Help! I have been given an interview for my Primary PGCE course next Wednesday...

[VanillaPumpkin]

What should I be researching?? I am more than a little terrified!
I have to undertake a 'written task' and so need to take pens, pencils ruler etc (gulp!). What could this be? Can I ring and ask them?

Good luck for Wednesday VanillaPumpkin, I don't have any experience of this but am hoping to apply for PGCE (although I know I've left it very late). Start volunteering on Monday at a local school, and will then apply so I would be very interested to hear about your interview.

There's no harm in calling them to get an idea of what you will have to do.

Oh good luck to you too! Hope you enjoy the school.

My written task for my PGCE secondary was to explain the decline of worship on a Sunday (it was an RE PGCE). I had to take it in with me, and after it had been read, and I'd been interviewed, I was offered a place.

It's just to see if you can string coherent and fluent sentences together, without using text speak, as you will be teaching literacy.

Do you have GCSEs or O levels? I noticed a massive difference in the spelling, punctuation and grammar of those teachers with O levels and those with GCSEs when I was teaching. Those with O levels tended to be more literate...

Good luck, and chill. Think of some possible questions they may ask, and come up with answers for them.

We were given a list of about 5 questions to answer in paragraphs (as scaryteacher says, to check grammar skills predominantly), along the lines of "What do you think makes a good teacher?", "How have you prepared for this interview?", "What can you personally bring to the role?" - things like that.

Just make sure you've got a clear idea of:-

*What a teacher is
*Why you fit into the above, with examples
*What you have done to be sure you want to teach
*Basic grammar and sentence structure - do not use any words you are not sure how to spell and check your use of apostrophes!

And don't forget that what they are looking for is someone enthusiastic about children's learning. It's so easy to get bogged down in all the rest of it; keep "why you are doing this" in the front of your head at all times

Congratulations

Oh thank you. That is very helpful. I will be going through all the notes from my classroom experience and the pages I wrote for my personal statement before I had to trim it down.
Also had a look at the TES site and TDA site for tips.
I am really excited, but really terrified too. I have never had an interview for something I really wanted before . And I am a bit emotional about going back to work (and then some...) when I have been a SAHM for nearly 6 years.
Above all though I know it is what I truly want to do. I was in the classroom this morning with a year 5 class and it was fab .

That's brilliant - get all that across in the interview and you'll be fine

Just be yourself. Oh and before I forget I know the only person who was turned down for my course was not wanted because he couldn't maintain eye contact - so lots of staring

Good luck, I'm sure you will walk it.

Well done vanilla pumpkin!
My interview also consisted of a written task - I vaguely remember that we had to read some text and then sum up what it said - don't worry, it wasn't that terrifying, and I can't remember ever discussing it with anyone once we were on the course, so it couldn't have bee that bad. I think they are basically looking at spelling, grammar, being able to complete some work in a given time, etc.

There were several tutors all interviewing at once for the course, and I know that they all asked slightly different questions. However, they were mainly based around:-
*Why you want to teach (don't go on about how much you 'love' kids. Talk about your passion for education, etc, etc).
*The difference between giving children something to DO and actually teaching them.
*they might ask how you would deal with a 'tricky' situation, ie, a child who refuses to come out from underneath a table, and so on! I said something about using positive behaviour strategies, but a good fallback is that you would ask an experienced teacher!
*inclusion - what is your view on equal opportunities and inclusion in education?
*they will probably ask if you have any questions - think of something even if you don't really want to know the answer!
*Every Child Matters - they may ask if you are familiar with this, so just swot up on the main principles.
*what qualities can you bring to the job which would help you to work with other people (ie, teaching assistants, SENCOs, etc)
*which qualities can you bring to the profession? (you might want to harp on about being able to be reflective, ie, being able to look at what you are doing and thinking of ways to improve it - a crucial part of teaching). Plus, the obvious ones - dedicated, passionate about education, etc.
*they will probably also ask you about the extent of your school experience.

I'll let you know if the other ones spring to mind! The main reason that people got turned down on our course was a lack of hands on experience, so play up what you've got!

Hissyfit has given you some great ideas. In my PGCE interview in June, I was asked questions around some topics suggested by hissyfit, but I was also given a paperclip and asked how I would use it as a stimulus for teaching cross- curricular. That got me thinking on my feet!

Good luck, I answered your question on another thread- I'm doing the PGCE primary with 2 pre schoolers and it's not easy, but it's lots of fun!

Oh thank you. That is excellent advice. I will be swotting up tomorrow! The paper clip has me a bit stumped though???? um......???? what on earth did you say??

So far everyone I have asked in RL for help and tips has just said 'be yourself', which is lovely in a way but not entirely helpful from a preparation POV .
What you have all put is so so so helpful and relevant so thank you. I will feel much happier knowing I have thought about these sort of questions.

I emailed a reply and asked for some more information about the written task, but I am not holding my breath for a tip off .