Applying for your first role
You have worked very hard in your placements; meeting a wide range of people, children, young people and parents and carers. You have planned, prepared, wrote, displayed, taught, reflected, evaluated and discussed your teaching practice. So, to help you, we have gathered together some helpful advice.
Before starting to apply...
Ask yourself these questions:
- why did I choose to teach and reflect on where you were before you decided to train?
- think about your entire teaching and life experiences and how you can apply this experience in your application?
- what type of school do you think you are most likely to feel at home in?
- where do you want to live?
- reflect on your training and placements - what did you learn, what did you achieve and has this helped you decide that type of school you want to work in?
When should I start looking?
Our advice is to start looking for a September teaching post as soon as possible from around December onwards. However, support roles such as teaching assistant positions are often listed year-round with varying start dates.
Your placement schools will always mention possible jobs and may even want to interview you quickly. Take a deep breath and think about whether the school is right for you.
Teaching jobs will continue to be advertised right up until the end of July. Posts advertised after the 31st May resignation deadline will focus on attracting ECT’s (Early Career Teachers) given permanent teachers can't start for September.
Start searching, where to look?
A handy tip: register your interest and sign up for job alerts saves scrolling through reams of jobs
- Local authority job boards. In North Yorkshire the majority of teaching jobs will be advertised on The Council's jobs portal - https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers
- DFE Teaching Vacancies – free job board for schools from the DFE - https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/
- TES – mostly secondary schools will advertise on the TES – you can sign up and create a job account - https://www.tes.com/jobs/
- University/ITT provider- schools will let your tutor or university know of jobs so make sure you read those emails and messages
- Social Media– A lot of schools are on social media and will share jobs – follow schools you want to work at and show initiative.
Follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram to keep up to date with our opportunities.
How much research do I have to do?
We recommend looking at a number of schools in the area you want to work / live and checking them out! Look at their website, social media, prospectus, staffing profiles so you are ready if a teaching post comes up at the school. Ofsted is always useful - but remember sometimes the best school for you isn’t the one graded outstanding!
Does the advert encourage NQTs?
There are times when schools won’t be able to appoint an ECT (Early career teacher) - usually due to Ofsted, capacity to support you in the department / phase or simply they need a teacher with a bit more experience at that particular time.
Does the advert say applicable for ECT’s or ECT’s welcome to apply? Great!
Does the advert mention the words 'experienced teacher' and no mention of ECT’s - not great!
The best adverts are the ones that are open and are focussed on what the school can offer the teacher. And remember you can always contact and ask.
View a recent advert example
Are you a EYFS teacher looking to join a leading primary school based on the beautiful North Yorkshire coast?
We are looking for an EYFS Teacher to join our friendly, thriving school to start after February half term, 2024 in our reception class. We welcome applications from ECT’s.
About Overdale Community Primary School
‘Respect, Responsibility, Resilience’
Overdale Community Primary is a thriving community school situated in a brand-new building which opened in September 2021; it is an amazing purpose-built modern school for the children of Eastfield. The school offers state of the art facilities, which will be a tremendous boost to children’s academic learning as well as enhancing the value of the local community where it sits.
Alongside this, we have spacious classrooms benefitting from natural light and ventilation, creating the best possible learning environment for our pupils and best possible working conditions for our staff. Visitors frequently comment upon our calm environment!
Our school is at an exciting phase of development, particularly within EYFS as we welcome nursery children for the first time in January 2024. You will be joining an extremely friendly, highly experienced, and supportive team, who strive to ensure that our pupils achieve the highest possible standards in line with our mission statement. We are a close community, with support from parents/carers and a strong Governing Body and local community who all remain very proud of us. You will be working with a new headteacher who has high expectations and is driven to ensure that the school is a place for children to be safe, inspired and challenged to fulfil their potential. Staff wellbeing is high on the leadership’s list of priorities and it is ensured that all of our staff team work collaboratively to help get the best out of each other’s skills and expertise to help drive further improvement in school.
We truly provide a nurturing community setting where our pupils are polite, happy, confident, and friendly.
Our Opportunity
We are looking to appoint a Reception Teacher to join our team and contribute to our excellent curriculum provision as we expand in numbers. This is an exciting opportunity for an inspiring teacher to join us as we grow our EYFS provision. You will benefit from small class sizes and a range of learning initiatives, including excellent speech and language resources (Wellcomm, Word Aware and Language Links) and our newest addition to our nurture team, our therapy dog, Buddy!
