As well as teaching the P-10 Design & Technologies curriculum, our members also teach VCE Product Design & Technology and VCE Systems Engineering to senior students. You can read the study designs here:

• VCE Product Design & Technology
• VCE Systems Engineering

Peter Murphy (Scottish) - Design and Technologies Teacher 

My wife and I moved to Melbourne in 2009 under a student visa as I was enrolled at Victoria University to study secondary teacher training in Design and Technology and English as a second language. Whilst studying my wife was allowed to work up to 20 hours per week and got a job at Melbourne Museum.

Upon graduating I was offered a job at a small catholic secondary school that I had been placed at as a student. I applied for and received my VIT registration during my first year of teaching. The school sponsored me under a skilled migration visa 457. After a couple of years we were able to apply for a permanent resident visa that we still have. We will soon apply for citizenship although it’s not required to live and work here with full Australian rights.

In my second year of teaching I became head of Technology and joined DATTA Vic. After 4 years of teaching I became Vice President and later President of DATTA Vic and DATTA Australia. I  have contributed to state and national consultations regarding the Design and Technology curriculum, often flying up to Sydney for workshops and meetings. I have also written the update for a teacher resource book and manage the DATTA Vic website. Amongst other projects I developed a state-wide design competition (So You Think You Can Design) that I started I my own school and with DATTA Vic's support, made it a nationwide wide event.

I have obviously had a lot of opportunities here in Australia that I am not sure would have been open to me elsewhere. I currently teach in a fantastic government school and live near Melbourne with my wife and 10 year old son who was born here – but he still has a Scottish accent!

Andrew Noble (English) - Design and Technologies Teacher

I qualified as a teacher in England by completing the Graduate Teacher Program.  This program allowed for aspiring teachers from industry to train ‘on the job’.  My industry experience in packaging and part-time hobby as a soccer coach, provided me a solid base to train as a teacher in this way.

In my second year as a teacher I started a part-time Masters of Education.  I completed two years of this whilst working as a teacher in England, and planned to finish the final dissertation year in Australia.  When I finally made the move to Australia, I had 3 years of teaching experience.  I obtained a visa for Australia when my wife was sponsored by a school to come here.  We are now Permanent Residents.

My ‘on the job’ teaching qualification, did not allow for full VIT registration.  However, my experience and qualifications were sufficient to grant me ‘Permission to Teach’ (PTT) with the VIT.  (A Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) is sufficient to be granted full registration).  PTT allowed me to work at a school that was unable to find a suitable fully registered teacher in Design Technology.

PTT can last up to three years, however each year when VIT registration needs to be renewed, it is expected that you have made steps to become fully registered.  In consideration of this, and upon completing the final year of my Masters, I made the decision to go back to University to study a Graduate Diploma of Education (DipEd) (PGCE equivalent).

I was fortunate to be able to complete the DipEd whilst working at a school, and due to my experience and qualifications, I received a large amount of credit towards the qualification.  I am now two years into my journey in Australia, and I have full VIT registration.

Christina Moss (English) - Pedagogy Coach and Curriculum Leader

I migrated from the UK in 2007 and started my first teaching job in January 2008. I decided to leave the UK as I wanted to experience teaching in another country and of course the weather seemed a lot more appealing that living in Cornwall; apart from approximately 6-8 weeks of sunny weather most of the time it was raining and cold or cold and raining.

I’d heard horror stories of how long it would actually take to go through the immigration process, however we went through an agency based in London which I think made our exit much easier. The whole process went fairly smoothly over a period of 18 months. There was a lot of form filling and transcripts to recover regarding my formal qualifications from University but it was all worthwhile as I gained entry to Australia with permanent residency and a licence to teach which effectively saved me months of waiting prior to applying for a teaching position.

This will be my 8th year of teaching in Melbourne; during this time I have taught in 3 different schools. Each have been diverse in terms of socio economic groups and demographics, however I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience here and I would recommend teaching to anyone who might be considering a better lifestyle and a more positive teaching environment.