Personal Statement

[Newstart12]

Could someone please help me with my personal statement? I am applying to work with SEN students.

I am a qualified teacher but have been working at the same school for over 20 years so I have very little experience in applying for jobs. I just need to see the kind of things people would write. Could you send me a screenshot of your statement via PM or please advise me on what it should look like?

Tailor it to your wanted job role and the person specification/details provided. I write under sub headings then either delete or keep them in depending on the school (previous applications). Assuming it's a school using the Ofsted framework, or something similar, some of the points below may help you to get started.

Intro to yourself

• Brief overview of your experience teaching, your personality qualities and why you are applying for this role. E.g I have been teaching English for 7 years in mainstream settings and have always enjoyed working closely with SEN pupils. I consider myself to be an approachable, organised and well motivated teacher which has always placed me in good stead with the SEN pupils I have encountered; I now wish to pursue a career working with [insert SEN type here] pupils and feel I would be an excellent candidate for the role of [insert job title] at [insert school name].

Heading 1- quality of education

• How do you promote inclusion?
• How do you cater for SEN?
• What is your knowledge of EHCPs, implementation of strategies and how do you share feedback with the SENDCo at review points?
• How do you use marking and feedback for future planning to cater for each individual pupil?
• How do you work with other teachers, leaders and TAs to support SEN pupils?

Heading 2- behaviour and attitudes

• How do you promote a positive climate for learning? (Link back to EHCP information)
• Do you speak to parents regularly for both positive and negative issues?
• What do routines and behaviours in your classroom look like?
• How do you motivate pupils? (Again, link to EHCP as it's pretty much a document of strategies to help the pupil)
• How do you work with TAs to ensure pupils are receiving consistent behaviour management?

Heading 3- personal development

• How do you promote a culture capital, particularly for SEN pupils?
• How do you prepare pupils for society after education? (Links to SMSC and British Values)
• What pastoral experiences do you have e.g. role as a form tutor and how that could be transferred to the new setting?

Heading 4- leadership and management (may not be relevant depending on job being applied for or your own experience)

• What leadership experience have you got and what skills have you developed?
• How did you use "intent, implement and impact" to see change and improvements in the areas you led on?
• How did you hold people accountable and report to line managers?
• What positive change came about from your leadership?

Concluding statement

• I would be pleased to attend an interview to discuss my suitability for the role at [insert school name] further.

Remember for everything you say you can do, back it up with evidence. Ensure you're familiar with the SEN code of practice and consider reading sections of that to help with buzzwords to use in the personal statement too. It's not about lying but it's about finding key phrases that show you truly have an interest in SEN work and that you've done your research.

@SleepingFrog this is amazing! Thank you so much. I really appreciate this x