I keep reading how teachers' starting salaries are X amount and essentially we should be delighted 😠 It's insane how people, who clearly haven't a clue how teaching contracts work, are happy to spread this utter shite all over the internet. Surely there must be statistics available regarding graduates from all the PME/B.ed programmes and their employment status after a few years. We all know that getting an RPT on full hours straight after qualifying is rare. All the younger teachers in my school were all on mixes of maternity/career break/illness cover for a few years before getting their own hours and CIDs. Is this data being hidden so people continue to train as teachers blissfully unaware of the shitshow that is recruitment in education???

Hope everyone is inside and warm after today. Seemed to be good support from the public, we were getting loads of beeps and waves.

Do we think next Wednesday will go ahead or will the government budge a bit by then??

Hiya I applied for my Teaching Council number over 5 weeks ago ? I qualified abroad has anyone got an idea of how long I may be waiting ?

Hi lads bit of a late notice here but I’ve an OIDE subject cluster day tomorrow and didn’t get an email about start times cause of the industrial action. I know I’m def booked in as we had a sheet with names and locations up in the staff room. Me and my intelligence forgot to take down the start time so what would be a safe time to arrive at.

Wondering if anyone has done this course…. To qualify existing teachers as home ec teachers …..also is there generally a shortage of home ec teachers ? I’m curious about this course

Just looking for some advice -

I’m from New Zealand and will be completing a one year, school-based postgraduate teaching qualification in 2027, training to teach secondary English and History.

I already have a Law degree and a BA in Politics, and previously worked as a police constable in NZ, so I’ll have a bit of professional experience behind me, just not much teaching experience.

I’d really love to move to Ireland soon after qualifying, but I’m wondering how realistic it would actually be to secure a teaching position as an overseas NQT looking to complete Droichead. I’m very flexible on location and would be happy to teach pretty much anywhere in Ireland.

Would schools realistically consider hiring someone in my position, or would I struggle without a couple of years of teaching experience in NZ first?

I’d really appreciate any advice or insight

A place for teachers to share and discuss what's going on in their day. Feel free to vent, ask a question or just share your thoughts.

Please keep all comments respectful, have a great day.

Stay safe and dress for the weather. Take pride in the fact that you will be exercising your right to take part in protest with your fellow union members and colleagues.

In Solidarity,

The Mods

I think it is important to view things as they are intended. This comes from our state broadcaster, RTE.

Both the headline and opening paragraph clearly state that the strike is going ahead, and they could have ended the sentence there, "despite a final plea from Government". This is neither a nuanced or even neutral statement. It does not say that the strike is going ahead because of the Government's unwillingness to acknowledge union demands or their failure to pay expected wages. RTE intended to make civil servants look greedy. That is fundamentally unacceptable for State Media to do.

The rest of the article gives detailed and long winded responses from government officials and subtly defends what pay increase there has been.

It is very clear that the government is using all of its resources, state media included, to disparage its civil servants to the public, weaken public opinion of us and reduce our collective bargaining power. If this is not worrying, I dont know what is.

Our Union Leaders must absolutely do right by us because it is clear that the government is actively trying to malign us.

July Provisions (Home Based)

I am really upset that I will not know if I am getting paid for work I did in July in this fortnight or will it be November.

I think it is madness that you do not get an acknowledgement of your paperwork, nor will anybody let you know when you are due to be paid. I feel terribly for the self-employed who similarly could go so long without what they are owed. I don't understand how this response could be justified... They know exactly how many people are signed up to be paid.

Was in a school for past two years. Worked as a teacher first year, then as a general sub last year. This year school told me they are moving to subject specific substitution work but im still going to be registered as a substitute there. They said this move was due to complaints from parents of teachers missing classes for events (which is a thing) since before I began in 2025.

Thing is i havent gotten any work since. Is this a legit policy or way of politely getting rid of me or just a reality of subbing be quiet this time of year?

