Interview 2021/22 - In School

Preparing Yourself

Throughout the interview your interviewers will be looking for you to demonstrate a number of qualities expected of an Initial Teacher Training and Education (TITE) student.

These include:

• An understanding of the role of the teacher, including their wider professionalism as well as teaching capability;
• An awareness of developments in education, in the National Curriculum and within your chosen specialism;
• An ability to speak confidently and communicate effectively with individuals and groups;
• Evidence that you understand the demands of a course, which combines an academic qualification (PGCE) and a professional qualification (QTS)
• An awareness of the ethos of KNSTE. (Please familiarise yourself with KNSTE website.)

Do Your Research

• Read more about our wonderful profession, for example look at materials and information produced by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and The Chartered College of Teaching, as well as the educational press (for example, Tes, formerly known as The Times Educational Supplement, the Education Sections for the Guardian and Independent newspapers, both of which have articles freely available online will help you to research the latest developments in education. We will expect you to be able to offer an informed opinion on current issues in education and so you should be prepared to share your thoughts –we are looking for careful and informed thinking.
• Visit the Department for Education's Get Into Teaching website.

Speak Confidently Throughout the interview day your interviewers will be looking for expressive and engaging contributions which show that you can use formal Standard English. As a teacher how you model correct grammar and spoken English is as important as written English so you will be expected to use language appropriate for a professional environment.

Appearances Matter - You are not being judged before you have even uttered a word, but you should look professional, as dressing appropriately shows a desire to succeed.

Stay Calm - Plan your route to your interview school once you have being informed of its location. Allow extra time for any unexpected delays and get everything you need to bring with you ready the night before. Remember to speak clearly and smile. We have invited you because you already show potential for a challenging course and we want you to succeed and let your personality and enthusiasm shine through.

The competencies tested during the selection process include:

1. Personal, intellectual and presentational qualities and competencies

You will be given the opportunity to demonstrate that you have an enthusiasm for teaching and would be likely to adopt a positive approach to your work. The competencies that we will be looking for in successful candidates include the following:

• You should be able to demonstrate sufficiently that you have the confidence and/or skills, at this time, to build relationships quickly with a range of post-holders in education.
• You should be able, to demonstrate sufficiently that you have the confidence and/or skills to communicate clearly, listen, engage and respond to people in an education context.
• You should be able to demonstrate that you have the potential to develop a sufficient level of pedagogic and subject knowledge, skills and understanding in order to meet demands and expectations of the PGCE.
• You should be able to demonstrate that you have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the professional and leadership dimensions of a teacher’s role.
• You should be prepared, planned and organised for the interview. As a teacher, you need to work efficiently and effectively to meet deadlines and deliver effectively.
• You should be able to demonstrate that you have the necessary levels of knowledge, skills and understanding to effectively face new challenges and respond creatively.
• You should be able to demonstrate sufficiently the enthusiasm and positive mind set to inspire learners and persevere through difficult times.
• You should be able to provide sufficient evidence of recent relevant experience and/or the ability to reflect on the experience and recognise your strengths and weaknesses.

2. Professional issues

You will be expected to have well thought out ideas about why you wish to enter teaching and, in addition, to show an awareness of the work of the contemporary Primary school.

3. Educational issues

Tutors and Partnership colleagues will expect you to demonstrate your awareness of current educational issues. These might include, for example, the 2014 National Curriculum Framework, the place of your subject specialism within the curriculum, the assessment of pupil attainment, the role of phonics and early mathematical understanding.

4. English and Mathematics

The ability to communicate clearly in written Standard English and to communicate effectively verbally will be explored through the interview process. If you speak English as an additional language, please explore with us the support available to you. We may make it a pre-condition for you to access language support prior to the start of the course. Teachers need to be numerate to enable them to analyse the wealth of data available to schools.

5. Fundamental English and mathematics

All teachers are expected to be competent in Fundamental English and mathematics. By the end of your ITE programme, you  must be able to demonstrate competence in the following areas:

• Speaking, listening and communicating are fundamental to a teacher’s role. Teachers should use standard English grammar, clear pronunciation and vocabulary relevant to the situation to convey instructions, questions, information, concepts and ideas with clarity. Teachers should read fluently and with good understanding.
• Writing by teachers will be seen by colleagues, pupils and parents and, as such, it is important that a teacher’s writing reflects the high standards of accuracy their professional role demands. They should write clearly, accurately, legibly and coherently using correct spelling and punctuation.
• Teachers should use data and graphs to interpret information, identify patterns and trends and draw appropriate conclusions. They need to interpret pupil data and understand statistics and graphs in the news, academic reports and relevant papers.
• Teachers should be able to complete mathematical calculations fluently with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages. They should be able to solve mathematical problems using a variety of methods and approaches including: estimating and rounding, sense checking answers, breaking down problems into simpler steps and explaining and justifying answers using appropriate language.

We will use a self-audit tool for both English and mathematics to help us help you to prioritise the development of your fundamental English and mathematics capabilities during our programme so that you can confidently evidence the above criteria by the end of your course.

"My Subject knowledge has also improved by the sessions I have attended at University. The SCITT has given me the knowledge and the academic background to be able to go into school with an awareness of why things are done the way that they are. It has given me the foundations to be able to make informed judgements about my own practice, by giving me the confidence to explain and rationalise my decisions. The SCITT sessions have given me the foundations upon which to lay the rest of my teaching career."

ASSOCIATE TEACHER

Pre-Interview Tasks

In preparation, we would like you to complete the following tasks:

Task One

Working with Parents to Support Children's Learning.

