I have an interview as a teaching assistant - what jargon should I know?

[ptangyangkipperbang]

I have an interview tomorrow to work in a Year 2 class. .
Is there any jargon I should know? I know what SENCO means but that's about it really!
Please help.

School action-the fisrt and lowerst level of intervention on the Special needs regester, only people in the school involved

School action plus, the next level of intervention, people in the school and outside help, speach therapists etc

Statement, a legally binding statemnet of a childs educational needs.

IEP, individual education plan.....for all children on the SEN regerster. It should contain targets and stratagies for helping the child achieve the targets.

Targers should be SMART

Short term
Measurable
Attaiable
Reveied

thenn there are the acronyms,

ADHD, ADD, ODD (oppositional defiant disorder), ASD,(autistic spectrum disorder), EBD (emotional behavioural disorder)

any help?

differentiation - adapting a task so it is accessible to the learner
this looks like a good site to browse

Brilliant thanks. So do you only get an IEP if you're on the special needs register? What do other pupils work towards? Do they have individual targets?

It is assisting the teacher, rather than solely working with those with special needs.

all kids should have targets, but for children not on the regester these will be set by the teacher.

Those on the IEP should be set in colaboration between the teacher, the parents and if of the right age, the child.

IEPs are a bit more formal, and will need to be reviewed at set times

Fantastic. Am off to collect DS3 from nursery but will come back and google like mad. Thanks v much.

Good luck, I'm sure you will do fantastically well! [fingers crossed emoticon]

bump

arm yourself with some questions:

"To what extent will I participate in school action/intervention programmes?"

"What is professional development like?"

"Will I be able to do a first adier qualification so I can be a named first aider?"

"Can I be involved in any extra curicular activities / can I run an after school club?"

I have sat in on interviews before, I can't remember all the questions, but a few they asked were:

How would you manage any difficult behaviour?
You could say you would read the school policy on managing behaviour and also observe the teacher and follow her lead using methods that you can see work.

What qualities would you be able to bring to the school?
Anything that you are good at, can you play an instrument, can you sew/knit, are you a keen athlete?
Being organised and flexible is also an added benefit as they could call on you with a moments notice.

How would you ensure all children are making progress?
Its important to assess what the children know/can do and report back to the class teacher on a regular basis. The class teacher can then include this in their plans.

I can't think of anymore at the moment, my mind has gone blank!

I was asked about confidentiality - ie what would you do if a parent approached you outside school hours & wanted to talk about a child. Answer is to refer them through the 'normal' school channels

I would look at the job specification. Think how you fit the job specificiation. It is likely that the interview will assess to see if you meet a set of criteria.

Ie. if they want someone who is organised they might ask you for examples of your organisation skills.

Also are there questions that you want to ask them? Schools don't normally allow much time to make up your mind. Many schools will ask you on the spot if you want the job.

Good luck and if you are unlucky enough not to get the job then ask for feedback.

Hi. I have an interview for SEN teaching assistant this week. It is in two stages, one a formal interview then a short task involving me choosing a story book aimed at a child in Y1 and showing how I would use strategies to engage the child. The aim of the task to enable the child to have sound understanding of the events within the story. I have an NVQ Level 3 teaching qualification but have been working elsewhere for 18 months. I am confident in my skills but get very nervous at interviews and perhaps don't give enough meat on the bones. The task is the one I am worried about - any help would be great please.