You will:
- Be able to support in the delivery of high-quality learning experiences for all pupils, working well as part of a strong staffing team
- Have high expectations of learning and behaviour and inspire and motivate our children
- Be supportive, nurturing and understanding in your interactions
- Seek to make learning exciting and a positive experience
- Communicate effectively with, and build excellent working relationships with fellow staff, parents/carers and pupils
Working in our school is incredibly rewarding as we all work together as part of ‘Team Overdale’ enriching the education of our pupils.
We encourage applications from early years teachers who have a passion for education and wish to work in a setting which offers reward and challenge and where no two days are the same. A background in music is advantageous, but not essential.
We can offer you:
- A supportive, cohesive community – relationships throughout the school are welcoming, kind, inclusive and thoughtful
- A vibrant, happy school where we value everyone and have a philosophy of kindness and support for each other.
- Children who are enthusiastic about learning and apply our 3 R’s to everything we do: Respect, Responsibility, Resilience.
- A school with an exciting and attractive learning environment.
- A leadership team who welcome fresh ideas, traditional values and a sense of teamwork.
- Well supported teachers and support professionals who are committed to driving high standards.
- An excellent working environment in a beautiful coastal setting
Working in our school is incredibly rewarding as we all work together as part of ‘Team Overdale’ enriching the education of our pupils. Our school has low staff turnover and is popular with parents and the community. As a school, we all work together so every child succeeds. The ability to collaborate and be open to personal and professional development is essential. If you are ambitious in your career, self-motivated and want to be the best that you can be, we would encourage you to apply.
Queries / School Visits
For an informal, confidential conversation about the role, please call Chloe Bullen on 01609 536 964 6964 or email chloe.bullen@northyorks.gov.uk.
Do you have the required qualifications and experience?
Schools have a wide variety of roles, each with their own skillset and requirements. Before you spend time working on an application, first assess if you meet the requirements to ensure you spend your time wisely applying for roles you are a match for.
Most adverts will have a key criteria section, however you can find this information in the person specification.
View a recent person specification example
| Essential upon appointment | Desirable on appointment (if not attained, development may be provided for successful candidate) |
Knowledge
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| Essential upon appointment | Desirable on appointment (if not attained, development may be provided for successful candidate) |
Experience
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Qualifications
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Occupational Skills
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Personal Qualities
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Other Requirements
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Application Forms
Is the application form online or a word application?
Some academy trusts have their own word document form, some utilise the North Yorkshire Council Jobs application system. This can be easier as on the North Yorkshire Council Jobs application system you can store your application details to save time.
A Handy Tip:
Complete a template application form, which will help you get used to applying for teaching jobs.
Does the advert encourage visits and do I have to visit?
Visits are always encouraged and will allow you to see if the school is right for you. But remember schools will also remember you so ask questions that show you have done some research - don’t always go for the question 'what support do you offer ECTs?'
You don’t have to visit to apply and sometimes you can’t due to seeing a post late or other commitments. A visit is a sneak peek at potentially your new school so make it count!
What tips do you have for the school visit?
Visiting during the school day allows you to see children and students learning and you can see how the school operates.
After school visits are also useful - you sometimes get more of an in-depth chat with the Headteacher, department leads and school staff.
- the person showing you round may be your line manager or headteacher - ask lots of questions that show you as a teaching professional
- be cautious about asking questions around the behaviour policy - this is normally on the website and you get a feel by visiting on how the ethos and the attitudes to learning are from visiting classrooms
- thank the person showing you round and if you and make sure you mention your visit if you decide to apply for the post
Sitting down and completing the application form
- you need to supply two references – generally one from your current employer and a second will be your previous employer
- if you are an ECT or have just completed your Level 2 TA NVQ list your tutor or Headteacher from your most recent placement as your references
- list any placements or volunteering under the employment section and make sure there are no gaps from when you left school
- make sure to include your key qualifications outlined in the person specification
The Supporting Statement
Your supporting statement is in many ways the most important part of your application. Read the job description and person specification and make sure your application demonstrates you know the school. Do not make your application generic and one that you can send to any school.
- make sure you get someone to proof read it
- shape your statement - first couple of paragraphs on why you are applying for the role and the school. If you have visited mention this - did you see anything on the visit that impressed you - can you link this to your teaching experiences so far?
- talk about why you want to be a teacher - what is your educational philosophy? How have your placements helped form this?
- talk about your placements - mention them by name and their context. Give examples of the progress you and your pupils have made, the classes you have taught and the lessons you have planned. Link your progress to the Teachers' Standards (2012) that you have been assessed against during your training year. How are you going to bring your experiences so far to the school?
- continual Professional Development (CPD) - what CPD have you been involved in - and what CPD are you interested in accessing
- extra curricular activities - what else can you offer the school? Link this to the curriculum offer at the school
- make the first and last paragraphs positive and memorable
Examples:
"…As a result of my recent visit, I would really appreciate the opportunity to work at …. because the school’s ethos and values are strongly matched to my own. Additionally, I think it would be a supportive environment to develop and grow as a Early Career Teacher…"
Here are some further tips for completing your personal statement...
