Actually I’m going to do it now !
I would say everything I was told in uni and ignored with my first job !
I was told if you go for a look around and there is an SLT team , looking very “corporate” with power suits and a clipboard - run . I didn’t and I wish I had . Those that talk about their results , their “ outstanding “ ofsted grade , who talk about staff wellbeing days and are really selling that as a way to grab your attention - the hard sell !
Any interview that makes you feel as though you would be lucky to be “chosen” by them .
How the staff in the school act around them, are they laughing and joking or are they approaching them with trepidation .
If on supply ( I would recommend this personally ) look at the staff room at lunchtime , look at how many staff are still squirrelling away after school , how do the staff talk - don’t have chats about their weekend etc or is it all about what they have to do . How do they talk about the head . One big one for me is - can you immediately tell who is SLT / the head - I’ve always found that the schools with the best work life balance are those where you can’t immediately place them as that means there isn’t a divide.
Try to find out the staff turnaround- teachers don’t tend to leave a good school .
One of the best schools i have worked in - they haven’t had a job opening in 5 years aside from maternity cover . I met a lovely , jolly man who I assumed was another teacher but was the head . His office door was always open - no one was scared to go and talk to him . He knew all the children’s name . If there was negative behaviour it was straight to him and he dealt with it . Parents did not come on to the school playground - him and the deputy stood at the gate and we dismiss the children to hi. . So we don’t have to have 30 different conversations, the parents had that chat with the head and he related what was necessary . The school day wasn’t jam packed - there were gaps so you could catch up on things , there was 20 min per day just for children to read . Assemblies were done by him with no teachers staying - that time was theirs . Live marking was in place so you could address issues there and then. The staff room was full at lunchtime , no teachers ever did break duty , everyone was happy. No staff member was nervous about observations as I was told they are so productive and it’s never criticism.
The school that almost broke me - staff room was empty ( on my look around I was told no work was allowed to be bought to the staff room so that staff could relax ) , they showed me a gym for the staff - I never saw one staff member in there as there was no time . No staff member ever approached the head or SLT as they were scared , they just tried to sort it themselves . Staff members let a lot of behaviour go ignored as if they bought it up to SLT there was blame to the teacher . Staff were not able to go to the toilet if on break duty as no one to cover. Weren’t allowed to leave the building until at least 45 mins after all children had gone . In my short time there I witnessed 7 teaches be bought to tears by lesson observations. 3 staff members went off sick with mental health as the reason - which was disclosed to us and basically we were told - if you can’t hack it , leave . All they ever talked about was their outstanding status . When I started there 80% of the staff were new - so why weren’t the ones from the previous year there ? The heads office was seperate from the school and I never once saw her within the actual school .