Job Interview for the UK next week

Karpops

So I applied for a couple of positions in the UK and was called to a preliminary interview day in Dublin last week, and two schools have requested to see me next week over in the UK for a full-day type interview thing. Now this was all done via an agency on the Friday afternoon just gone, and they are closed all weekend so I'm here looking for some general advice!

Firstly, what should I look for in a school in the UK? Any warning signs?
Secondly, would I be incredibly naive to sign a contract with the first school that offer me something, or should I hang out and do as many interviews as possible?
Thirdly, what are they going to ask me?
Lastly, I've heard rumours that they ask you to teach in front of them on the day. I have no beef with this, but I do realistically need maybe 2/3 days notice to properly plan a couple of really good lesson plans that are tailored to the GCSE curriculum, and all my frantic emails to the agency who organised it have gone ignored since 3pm Friday. (I'm also on full-time placement myself and don't have the time to plan this all at the last minute on Tuesday)

Any advice really appreciated

evolving_doors

There seems to be a new sub forum..teaching abroad...I had to do a double take and check the threads to just make sure...yes the UK is considered "abroad"..(history never my strong point)...

Sorry I can't be any help although I think in the "teaching in the UK" thread someone mentioned a good UK message board that provides good info.

edgecutter

Check the ofsted report to give yourself some peace of mind.

TheBody

Karpops wrote: »

So I applied for a couple of positions in the UK and was called to a preliminary interview day in Dublin last week, and two schools have requested to see me next week over in the UK for a full-day type interview thing. Now this was all done via an agency on the Friday afternoon just gone, and they are closed all weekend so I'm here looking for some general advice!

Firstly, what should I look for in a school in the UK? Any warning signs?
Secondly, would I be incredibly naive to sign a contract with the first school that offer me something, or should I hang out and do as many interviews as possible?
Thirdly, what are they going to ask me?
Lastly, I've heard rumours that they ask you to teach in front of them on the day. I have no beef with this, but I do realistically need maybe 2/3 days notice to properly plan a couple of really good lesson plans that are tailored to the GCSE curriculum, and all my frantic emails to the agency who organised it have gone ignored since 3pm Friday. (I'm also on full-time placement myself and don't have the time to plan this all at the last minute on Tuesday)

Any advice really appreciated

Hi there!!

I know two people that secured a job in a school in London this year. They had to teach a class as part of the interview. They were also graded by the students and this went towards the decision in getting the job. I'm not sure how standard this is but they had to do it.

Either way, good luck!!

Dave0301

Karpops wrote: »

So I applied for a couple of positions in the UK and was called to a preliminary interview day in Dublin last week, and two schools have requested to see me next week over in the UK for a full-day type interview thing. Now this was all done via an agency on the Friday afternoon just gone, and they are closed all weekend so I'm here looking for some general advice!

Firstly, what should I look for in a school in the UK? Any warning signs?
Secondly, would I be incredibly naive to sign a contract with the first school that offer me something, or should I hang out and do as many interviews as possible?
Thirdly, what are they going to ask me?
Lastly, I've heard rumours that they ask you to teach in front of them on the day. I have no beef with this, but I do realistically need maybe 2/3 days notice to properly plan a couple of really good lesson plans that are tailored to the GCSE curriculum, and all my frantic emails to the agency who organised it have gone ignored since 3pm Friday. (I'm also on full-time placement myself and don't have the time to plan this all at the last minute on Tuesday)

Any advice really appreciated

Look up the school's OFSTED report, will tell you all you need to know.

You should get a feel for the school when you are there for the interview, if you are offered a contract, you can ask for a day or two to think it over.

You will be asked about classroom management, why you want to go to England, examples of good/bad lessons you have thought, what can you offer in terms of extra-curricular.

You will have to teach a lesson on the day most likely about 40 minutes long. if you can, try and find out which exam board it is for, and use TES teaching resources to guide you on content. The syllabus for various subjects can be found online. They are big into the starter, main and plenary over here, do try to have them well defined.

What subjects do you teach? I might be able to give you some pointers regarding course content, any other questions, just ask.

Karpops

Dave0301 wrote: »

Look up the school's OFSTED report, will tell you all you need to know.

You should get a feel for the school when you are there for the interview, if you are offered a contract, you can ask for a day or two to think it over.

You will be asked about classroom management, why you want to go to England, examples of good/bad lessons you have thought, what can you offer in terms of extra-curricular.

You will have to teach a lesson on the day most likely about 40 minutes long. if you can, try and find out which exam board it is for, and use TES teaching resources to guide you on content. The syllabus for various subjects can be found online. They are big into the starter, main and plenary over here, do try to have them well defined.


