Personal statement tone

[Justjoinedforthis]

Hi all, I am going to do my primary TT application this year. Have researched which elements need to be included, but I can’t really work out the tone. Would it be formal and factual like a job application, or should I use more passionate language to demonstrate how I feel about teaching? Any tips really appreciated, thank you.

It's good to feel a bit of passion and excitement in a supporting statemrnt - just don!'t go ridiculously overboard.
Starting with 'I have wanted to be a teacher ever since (insert own life event here)...' then including that you want to influence young lives, or share your passion for ýour subject or work to explain things in away they were never explained to you, etc - all good stuff.
Have you had recent classroom experience with your preferred phase? I know that has been difficult with Covid, unless you are coming from a TA background, but if you haven't, then make that a priority come September.
Schools are opening up and a regular committed volunteer is very helpful in many primary schools. Applications don't open until October so you would then be applying from a stronger position, as well as finding out if it really is for you.

Thanks for the reply, that’s so helpful. I have nursery experience (7 yrs), and aiming for a course focusing on the younger years. I have some volunteering coning up, but annoyingly could only get it on dates after the application goes in, but I think I will mention it and what I hope to learn. The small word count threw me a bit!

It should be a mix of both to be honest. You should try to avoid cliches too in your statement. At the end of the day you need to tell your university why they should take you on. There’ll be lots of personal statements they read through and you need to make sure yours is one they want to read. The first few lines are pretty important but then you need to keep their interest throughout. There’s a few examples online use that to guide your structure. Yes the word restriction is a bit rubbish but honestly, you need to pack that word count full of reasons you’ll make a good trainee and future teacher.

There needs to be at minimum one reason why you want to teach. Be it experience, other teachers inspiring you, voluntary work in the field of supporting others or an extra curricular you took on at uni or a certain module you found provoked your interest(although that might be more for a secondary app)

Really try to put your passion across. You only have one go at this so avoid the “I want to teach since I believe I can to make a difference in the education system” be realistic and read it like a the intended audience would. Avoid waffling and don’t say things you can’t later back up in an interview. Good luck.

If you are going for 3-7, the nursery experience is great.

Try to be concise too--the character and line limit on the application is way less than I thought. Providers know this so if you get right to the point on all of the above you'll be fine.

Thanks for the replies everyone