Ringing headteacher for teaching application

[watermelon9w]

Hi,
I want to apply for a teaching job in a local school.
Due to Covid, visits are not allowed so in the advert it says that interested candidates can call the headteacher for a chat and then provides a phone number.

However, it's half term and I find the whole ringing up on the phone and asking questions about the school a bit awkward (as in I don't even know what I would ask), unlike a school visit in which you can comment and ask questions as you walk around.

Do I just ring on Monday, despite it being half-term? And what type of questions would I ask over the phone.
The job advert closes on the 2nd week of half term.

Any tips?
Do I just ring? Or would that be rude?

It’s long been the case that teacher salaries go further in some areas than others. If you are on the wrong side of the boundary for inner or outer London weighting it is very different from the Midlands in house prices and ability to recruit. Just a short distance away, jobs pay a lot more.

Good luck if you go for it OP

Oooh. Bit snooty. On the contrary though, it's quite pricey around here. Also, it's close to a major teacher training university. It's a nice place to live (although frustratingly expensive for us underpaid teachers) and people tend to stay in the area where they trained. Hth.

The above was of course a response to PresentingPercy's rather barbed comment! As you were

Ring. Leave a message. Follow up with an email.

Questions: School T&L priorities, what CPD does the school offer, what longer term opportunities might there be?

I totally agree that 70 phonecalls would be a waste of a headteacher's time. Normally though it would be about 70 calls to the office to arrange a visit, and then maybe 3 or 4 group tours by the HT, so quite manageable.

Of course people wouldn't be discriminated against if they lived 200 miles away and so couldn't feasibly visit, but their phone conversation with the HT would be all the more important.

Ask them about opportunities for subject leadership. As an NQT you wouldn't be expected to lead a subject, but you could shadow someone.

@PresentingPercy

It’s long been the case that teacher salaries go further in some areas than others. If you are on the wrong side of the boundary for inner or outer London weighting it is very different from the Midlands in house prices and ability to recruit. Just a short distance away, jobs pay a lot more.

I spent the first ten years of my career in outer London, then inner. I’m aware of the disparity. House prices where I live are comparable to parts of north Bucks, Maidenhead etc, and we don’t get fringe weighting.

If a school isn’t particularly attractive to prospective staff then there are usually quite a few reasons. You’d be surprised how far down the list pay can be.

@OMGISeeTheWayYouShine

Ask them about opportunities for subject leadership. As an NQT you wouldn't be expected to lead a subject, but you could shadow someone.

Not everyone wants to go into middle management. I don’t know why this is seen by some as a bad thing.