January Newsletter
Day-to-day Supply Work through TimePlan - Guaranteed!
1st January 2008
Hello! Our names are Katie and Camille. We're two Canadian teachers living and working in London and having the BEST year of our lives!!
Back in January '07 we learned about the great opportunities that TimePlan has to offer. We started to think seriously about teaching overseas. We both had the travel bug after doing six years of university and we wanted to gain experience in the teaching field. Teaching in the UK was the right fit.
We bought a one way ticket to London and with all of our life belongings in one big suitcase and one backpack, we had finally arrived! We stayed in a hostel for the first week while we looked for accommodation, which we found on the Gumtree website (www.gumtree.co.uk). We both wanted to meet lots of people and thought the best way to do this was to move into a shared house. We currently live with twelve other people from all over the world, but surprisingly it works really well!
The transition to living and working in London was seamless. In particular, what made the change so easy was being a part of TimePlan's Guaranteed Work Agreement. The Guaranteed Work Agreement (GWA) means that we're booked solid with teaching work, unless we've asked for time off. It's reassuring waking up every morning knowing you will be working and making a good salary for living and travelling comfortably in London and Europe.
Over the course of the year we have experienced everything from easy-going, smooth running days to a few with the odd hiccup or two. Everyday is a completely new experience, which is one of the reasons we love teaching here so much. We both feel our behaviour management skills have greatly improved and our ability to whip up a lesson plan in a short period of time will be a benefit in our future as teachers.
It's helpful to go to a school before you commit to long term work. Over in England many schools offer a short trial period to see if you and the school are a good match. This is such a huge advantage because you know exactly what you are getting yourself into and can find out everything you would need to know about the school before agreeing to a long term contract there.
The TimePlan socials and orientation are a great way to meet people. In fact, we have a tight group of friends that we met at the first social and we've continued to go every month. We even traveled with our friends to Paris for the weekend and plan to do a lot more traveling together.
We were originally planning on just coming for the year, but after only four months of being here we have decided to extend our stay for the full two years that a working holiday visa allows.
Good luck!
Written by Kate Mackenzie and Camille Dyer.