Thankfully the interview I had where they made cuts half way was done very well. Everyone had a tour, met the student council and did a lesson. At lunch time, all of us (6 in total and two jobs) were asked to gather our things, and we waited in a room. We were called one by one. What they were doing was telling you in private whether you had got to the next stage or not, and from there sending unsuccessful to the exit and successful down the corridor out of sight to lunch. I was I think fourth or so, got through (didn’t get job in the end) and saw another candidate already there, and then the last two followed in one at a time. They left a pause to stop you from seeing where the previous candidate was going. I think they did it well. They were extremely kind and professional about it. They did the offers over the phone that night.
I also remember stepping out of the interview, the first I had had for a few years knowing I had talked way to much and cocked it up. Oh well, it meant I could take what they said and apply it to the next one (who thankfully had all candidates do all steps) and I got it!
Both interviews had:
A lesson
A tour (which of course is also a chat)
Time in the staff room making conversation
A formal interview
One of them (for reception class) as well as the lesson, had me going in to carry out general observations - then had to code them to the EYFS, input them into the journal, explain my reasoning and use it to form a further activity (obviously taking into account that I didn’t know the children).
The other (that I didn’t get) had some written tasks. Writing a note home to parents on a certain issue that had occurred that day, and writing about how I would handle different scenarios and additional needs. Funnily enough my friend got a job there the year after and said the Head goes through those essays with a fine tooth comb and the slightest grammatical error disqualifies the candidate.
So OP an all day interview sounds normal to me!