Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi all, I need some advice on this. But before that, I wish to just mention that I am not targeting any particular groups in Singapore.

Apparently in the recent years, many of the older students and alumni have recruited many of my current school students to a church. Some teachers actually do know of this because some students have been using it as a reason not to come for Saturday activities or camps. Of course, we usually warn the students that it is not a valid reason.

Not a teacher and am curious here. Are students actually obligated to turn up for "mandatory school events" outside of official school hours?

Are we looking at CCAs held over the weekends?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Not a teacher and am curious here. Are students actually obligated to turn up for "mandatory school events" outside of official school hours?

Are we looking at CCAs held over the weekends?

It depends. If it’s a uniform group camp and for the purpose of getting some badges, then really bo Bian. If your child skip or miss then may affect his promotion during the CCA etc. Cos all these lead to CCA points.

Sometimes competitions are on Sat and Sundays too. Not too much the school can control but usually maximum 4 days (meaning sat sun, sat sun), then should be over.

If for school holiday training, if you don’t let your kid turn up, the school really is LL suck thumb cos it’s school holidays and they can’t really penalise your child. But usually let the child attend unless you need to take him / her overseas or else also stay and home and do nothing.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Male with first class honours? 5.3k after 3.5 years is fast!

I was under the impression that it's fairly normal considering public service salaries are pegged to the private job market and in my late 20s I'm already lagging slightly behind many of my peers working in other fields. Then again, I consider salary comparisons in the workplace a dirty topic so I never really got around to finding out what my colleagues or my NIE batchmates earn.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I was under the impression that it's fairly normal considering public service salaries are pegged to the private job market and in my late 20s I'm already lagging slightly behind many of my peers working in other fields. Then again, I consider salary comparisons in the workplace a dirty topic so I never really got around to finding out what my colleagues or my NIE batchmates earn.

It is definitely not normal considering the highest pay for a fresh grad is $3500 (if you get first class honours). Unless you get promoted every year, you only get about 3-4% increment yearly. So, 5.3k after 3.5 years is quite unlikely unless teaching isn’t your first career.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It is definitely not normal considering the highest pay for a fresh grad is $3500 (if you get first class honours). Unless you get promoted every year, you only get about 3-4% increment yearly. So, 5.3k after 3.5 years is quite unlikely unless teaching isn’t your first career.

First class honours + local pre-service masters (CS1 related), male. Starting pay in July 2016 was 4025 with no prior work experience. Currently GEO3, at 5.1k. So 5.3k is high but doesn't seem impossible.

I was getting about 3.8k post-NIE (with FCH) and had hit 5.5k 3.5 years later. Had been promoted to GEO4 (or the equivalent back then), though. So I guess this was considered faster than average.

Keeping in mind that I'd started about a decade ago, I think it's very possible for new officers with good performance to hit similar numbers today, even at GEO3 (taking into account salary adjustments and inflation).

Originally Posted by Unregistered

First class honours + local pre-service masters (CS1 related), male. Starting pay in July 2016 was 4025 with no prior work experience. Currently GEO3, at 5.1k. So 5.3k is high but doesn't seem impossible.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It is definitely not normal considering the highest pay for a fresh grad is $3500 (if you get first class honours). Unless you get promoted every year, you only get about 3-4% increment yearly. So, 5.3k after 3.5 years is quite unlikely unless teaching isn’t your first career.

3500 is more like what ladies (2nd upper or 2nd lower I think) get, without the usual 1 year contract teaching experience (e.g. if you are a returning scholar/award holder with a bachelor's degree).

If you are male with first class honours, and get C/C+ consistently, you should breeze past the 5k mark as you go into your third year of service. Otherwise maybe you need a change of environment because either your mentors/RO/school environment are not nurturing, not pushing you for career advancement, or you're not performing up to expectations.

Sorry just checking, although ranking is already over, how long does it take before the performance grade is set in stone (by April next year)?

I know there is still a period of time where SLs and KPs can still edit the performance grades (usually downgrades); just wondering how long it'll take.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sorry just checking, although ranking is already over, how long does it take before the performance grade is set in stone (by April next year)?

I know there is still a period of time where SLs and KPs can still edit the performance grades (usually downgrades); just wondering how long it'll take.

Performance grade is fixed now. But quantum (e.g the no of months bonus) you get is determined in Jan next year.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sorry just checking, although ranking is already over, how long does it take before the performance grade is set in stone (by April next year)?

I know there is still a period of time where SLs and KPs can still edit the performance grades (usually downgrades); just wondering how long it'll take.

By now, they would have been endorsed by supt.

Some schools might not be that opened to disclose your perf perf grade during year end review, but the schools that I know practise telling the grade so that there will not be surprise/shock in April the following year.