Opportunities in the education and training sector are hugely rewarding for graduates.

In most cases you will need a relevant degree background and often further training before you begin but there are plenty of different routes to follow.

Key facts about education and training in Kent.

• Between them, the Kent and Medway local authorities have over 800 schools, ranging from small village primaries to large town secondary schools with over 1,500 students. Both operate a selective education system, meaning parents can elect for their children to sit examinations at the end of primary education to identify those considered suitable for the Grammar schools.
• Kent County Council’s dedicated school website www.kent-teach.com carries lots of information about working in its schools plus the vast majority of teaching and support staff vacancies in Kent and Medway.
• Specific information about Medway schools can be found at www.medway.gov.uk/teachingcareers.
• Some school-based jobs such as education welfare, attendance & behaviour and special educational needs can be found on www.kent.gov.uk
• Kent Adult Education (soon to be known as Community Learning Support) delivers hundreds of courses on all topics from over 450 locations in Kent, with opportunities to become a course tutor.
• Opportunities in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) exist in a number of locations in Kent, including the Pilgrim’s School of English in Canterbury.
• The Kent one-to-one tuition programme provides additional support for pupils not achieving their full potential in either English or Mathematics, despite other intervention methods. The tuition is designed to focus on a specific ‘blockage’ in a child’s learning and provide an intensive burst of individual tuition. Details can be found at www.kenttrustweb.org.uk
• The Kent Training Provider Register provides details of organisations offering professional training in Kent County Council

Key skills you will need for a career in education and training

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Patience and resilience
• A creative approach

Make sure to include these on your CV

Above all, in teaching, you need to like children!

You will be spending a lot of time with them in a teaching career. So, before you embark on the process of becoming a teacher ask yourself the question “Do I like children and do I want to spend my career working with them?” If there is any doubt in your mind or if the answer is a clear “No” teaching is not for you.
 

Image: Children promoting Clean Kent

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