Working on the Road

I’m not really sure why they call the process Mutual Recognition.

Truly, you are applying for registration from scratch. Just because you have proved yourself to be a qualified, experienced teacher with Working With Children Clearance in two states certainly doesn’t make the application process any easier or faster for the Queensland College of Teaching.

In fact, you need to forward printed and certified copies of your documentation to the QTC instead of uploading copies to a website. They want referee reports completed in their own format sent directly from your referees. If you lived overseas in the last 5 years they want that Overseas Criminal Check done.

I’d done such a check for my return to WA, see below, so thought I’d be fine and attached the email and printout I had from 2023. No, this too needs to come directly from the Overseas Criminal Check office. They only keep a record of checks for 12 months so no longer held mine.

Thankfully, I persuaded the QCT manager that I’d provided evidence of that check, I’d been cleared by two states to teach already and had been in regular employment since arriving back in Australia. They relented on this.

The QTC staff were very helpful though and helped me when I stumbled over a few other issues to ensure they had precisely the documentation in the format they wanted it.

My advice, start the application process early. You’ll get an email stating everything you need to provide and collate that all ready, including sending forms to referees with the email address it’s to be sent to and then submit it all.

You need a Blue Card (Working With Children Check) but first you need to register with the Qld Department of Transport to get a customer reference number (CRN).

Once you’ve gained QCT registration, then apply to the Qld Department of Education. Fortunately, the staff here are also very helpful if you struggle with any of the application processes.

Finally, you’ll get an email to set yourself up on Tracer, the state system for seeking and getting booked for relief teaching. If you are travelling, like me, you need to think ahead, contact schools to let them know you’ll be in the area and that you have added their school to your preference list.

Update your preferences regularly and change your Tracer address so you can easily search for schools in a given radius. Your address with Payroll remains the address you originally provide so don’t stress about Tracer address changing as often as you need.

Phone calls and text messages will then start from the state-wide Tracer team or schools will book you directly and process the booking through Tracer once you’ve taught for them.

Something to consider is that casual relief is paid at a lower rate than a short contract if you are an experienced teacher. So, if in an area for more than a week and can be available for 5 consecutive teaching days or more, show yourself as willing to accept short contracts on your Tracer preferences. It’s a pretty big difference!

Be prepared for no computer or interactive screen access. Most schools I attended did not offer this to casual relief staff.

Top tip: remember to update your Tax Declaration Form, which you can do online with your MYGov online account and the Taxation Office.

Image is AI: Craiyon - Your FREE AI image generator tool: Create AI art! 

Having decided on South Australia as the next state to explore, I got onto mutual recognition between WA and SA Teacher Registration Boards.

The TRBSA website will help you with forms etc. but I found the journey from initial decision to actually getting work with the SA Education Department long, time-consuming, expensive and at times frustrating.

To teach in SA you need TRB membership (you need to provide, again, a lot of the certificates and proof of ID etc that you already provided for WA), a First Aid Certificate (one for providing first aid to children in an educational setting if seeking primary or early childhood recognition), a Working with Children Check, complete and pass a compulsory RRHAN course (Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect).

Then you can apply to the Education Department for either a contracted position or an Authority to Teach Letter via the website. Of course, there are private schools which you may also apply to, but I prefer state schools as this is obviously a wider network.

Once you have all this documentation and approval in place, you contact the Area TRT Coordinator and/or the schools for where you wish to teach. At Whyalla, I was asked to directly contact schools and in Port Pirie I gained work by the coordinator and she required me to complete a form for the local office and provide my gathered approval documents.

Now you’ll get access to the Employee Kiosk so you can inform the Department of your bank details. And don’t be surprised if your first payslip has you on the lowest pay scale. Seems like this is common if, like me, you miss a couple of forms to complete hidden amongst the mass of information.

They need your Tax File Number which is a declaration form. Schools can supply you with one. They also need your previous Statement of Service so try to get this in before you apply. These two documents can be submitted through the Kiosk.

I guess, like any new employee, things are a bit clunky intially as you learn the local acronyms, procedures and policies and learn to navigate the websites and supports. I have to say, each time I phoned for help, HR and IT support staff were ever so patient and knowledgeable.

Thanks to Craiyon for the AI image.

The last thing I expected or planned to do so soon into this adventuresome 5-year plan was to sign a contract for teaching in one location. Yet I did.

You may recall I wrote in an earlier blog, “that to maintain Teacher Registration Board registration in Western Australia, over a twelve-month period, casual teachers are to complete professional learning courses, register these and to also evidence good practice across a range of criteria before their re-registration is due.”

It’s proven tricky to collect the evidence required and professional learning opportunities as a travelling casual teacher to transfer into ‘Full Registration’ which I need to do after my more than 5-year gap teaching overseas. The TRBWA has also updated its registration categories and full registration application deadlines since my arrival giving me further food for thought.

NOTE for those wanting to gain full registration you need to have taught for a minimum of 100 days in Australia before applying to upgrade.