There is a lot of posts every year about how hard PME and teaching is (I was one of them). I am doing a concurrent course with PME2 as the final year.
This year has been so much better so far. I feel so much more confident teaching and I feel way less exhausted in the evenings. I definitely have a long way to go but I teach Jc science and I’ve done a few experiments this year and they have gone so well.
(Classroom management skills have levelled up)
I still have loads to learn obviously but I’m getting a bit better at all parts of placement and I feel like it was so worth the learning curve, seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. This is placement 4/4 and after every one I’m a new, much better teacher and I can’t wait for it to continue.
I still have no clue how you all manage 22hrs of class but that is a problem for future me.
I hope this gives some hope to anyone struggling in placement.
- I’d like to note I’m in a very middle of the road school now and my previous placements in DEIS have helped me massively. ( I learned so much just talking about behaviour management in the staff room)
- I also have great Co- Teachers

A place for teachers to share and discuss what's going on in their day. Feel free to vent, ask a question or just share your thoughts.

Please keep all comments respectful, have a great day.

Does anyone know if there’s a subbing WhatsApp for secondary teachers in Kerry? Thanks! ☺️

I’m new in a school and my classes are great for the most part. However I absolutely dread my on call periods. I think it is because most of the time there is no work left, so it is usually a babysitting class. As I am new and my own classes are small, I don’t know a lot of the kids, so I feel they see me just as the sub and try to test me. That said, I have had only one class that wasn’t great.

Is it just me? Any advice for this?

Anybody concerned that schools have just jumped on board with AI and in my school anyway are promoting it as important for students and teachers alike. I have a lot of concerns about AI but schools seems to have just skipped over AI concerns or bypassed them. Anyone else feel the same?

A huge part of my disillusionment with teaching is the new Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle. Despite huge concerns from teachers on the ground both of these were just forced through. I teach Science and Biology and am very disheartened by the new course, Common Level for JC and the new senior cycle which most teachers havent yet come to grips with - so how are the students going to? Fed up of teachers genuine concerns being ignored and these new syllabi just being pushed through anyway. I feel stuck due to financial commitments and over 20 years into a pension - but anyone else out there feel their enjoyment in the teaching profession has had a huge drop off in the past 5 to 10 years?

Teachers, is there a way to support the teachers’ strike on Wednesday?

I’m not a teacher obvs but I have school going kids.

Teaching 20 years. Things have changed so much in that period of time and lots not for the better. I am in an ETB school. I feel trapped by the golden handcuffs phenomenon of being locked into pay and pension. Not happy with changes in the JC and LC. Feel that schools management now back parents over teachers. I worked in the private sector before teaching and though I had less holidays there, I feel far more burned out in teaching. Constant extra paperwork, threats of looming inspections. Realistically if I stay for another few years it might not make any financial or practical sense to change career. Did anyone find changing schools was a help? Love to hear others experiences for positive or negative.

I'm studying two languages for post-primary teaching. I've just finished week 5 of 1st year and I am finding it so so difficult. I can't sleep and I'm shaking crying because idk if I'm cut out for it at all. I did well in my leaving cert in those languages so I met the requirements for the course no problem, I got about 80 points over what I needed.

But I just don't feel like my leaving cert standard is good enough. Nearly everybody in my course is either fluent in the language or sat their leaving cert in the language, or lived in the country before. I just feel so behind everyone. And it feels like the lecturers expect so much more than leaving cert level from us.

I just feel so slow and so stupid, and I'm questioning if I should even be a teacher after all. It's only been a couple of weeks and my love for those languages has already been shattered. Why does it seem like they expect more than leaving cert standard from new first years? Please tell me it gets better. And please let me know if you have any advice.

Hi there, I've been an ESL/TEFL teacher for the past 12 years and due to a lack of job opportunities where I live (based in Donegal) I'm considering doing a PME and looking for advice.

The most logical thing for me to do would be the Hibernia Online one, despite the expense. What's the view on this course? Is it worth doing? Would I miss out on much by not being in-person? Would that outweigh the expense of travelling/ moving somewhere?

Also, is there currently any funding I could apply for to help me with the course? Would that still be available if I did the Hibernia?

Thanks in Advance.