Examples:
"… Since completing my degree and embarking on my PGCE, I have been motivated further by the challenge of educating and inspiring children and am excited…"
"… I believe I have a substantial amount to offer the school community, the children and colleagues and have established an effective and positive professional relationship with staff, parents and guardians throughout my teacher training and during my eight-year career as a teaching assistant…"
Your placements - don’t be shy mention the schools you have been in! Give examples of classes taught, what you planned and how you delivered it and lessons learnt.
Example:
"… Currently ten weeks into my second Professional Placement; I am beginning to improve my teaching further. Teaching activities such as Netball, Dance, Handball and Dodgeball has allowed me to work outside my comfort zone and has increased my subject knowledge significantly… With my Year 10 GCSE Sport class, I successfully completed many Kagan starters such as ‘Quiz Quiz Trade’, ‘Jot Thoughts’ and ‘Showdown’. These worked very well and enhanced students’ engagement and progress through the active nature of each task. The evidence I gathered from these tasks was featured in the schools own teaching and learning newsletter, allowing my experience to be shared and utilised by other members of staff…"
What else can you bring to the school over other applicants?
Example:
"… Outside of teaching and academic studies, I am an avid basketballer … I have captained a local team … have recently begun my training for a level 2 coaching qualification… During the SCITT course I have gained various National Governing Body qualifications in trampoline skills, volleyball, swimming…"
Example:
"I hope to have left a positive and lasting impact, fostering a love of learning, ensuring children’s good progress, caring for their mental and physical wellbeing and by contributing to the design of the curriculum alongside the class teacher. I would be delighted to have the opportunity to do this in the longer term by securing a permanent teaching position at your school and hope that this application is able to move me closer towards this ambition."
You have been shortlisted!
Congratulations! You have been shortlisted for the post! Depending on the school and the role, you will be asked to take part in any of the following:
- teaching task - usually 30 minutes for a primary and can be 60 minutes in secondary
- planning or marking task
- pupil or student voice - the students will ask you questions
- meet the department or staff
- formal interview - competency based interview usually with a panel of 3-4 staff (headteacher, head of department / phase, deputy headteacher or ECT lead and a governor)
Some interview tips
- firstly prepare well read your invite letter / email and draw as much information. And if you need to ask questions feel free to do so. Sometimes schools want you to get in touch and get more information - they want you to do your very best
- be prepared for technology not playing ball - have a back up plan
- first impressions count - arrive on time or a little early and plan your journey! School carparks are smaller than you think and you may have to park away from the school
- be smart and ready to be interviewed by the profession you have chosen to join
- smile – be enthusiastic, passionate and motivated. Show why you are applying to join the teaching profession
The Interview
A formal interview can often seem scary but schools want you to do well and understand that as an ECT or a TA who has just achieved Level 2, you won’t be the finished article - in fact who is!
Here are some questions you may be asked:
- Tell us about yourself?
- Why did you apply to this school?
- What are your core values?
- Give us an example of a good / bad observation you've had?
- Tell us about the lesson you have just taught in.
- What went well?
- What would your next steps have been?
- How would you support two SEND children in the classroom?
- What does safeguarding mean to you and how would you ensure your practice reflected it?
- What would you do if a child disclosed something to you?
- How do you support your colleagues and create strong relationships?
- What would you bring to this school?
- What have you done in working with children that gives you the most satisfaction?
- Have you ever had any occasion when things have gone wrong and what did you do about it?
- How do you plan to ensure that you meet the learning needs of all the children in the class?
- Have you ever had to deal with challenging behaviours and what did you do?
- What do you think are your ‘strengths’ and what are your ‘areas for development’ as a teacher?
- If a disgruntled parent comes to you at the end of the day demanding to speak to you immediately about their child, what would you do?
- What do you consider are the most important characteristics for team working and why is this important?
- How would you accelerate the progress even further of higher ability / GaT?
- How would you contribute to the school life?
- What strengths do you feel you could bring to the school?
There may also be a specialism question if you are applying for a subject-related role.
It is normal to lose your train of thought and those key examples of your skills can pop out of your head! Maybe use the S.T.A.R. technique to help? Situation, Task, Action and Result.
Have you any questions for us?
Well done - it is over!
After the interview remember the magic words - 'please' and 'thank you'.
If you would like to move your teaching career here to the North Yorkshire and would like some advice and support contact our own specialist Educational Recruitment Specialist Helen about any roles we have.
Good luck!