Job applications
Adopting a “show me, don’t tell me” approach to job applications is essential according to Luke Haisell, a literacy coordinator based at Brockhill Park School in Kent.
He explained: “For example if you’ve taught year 7 tell them about your classroom management and how students have made progress. And give specific details, not sweeping statements.”
Research is also key to a successful application for interview: “Read up on the school’s Ofsted reports and how the school is portrayed in the local media to get a sense of what its strengths are and what it needs to improve on. For example, if the school needs to push for higher student attainment, demonstrate in your application how you could help to achieve that,” he advised.
Application forms for teaching posts vary and can be lengthy and time-consuming to complete. To make your application stand out Alison Wood, an English teacher at Hillhead High School in Glasgow, recommends highlighting your skills by giving specific examples of skills gained during teaching practice, such as showing why you are an effective communicator.
Interviews
Preparation is essential when you are gearing up for your first interview for a teaching post. Ms Wood says it is helpful prior to your interview to read the school handbook to get an “impression of the school’s vision and values”. She also recommends visiting the school’s website “to get a sense of what extra-curricular activities exist”.
When preparing for your interview she added: “Make a big list of potential interview questions broken down into different areas, such as teaching, learning, behaviour management, and whole-school activities.”
It can be helpful to have practice interviews to help prepare for the real thing. Ms Wood continued: “I asked my headteacher if they would give me a formal mock interview. It was the best experience, and made things much less nerve-wracking when I had my first job interview.”
She recommends that NQTs and trainees should not be overly formal when being interviewed as it prevents their personality coming through: “Remember that interviewers don’t just want to hear about what you’ve done – they also want to know about the kind of person you are when you’re in front of a class. So try and relax.”
Interviews for a post may involve teaching a class, which can be daunting when you don’t know their abilities and needs. Mr Haisell suggests emailing the head of the subject that you would be teaching at the school to find out about the different learning needs of the class you will be teaching.
“For example, if you are teaching English, and some students have special needs, you can plan the lesson to meet different needs,” he explained.
Mr Haisell’s first interview involved teaching a year 8 English lesson. His aim was to show how students had progressed in their learning. So he prepared a descriptive writing lesson where students were asked to write about being by the seaside. To encourage those thoughts: “I asked them to close their eyes; I put a fan on, sprayed water around and then asked them to write about their feelings about the seaside.”
After this sensory experience, he says the students “were all engaged and produced good pieces of descriptive writing”, which were reflected on to see how their writing had improved.
Being “creative, passionate and enthusiastic” is a lesson to be followed from the first moment of that first teaching interview, he believes.
First day as an NQT
For Andy Morrison, an English teacher at Christopher Whitehead Language College in Worcester, the first time he taught as an NQT gave him “a surge of confidence”.
“It was fantastic to have that first day as a teacher, with students writing your name on the front of their books,” he recalled.
When you are a trainee you have the reassurance and feedback from experienced teachers. But then you have to “go it alone” and it can leave NQTs feeling concerned and insecure.
Mr Morrison drew on his existing experience of the school to produce some introductory exercises for classes when he started as an NQT. He asked students to write a letter about what they thought they were like, and what they hoped to get from their time at school.
He chose this exercise as his first teaching lesson to help best understand his students’ needs and their personalities. He added: “You realise from personal experience that faced with that first day of school kids may feel confident or shy, so it’s nice to have a ‘level playing field’ where they can all write about what they’re like.”
As well as getting to know students through such exercises, it is also important to set the tone for future lessons. When James Haden, a chemistry teacher in Worcestershire, began his first day as an NQT he set out his “ground rules” in the classroom via a PowerPoint presentation.
He believes it is important to stick to those rules as “it’s about consistency”. For Mr Haden that meant having a seating plan to help target students in need of more attention by placing them at the front of the class, and asking pupils who are talking over each other to stop – even if it meant waiting for several minutes.
School work, including homework, needed to be completed on time and to the best of the students’ ability. If students didn’t meet those requirements he would use measures, such as a phone call home, or detention.
Lesson observations
Preparing for that first lesson being observed as an NQT can be a nerve-wracking experience. But the teachers we spoke to advise beginning teachers not to feel that everything that happens in that lesson should be a perfect performance.
“I know in some schools there’s that premise that an observation should be all-singing and dancing and bells and whistles,” Mr Haden said. Instead, when he was first observed as an NQT, “I didn’t do anything different”. But during that “normal” lesson – as with any lesson he gives – the first time he was observed he aimed to teach something “new and fun”.
While factors such as learning progress, classroom management and teacher-student relationships may be part of the NQT observation process, it is also important to remember the value of that lesson and what you are trying to achieve for your students, regardless of how you may be judged on your performance, and to appreciate how the students perform in your lesson at that time. “Observations are always worrying. Take a step back and take time to praise your students and appreciate their work,” Mr Morrison added.
Becoming a form tutor
Being responsible for a form group for the first time can be one of the most challenging but rewarding experiences of life as a new teacher. Mr Haisell says being a form tutor has been “the highlight of being an NQT”.
Form tutors have the opportunity to encourage students to talk about a variety of issues with their group, from “emotional wellbeing to CV writing”.
Form tutors can sometimes feel like surrogate parents, as they are the first point of call when it comes to students’ welfare. But Mr Haisell’s training on being an effective form tutor has helped him to ensure that when taking on this pastoral role for the first time he is also able to draw a line between being “approachable but not a friend”. “You’re a guide,” he added.
Mr Haden believes that while it is important to “try and be as approachable as possible”, if there are particular issues, such as conflict between two students, he will pass that information on to the relevant manager such as the school head of year.
“Be mindful of your welfare, try not to get too involved, and be mindful for yourself,” he added.
Some schools now favour a mixed age form group approach where year 7s find themselves in a form group with year 11s. Managing that mix of students with different abilities every day can be challenging but also enjoyable.
Mr Morrison also enjoys planning form tutor time, which could be anything from a general knowledge quiz to asking students to share funny stories “to ensure there is a nice relaxed atmosphere”.
- Kathy Oxtoby is a freelance journalist and former secondary teacher.
NQT Special Edition
This article was published as part of SecEd’s NQT Special Edition. The publication offered eight pages of specialist best practice advice for NQTs and trainee teachers across the UK. Supported by the NASUWT the special edition published on June 29, 2017, and the eight pages are available to download as a free pdf from SecEd’s Supplements page: www.sec-ed.co.uk/supplements