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Becoming a Teacher

From a first week of classroom observation to a qualified post: entry qualifications, teacher training and placements, registration, the induction year, and later exam classes, mentoring and school leadership.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Becoming a Teacher, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

201

Starter tasks

🧰 Professions & Trades

Becoming a Teacher

Becoming a qualified teacher: subject degree or diploma, teacher training, the first post, classroom practice and moving up in the profession.

  1. Classroom observation week before committing
  2. Choosing between primary and secondary teaching
  3. Entry qualification audit for teacher training
  4. Resitting English or mathematics to meet entry requirements
  5. Teacher training routes compared
  6. Funding teacher training without surprise debt
  7. School experience hours and referee plan
  8. Teacher training application and selection interview
  9. Police certificate, medical and fitness to teach clearance
  10. Safeguarding and child protection training
  11. Lesson planning from objective to exit ticket
  12. Classroom routines and behaviour plan
  13. Assessment for learning in everyday lessons
  14. Subject knowledge refresh for the syllabus you will teach
  15. Teaching reading and literacy in every subject
  16. Inclusion and special educational needs in the mainstream class
  17. Explanation and modelling practice through recorded micro-teaching
  18. Classroom technology that supports the lesson
  19. Passing the teaching practice placement
  20. Teaching standards evidence portfolio
  21. Teacher registration or licence application
  22. Applying for the first teaching post
  23. Interview day with a demonstration lesson
  24. Comparing teaching job offers and contracts
  25. Preparing your classroom and first fortnight before term
  26. Mentor meetings during the induction year
  27. Weekly planning and preparation block
  28. Marking and feedback system that fits the week
  29. Markbook and student progress records
  30. Parent communication and conference preparation
  31. Teacher workload and wellbeing boundaries
  32. Termly lesson observation and reflection cycle
  33. Professional reading and learning log
  34. Teaching resource bank organised by unit
  35. Annual professional development plan and appraisal
  36. Pay scale, contract and union membership record
  37. Career changer moving into teaching
  38. Student teacher balancing study, placement and paid work
  39. Untrained teacher qualifying while in post
  40. Teaching abroad with recognised qualifications
  41. Returning to teaching after a career break
  42. Teaching in a rural or small-island school
  43. Teaching an exam class from syllabus to results
  44. Becoming an exam marker or examiner
  45. Preparing for head of department or subject lead
  46. Mentoring a student teacher on placement
  47. Further qualification in special education or a master's
  48. Action research in your own classroom
  49. Routes into vice principal and principal roles
  50. Five-year teaching career review

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Classroom observation week before committing

Plenty of people choose teaching from memories of being a pupil, which is the wrong side of the desk. Spending five days watching real lessons, ideally in two different schools and age groups, shows you the marking pile, the break duty and the class that will not settle, and lets you decide with your eyes open before paying any fees.

First tasks

  • Email or call two schools asking to observe lessons for a few days
  • Prepare a one-page observation sheet with before, during and after columns
  • Ask one teacher what their week looks like outside lesson time
  • Write your decision and three reasons for it in a short note

Choosing between primary and secondary teaching

Primary teachers usually teach most subjects to one class all year, while secondary teachers teach one or two subjects to several hundred students across many classes. The choice shapes your training route, the qualifications you need and the kind of day you will have for decades, so make it deliberately rather than by default.

First tasks

  • List five things you want from a working day with children
  • Ask to spend one day in a primary class and one in a secondary department
  • Score both phases against your five criteria
  • Check which subjects are listed as shortage subjects where you plan to train

Entry qualification audit for teacher training

Most teacher training programmes ask for passes in English and mathematics at CSEC general proficiency, GCSE or an equivalent, and many also want CAPE, A levels, an associate degree or a first degree in a relevant subject. Laying your certificates against the published entry requirements of the programmes you are considering shows any gap months before an application deadline, not after it.

First tasks

  • Gather every certificate and transcript into one folder
  • Copy the entry requirements of two or three programmes into a table
  • Mark each requirement as met, nearly met or missing
  • Email an admissions office to confirm any requirement you are unsure of

Make it yours.

Install Becoming a Teacher, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.