What subjects do you teach? I might be able to give you some pointers regarding course content, any other questions, just ask.

Thanks!! I teach English. Yeah I thought the agency would be a bit more helpful regarding getting the basic stuff like this prepared, I fly out Monday night so I've only tomorrow to get two fantastic lessons sorted. Where exactly do you get the English curriculum? I've googled and googled and can't find a straightforward outline.

Dave0301

Karpops wrote: »

Thanks!! I teach English. Yeah I thought the agency would be a bit more helpful regarding getting the basic stuff like this prepared, I fly out Monday night so I've only tomorrow to get two fantastic lessons sorted. Where exactly do you get the English curriculum? I've googled and googled and can't find a straightforward outline.

That is one of the big differences, there are different exam boards that can be taken in English schools.

If you have a look here and here. They are two of the main ones, also have a look for OCR, I am not sure which is the most popular one for English. They should all be broadly similar in content, how the assessment works may differ however.

duffyp

Just one small correction to what one of the previous posters said, you are usually required to accept or decline on day of interview....also be very careful about accepting a job then doing another interview it can lead to black listing- it's a very small world.

To get a feel for the school ask to shadow a student for a period 5 lesson, also have a walk around during lunch and break times- this gives a lot away about the school.

It is important to look at the OFSTED report for the interviews sake however it doesn't really give you a proper feeling for the school-I know some 'outstanding' schools that are a total bitch to work in.

Good luck.

lulufinn90

hey guys

I accepted a job in Kent starting in september. so I thought I'd share my experience.

I went to a talk in Dublin , the following Monday a school contacted me looking for an interview, a few days later the overall agency contacted me. I postponed an interview for a week or two as i had some continuous assessment for my last semester to do. I went with the school because they contacted me first. They paid for my flights over and collected and dropped my to and from the airport, I had to teach a 50 minute maths class with the subject leader present, i then did an interview and a tour of the school and met staff with the vice principal and i was offered the job a few hours later. I was given 2 weeks to decide to take the job.

Honestly teaching a class is not the end of the world if you want to teach as a career you need to get used to doing it.

Also make sure you see the school before you take the job the schools have money in their budgets to fly you over. also check the OFSTED reports they usually tell you plenty.

kboc

lulufinn90 wrote: »

hey guys

I accepted a job in Kent starting in september. so I thought I'd share my experience.

I went to a talk in Dublin , the following Monday a school contacted me looking for an interview, a few days later the overall agency contacted me. I postponed an interview for a week or two as i had some continuous assessment for my last semester to do. I went with the school because they contacted me first. They paid for my flights over and collected and dropped my to and from the airport, I had to teach a 50 minute maths class with the subject leader present, i then did an interview and a tour of the school and met staff with the vice principal and i was offered the job a few hours later. I was given 2 weeks to decide to take the job.

Honestly teaching a class is not the end of the world if you want to teach as a career you need to get used to doing it.

Also make sure you see the school before you take the job the schools have money in their budgets to fly you over. also check the OFSTED reports they usually tell you plenty.

well done.
Teaching in England is a steep leaning curve, but you will struggle to get professional experience like it anywhere in these isles. You will love it.

lulufinn90

Thanks so much. I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm not going to get any better at teaching if i'm on the dole here.

Karpops

lulufinn90 wrote: »

Thanks so much. I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm not going to get any better at teaching if i'm on the dole here.

That's what worries me, I could see myself forgetting half of what I'd learnt about dyslexia/differentiation and all that jazz if I was forced to take a year out of teaching purely searching for work. TBH, I'm dreading the fact that I'll most likely be in the UK but it's better than nothing.

Karpops

duffyp wrote: »

Just one small correction to what one of the previous posters said, you are usually required to accept or decline on day of interview....also be very careful about accepting a job then doing another interview it can lead to black listing- it's a very small world.

To get a feel for the school ask to shadow a student for a period 5 lesson, also have a walk around during lunch and break times- this gives a lot away about the school.

It is important to look at the OFSTED report for the interviews sake however it doesn't really give you a proper feeling for the school-I know some 'outstanding' schools that are a total bitch to work in.

Good luck.

That's really weird that you pointed out the blacklisting thing - me and another girl I was interviewing with both had 2nd interviews two towns away, and when we mentioned this in the 1st interview (we thought it would make us look more in demand) the guy's face fell and we were later rejected for the posts. The job went to a bloke who kept his mouth shut about his other interviews. That's fairly petty I have to say.