First Job Application Secondary Englisj

[Teenagedream]

My DD is half way through her PGCE and has been advised to start looking for jobs for Sept. A job has come up and she would like to apply.
Any tips re application, interview etc. She will ask to visit the school first.
She doesn't appear to have been given much advice re the actual application so any advice would be much appreciated.
It seems so early to be applying.

She should ask her placement colleagues what they think about visiting the school first as in secondary schools round my way it isn’t done.

Schools have individual application processes so she’ll need to fill out their form (a ballache) and do a covering letter talking about how amazing she is, what she likes about the prospective school and how she will fit in.

There are lots of tips on the TES forum for interviews. She will definitely be asked about safeguarding.

It seems so early to be applying.

My school appointed before Xmas for next September. You want to get in early before all the good PGCE students are gone.

Lots of students will already have jobs for next year. It's not early at all to be applying.

They should cover application letters on the PGCE course. Her school mentor/course tutor will be able to read through and give her feedback - very much part of their job (although it might be a 5-minute scan rather than a deep reading!).

Make sure she has the person specification in front of her when writing her covering letter so she can make sure she has covered every point she can.

Thank you for your tips so far. Lots of advice for her. I thought visiting the school first was the normal, maybe not for secondary??

There's nothing wrong with visiting the school. She needs to get a good feel for the school too. But it is also a part of the interview stage so she should treat it as such,i.e. Have lots of questions ready.

Read the TES articles on applications, make sure she hits all the bullet points on the spec, make sure she makes reference to the school's ethos. Read about what they are teaching, behaviour and achievement and link these to the interview lesson.

She needs TheoGriff's book about applying and interviews. You can download it from amazon.

In my area visiting a secondary school isn't the done thing before applying unless it's for a senior leadership post.

She might want to ask around about schools to help her decide and, depending on the area and local market.

I hope she can spell English better than you 😂 Seriously though I know you’re trying to help but you need to let her help herself. Being a teacher is hard, she needs to do this on her own. You won’t be there in classes with her. I’m sure she is capable of asking advise if she needs it on her own. Although I’m sure you mean well you need to let her do this without needing your help

@noblegiraffe - - i read that word as ballash and momentarily thought, "Oh, is that what it's called?"

Yet in my area visiting the school is quite common. She needs to ask her placement school what the norm is.

Agreed make sure sure covers all the person spec in her letter. There is an article on the tes about executive summaries which is interesting too.

Visiting secondaries round my way (west & north Yorkshire) definitely not the done thing. It would be an annoyance - people are busy and they don't want to show you round twice. You get to see the school on interview day.

Tes have loads of info and advice.

@rosegoldwatcher me too!!!

My last school usually offered a specific time and date for pre application visits if people wanted them. There was no expectation that anyone did though and no preference given for whether you did or didn’t.

It is pretty late in the year to be starting to apply for jobs so she needs to make sure she does a good application. I’m really surprised she hasn’t had sessions on this as part of her training, they should have been scheduled before Christmas so everyone knew what to expect as teaching requires a very specific form of application including a very detailed covering letter. As others have said, she needs to take the person spec apart and explain how she fits each requirement. It’s part of both her mentor and her uni tutor’s job to look through these letters and they know what to look for so she should make sure she does it with plenty of time allowed for that to happen.

Above all she needs to be pro-active herself, having her mum put out a call for what she needs to do already sets alarm bells ringing over whether she has the maturity to handle things on her own - vital when you are a teacher.