Please download the EEF Parental Engagement Guidance Report and familiarise yourself in particular with pages 6 and 7. These pages contain a clear and useful summary of the report's key recommendations.

EEF Parental Engagement Guidance Report

During the course we will be encouraging you to become familiar with the fantastic resources that the EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) produce. This guidance report is particularly helpful in enabling to consider how we, as teachers, can work with parents and carers to improve children’s learning.

As part of the interview procedure there will be a short discussion for you to take part in along with other candidates. You should have read these pages prior to the interview and annotated them with your thoughts, these notes should be in front of you during the interview. You should then be ready to contribute to the discussion about the recommendations. Please note that there is no one thing we are looking for in relation to this piece; rather we are interested to see how you have understood the guidance, and to explore with you, the opinions that you have about the issues involved.

Task Two

We would like to invite you to find a brief report, article or research piece to enrich your discussion on parental engagement. This could be related to your specialism but must be related to working with parents and carers. This piece could relate to one or more of the recommendations contained in the EEF Guidance Report. Again you should have a copy of this in front of you and be prepared to draw on this during your discussion.

Task Three

As a public professional it is important that you consider your online presence. We would like you to conduct a Google search of yourself and pay attention to your outward facing social media accounts. You will be asked to share any reflections that you have on a one to one basis.

Task Four

You will either be interviewed in a partnership school or Keele Nursery.

In preparation for your  school or nursery visit, we need you to consider and be aware of Safeguarding. Please download and read the following summary of safeguarding which will give you a very basic overview.

NB: If you are successful at interview and accept a place with us you will receive full Safeguarding training very early on in your course.

Task Five

You will either be interviewed in a partnership school or at Keele Nursery.

If you are being interviewed at Keele Nursery, then you will be working with a small group of children aged between 3 and 5. The purpose of this task is so that we can see how you engage with the children. We would like to invite you to plan a 10-15 minute activity that has a clear learning purpose to it. This can relate to any area of learning, but you must be able to tell your interviewers about the purpose and be able to evaluate the success of the activity in relation to this clearly identified purpose. We would like the activity to involve the children in some way,  for example either through questioning, making or responding in some way. We encourage you to be creative. We are aware that you may have a preference for working with primary aged children  or children with SEND. This will be taken into account during the interview process.

If you are interviewed in a partnership school.

We would like you to plan a 15 minute lesson that you will deliver to a class of children in one of our partnership schools. This must be linked to your chosen specialism/phase.

Therefore:

If your specialism is PE, Art & Design, Science, Geography & History or Maths you need to plan a lesson for a Key Stage 2 class linked to your specialism.

If your specialism is English and the Performing Arts you need to plan an English lesson for a Key Stage 2 class.

If your specialism is Early Years you need to plan a lesson for a KS1 class.

If your specialism is English, Communication and SEND you need to plan an English lesson for a Key Stage 2 or 3 class in a special school.

We recommend you refer to the National Curriculum or Development Matters 2021 to ensure the content is appropriate for the phase you planning for. You will be required to teach with no PowerPoint or online resources, however you are welcome to use visual aids or physical resources which you will need to bring with you.

Look in the FAQ section for some examples of what this lesson could be for each specialism.

In your interview, be prepared to reflect on your lesson with us.

“I couldn’t recommend the KNSTE course more and feel  that I have been really well-prepared to become a highly reflective teacher. I have also learned how much there is to love about the profession and how I can really make difference to children’s lives.”

ASSOCIATE TEACHER

Interview Day

We will do our best to put you at your ease, so that you can enjoy your time with us, as well as being able to convince us that you have the knowledge, understanding and capabilities to become an excellent primary teacher.

You will be interviewed both in a group and individually, however please note you are not in competition with each other for a place on the course. We are looking for collaborative discussion in the group discussion.

You will need to be prepared with your completed pre-interview tasks.

Overview

There are five parts to the intrview, and these are detailed below. The interview will conclude by 1pm

Session 1: An introduction to the programme.

A SCITT tutor will outline our course and programme to you, so that you can assure yourself that our course is offering what you need in order to realise your ambitions to be a highly effective teacher.

Session 2: Group Discussion

During this time, you will share your responses to pre-interview tasks one and two.

Session 3: Maths Task

This task involves you in completing a short mathematics task. there is nothing to prepare for this and equally there is nothing to worry about. The task helps us gain insight into you mathematical proficiences and helps us to prepare you for the programme.

Session 4: Teaching

You will be invited to deliver your planned activity. This lesson will be observed by a SCITT tutor alongside a school or Nursery based colleague. Please look in the FAQs section for further advice on what to plan for your lesson.

Session 5: Formal interview

You will have an individual interview where you will be asked a series of specific questions. You will also be asked questions related to your personal statement and/or your school experience as well as having an opportunity to share your individual reflections on the lesson you planned and delivered. Please ensure that you are confident about the content of your application.

During this session, you will also be asked to reflect on Task 3, your Google search.

You will be notified of our decision within ten working days. We will take into account your application, assessments and interview when deciding whether or not we are able to offer you a place.

We want to advise you that should you be successful at interview there will be a £90 admin fee to cover the cost of your Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and your medical check.

“I couldn’t recommend the KNSTE course more and feel that I have been really well-prepared to become a highly reflective teacher. I have also learned how much there is to love about the profession and how I can really make difference to children’s lives.”

ASSOCIATE TEACHER

Frequently Asked Questions