilated a GCSE Mock in Science, I can assure you that a weekend with Lett's Revise ought to get you a comfortable C...it's a piece of p*ss.

But yes, it's a STUPID system. My year PGCE were thoroughly panicked over the new Numeracy tests - we were the guinea pigs in '99 - '00 - which didn't hold any particular terrors for me (ex pub landlady, done VAT returns, numeracy test a total doddle by comparison...

), but for some of my colleagues, busily training to teach English &/or History, it caused completely unnecessary sleepless nights. For reasons best known to the powers that be, even barely out of their teens types with Maths A Level were having to waste time on the wretched thing...

Dunno why they can't just say 'you need GCSE or equivalent in English, Maths & Science, achieved at some point in the last 10 years, & if you're missing any of them here's the dates of the equivalency tests'.

Incidentally...one of our newly appointed Science staff has an attendance record of less than 70% & was locked in her own book cupboard by a Year 8 group last week, so it's not as if the profession's bursting at the seams with astonishingly brilliant Science teachers...like rocking horse poo they are. So keep trying Emily...we NEED you!

CorpPunk · 02 Dec 2003, 16:10

emilystrange wrote:no its the kids. i KEEP telling you i'm strange.

Or Belgian.

emilystrange · 02 Dec 2003, 16:16

not belgian. from the midlands. and now you have to pass through the fens to get to me.
Thanks Carrie. can you ring the uea for me? kill them.

CorpPunk · 02 Dec 2003, 16:35

Carrie wrote: Incidentally...one of our newly appointed Science staff has an attendance record of less than 70% & was locked in her own book cupboard by a Year 8 group last week

Smart move wanting to work with the little ones, Em. They can't reach the doorknobs.