If you are organised, have a lot of patience and a passion to inspire young minds, a career as a Senior Primary Teacher could be for you.
Career Overview
A Senior Primary Teacher will develop lesson plans according to the objectives of the syllabus, nurture and inspire young minds as they grow. The age group they will be focussed on in their career is anywhere between the ages of 7 – 12 years old.
Required School Subjects
You will need to choose subjects along the lines of what you would like to teach. For a Senior Primary Teacher, you’ll need to do languages and be confident in the basics of maths, life orientation and the compulsory subjects and then choose your subjects based on where your interests lie.
Institution and APS
To study a BEd at most universities, you will need an APS of at least 26+
- University of Pretoria (UP): APS of 30
- Rhodes University: APS of 32+
- University of Johannesburg (UJ): APS of 26
- University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN): APS of 28 – 48
- University of Witwatersrand (WITS): APS of 36
- University of South Africa (UNISA): APS of 23+
- University of Free State (UFS): APS of 30+
Required Qualification/s
In order to become a registered Senior Primary Teacher in South Africa, you will need to complete a Diploma or a Bachelor in Education at any of the above recommended institutions. However, if you are interested in studying another degree, you can complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), after your initial degree. This is a post-graduate year which will qualify you as a teacher.
Required Skills
You will need to have the following skills to succeed as a Senior Primary Teacher:
- an ability to work with people
- good communications skills
- problem solving and taking initiative
- resilience, dedication and perseverance
- flexibility
- leadership
- awesome creativity, an ability to inspire and motivate children
- a sense of humour will help in many ways (know how to have fun!)
- time management and organisational skills
- be as resourceful as you possibly can and know where your boundaries and limitations are
Some helpful skills to have include:
- sport
- drama or art
- music
- languages
- computer skills
Where you can work
As a Senior Primary Teacher, you could work in one of the following environements:Â
- Government schools
- Private schools
- Curriculum developmental facilities
- Tutoring or homeschool organisations
Working Hours
Regular school hours are normally during the weekdays between 7am – 3pm. As a Senior Primary Teacher, there are also sports or extra mural commitments depending on the school you work for, those can be in the afternoons and also on weekends. Aside from all the hours in the school building, there is often after-hour work, prepping for the week or the next day and marking a lot of assignments, daily.
If you have the passion for kids, the drive and the heart, being a school teacher can be the most incredibly rewarding job.  Also, you can prepare for the long holidays that come with working hard during term times!
Expected Salary
The average salary per year as Senior Primary Teacher, in South Africa, is around R196 743Â with an hourly rate of about R91.35.
What to expect
Here are a few things you can expect from a career as a Senior Primary Teacher:
- Take responsibility for the curriculum and develop lesson plans to implement and monitor on a daily basis
- You should expect to nurture young minds and inspire them, but also through relating with them on various topical levels daily
- Facilitating daily learning activities and extra murals and other developmental leadership roles
- You will need to keep record of students behaviour and development in all areas of their school life
- Expect to interact with the parents and to have a good knowledge of what you are teaching
- You’ll need to keep up with the developments and changes in school curriculums and trends
- You may need to interact with other professional child developmental professionals such as remedial teachers, psychologists and others
- Marking and tracking school work is a daily task to plan for and to manage well
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