Please can you help me plan a 20 minute maths lesson for an interview? I'm so nervous!

[ScottishSue]

I qualified as a senior TA a year ago and have been looking for a job that's fairly close to where I live. Very little coming through but then something perfect came up at a primary school I would love to work in. Applied and have been asked back for an interview this coming Monday - I'm delighted and terrified in equal measure!

Basically this will be my first ever interview since qualifying so I don't really know what to expect. I will be there for about an hour and a half and have to include a 20 minute maths lesson for a group of 5 or 6 Year 3's with an investigative / problem solving approach. There is an option to do this outside and this is what I would prefer as they are a very outdoor learning oriented school and I think this will go down well.

I've spent all day working on this and have come up with some ideas but either they don't seem interesting / challenging enough or they don't fully cover the problem solving angle. 20 minutes is such a short time so I know I can't do anything complicated. I so so want this job but I don't even know what kind of things they will be asking me in the 30 minute interview so not sure how to prepare.

Any help and advice would be very gratefully received!

[HollowTalk]

Bumping this for you. Do Senior TAs teach?

[FadedRed]

Doesn’t fit into your outdoor theme, but Prime numbers might fit your brief for subject. Explain what they are and get the children to find them e.g one group does 1 - 50, next group 50 - 100 etc.

[ScottishSue]

Thank you Hollow
No, that's not a part of the role I'm applying for. It's actually a level 2 role but I'm so keen to work in this school that I don't mind the lower pay grade. I was surprised that this was part of the process but I guess it makes sense to see how well the interviewees manage it.

[ScottishSue]

Thanks Faded
I'll have a think about that. You don't think that's too hard for Year 3's?

[StuntBottom]

Easy outdoor ideas are tallying the number of different types of insect or bird, then showing the data as a bar chart. Not sure how you'd get problem solving into that.

[StuntBottom]

I suppose you could say, "How can we show which are the most common insects/birds in our school grounds?"

[ConfusedTutor]

It would be common for a senior ta to be taking small groups and having responsibility for them surely?

Good luck x

[MrsPandigital]

Have you looked into White Rose maths resources?

[FadedRed]

@ScottishSue, sorry I misread your op (first rule of tests: read the question properly! ) and thought it was years 5-6.

[ScottishSue]

Thanks everyone.
@FadedRed - my op does look a bit unclear actually. (Note to self - must do better!)
@ConfusedTutor - the advertised role is for a level 2 TA not a senior TA but I still want it despite the lower pay grade just to work in this school. I don't think I would be expected to plan lessons, just deliver those planned by the teacher but if I am asked to plan I think I could do it.
@MrsPandigital - I'll check out White Rose, thank you.
@StuntBottom (love your name!) - I like your idea of a bird / insect tally but I definitely need to get that investigative / problem solving angle in. Will give it some thought.
Thanks again everyone, really appreciate it x

[ScottishSue]

Ooh just had a look at the resources offered by White Rose. Some really helpful stuff in there. Thanks again @MrsPandigital

[Amibeingdaft81]

OP
In the nicest possible way - if you are having to be guided on what is a fairly straightforward test - is this the right job for you?

[HollowTalk]

So a TA delivers some or part of the lessons? I didn't know that. Surely that's not allowed, is it?

[ConfusedTutor]

Hollow - absolutely the norm now. It wasnt when I started teaching.

Mine both were at schools who had reading taught through small groups - and their group was TA led. So their hour a day literacy teaching was a TA.

Hltas are employed and often only take while classes. Our heads of year have whole days out ppa and the whole class is taught regularly a day a week by a hlta.

Funding cuts etc and a change in rules made it possible.