I posted this on the Welcome Wagon but was told I might have more chance of getting an answer on this board.
"My name is Nick Xylas and I am a Brit married to an American and living in the US. However, to cut a long story short, things are not going too well for us here at the moment and we are considering moving back to England. I am currently on a 5-year sabbatical from my job in the civil service, and so would be able to get my old job back if I so wished.
My wife, Joanna, is a music teacher who has just received her teaching certificate for the state of South Carolina (she has 4 years experience in other states), but does not yet have a teaching contract for the next school year. Whether or not she gets one will be the deciding factor in whether we move.
I have been researching the process by which my wife would get certified to teach in England, but I find the advice from the government confusing and ambiguous (big surprise there!). So I have a couple of questions for any American teachers on this forum who are currently teaching in England:-
1) What is the process for obtaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) for someone who is already qualified to teach overseas? Would my wife have to take a training course, or would she qualify for the assessment-only route?
2) Where would she be on the salary scale? I have seen the salary scales for teachers online, but I was wondering whether she would start at the bottom (M0) or whether her experience in the States would put her on a higher spine point (I assume that M4 means 4 years experience, but the website is not clear on this point)? I suppose we would find that out when we got there, but it can't hurt to have an idea of how much she would earn.
Any help on these questions will be greatly appreciated."