I taught at a lovely school on the southern edge of Perth’s city sprawl before Christmas as a casual relief teacher. They were seeking a Pre-Primary teacher for two days a week for first semester and asked me if I would consider it. I did:

Pros

·  realise 100 days teaching

·  more readily access professional learning opportunities

·  demonstrate my skills and knowledge

·  build relationships within the school community

·  gather the evidence

·  work part time so still 5 days a week for touring nearby

·  regular income

·  free camp nearby

·  regain TRBWA full registration

Cons

·  staying static – but we’d have to do this at some point anyway for employment AND anyway there are

several places we’d yet to explore in this south western corner of WA more thoroughly

·  prior travel commitments before end of semester – school said, no worries if you can complete til end of May

So with lots of pros and even the couple of cons easily argued away, how could I refuse?

Contract is now completed in a welcoming, collegiate school. I enjoyed it - at least most of it! Work will always be work, after all.

Now that I've successfully regained my TRBWA full registration, my next step is to apply for mutual registration for the next state’s teacher registration board and go explore there! More details to follow later ..............

I was pleased to pick up a good few days’ teaching in the country areas we travelled to this term. Everyone was pleased to see and employ a relief teacher. Friends and colleagues had been right about a need out of the metro area.

I tried a mix of methods to book in work. I used the casual teaching pool set up by the department which gave me work in the larger towns, walking in to introduce myself worked well in smaller places and phone calls and emails in medium sized towns proved productive too.

Casual teaching, I have found, is not as stressful and all-consuming as being in a long-term contract. In WA, the regular teacher is expected to provide lesson plans to ensure continuity for the students. However, a casual teacher must always be prepared with some lessons in case these are not provided. The usual round of staff meetings, reporting to parents, assessment and planning are vastly reduced as is the paperwork these create.

Keep in mind though, that to maintain TRB registration, casual teachers are to complete professional learning courses over a twelve-month period, register these and evidence good practice across a range of criteria before their re-registration is due.

Like my Spinifex Pigeon image? This image captured whilst on recess duty in a Karratha school playground, as the students headed back to class. It and other Pilbara birds can be seen on my Instagram. 

At some schools this term, I was asked to stay longer but…. travel is the whole purpose and with enough cash to keep travelling, we did just that.

As you’ll know from reading About Honey, I am a trained and experienced teacher but have decided to pause that career as a full-time role for various reasons. Having taught previously in the Western Australia Department of Education, it made sense to re-register and apply as a casual (relief/supply) teacher.

The plan is to ring through to local schools as I travel and offer a day’s work if wanted. Teacher friends advised there should indeed be work available as there is a current teacher shortage in WA.

Applying is time-consuming, especially if you are applying for the first time. You need all your teaching qualifications, identification and any change of name documents ready at hand. If, like me you have moved around a lot, you need details of previous employment and residential addresses.

Of course, you’ll need the appropriate work visa if coming from overseas. I’m fortunate to be an Australian citizen so am automatically entitled to work here.

First, you need to apply to the Teacher Registration Board of WA (TRBWA), which can take up to ten weeks to be approved. Part of the TRBWA application will include a specific Criminal Overseas Check but follow their links to complete this as the report gets sent directly to them as well as a copy for you.

Then apply to the Department of Education. Once approved, you also require a Working with Children Card before you can teach in any school.

The whole process costs money too. In total I spent over $400 but it would cost more if your overseas qualifications need to be assessed as part of the application to TRBWA.

With all this in place, I called into a couple of local schools where we are house-sitting for friends to introduce myself and was offered a full-time job at one school. I turned it down politely. And when I dropped into another I was asked immediately “Can you teach tomorrow?” I agreed to this one!

And so, my new casual teaching role has begun – we’ll see how many days I pick up enroute!

As much as I’d like to tour Australia without worrying about work, that sadly is not the reality. Funds for fuel and food will need to be topped up from time to time.

There are many options and many Facebook pages, apps and websites to help you locate work. I found these as a starting point to ensure I was comfortable that there will indeed be work available:

Backpacker Jobs in Australia

Working on the Road in Australia

Australian Rural and Remote Jobs

Backpacker Job Board

Waytree

Friends in Australia had also informed me there were adverts in almost every café, bar and restaurant seeking employees, much like we were seeing across the UK following COVID impacts in the industry.

So before leaving Scotland, I did some preparations. I found an accredited online course through Express Online Training to gain an RSA (Responsible Serving of Alcohol) Certificate.

Having studied the notes provided, I answered the 125 multiple-choice questions, videoed myself roleplaying scenarios provided and then came across a stumbling block. There’s a telephone assessment too that can only be completed on an Australian phone number – I was still in Scotland!

Fortunately, you have three months in which to complete the course so I booked my assessment at my friend’s house for my first week of arrival. Others beware!! 

You also require a USI (Unique Student Identifier). There are links within the course process for you to follow if you need to gain one.

With this certificate, you are qualified to work in hospitality across QLD, WA, SA, NT, ACT for the next five years. You’ll need the appropriate certificate for NSW, VIC and TAS separately.

Having completed my telephone assessment, managing to stay calm despite the interruption of a handset battery fail, and printed out my certificate, the next step is to shop for a pair of black trousers to go with the white shirts I already have and I’ll be ready to start looking for work.