As an Early Career teacher leaving College or University you now are entering the competitive world of applying for jobs. So just what is taken into account and what is really looked at?
There are 2 pieces of paperwork that you will be completing
- The application form
- Your personal letter of application.
These 2 pieces of paper + your references (which will be from your College / University and also a personal reference) will be used to decide firstly whether the school is going to give you an interview and secondly the nature and type of certain questions that you are going to be asked during that interview.
So we can see just how important it is to get these bits of paper correct and saying all the right things, but in a personalised way that gets you noticed.
It is firstly important to say that all application forms contain the same information – so a Headteacher will be looking at mostly the same stuff from everyone…with the exception of the areas where you can personalise. This will be in the following:
- College / university attended
- Degree obtained and level (if known) and subjects taken
- Previous employment or part time work (doesn’t mean much but it is noticed)
- Interests / hobbies
- Other hobbies / qualifications….swimming teacher, driving licence, play instrument, guide leader etc
All the above give the first impression of you as a person and that is what the deciding panel is looking at. There really shouldn’t be anything in the application form that will be a negative for you as an applicant but there can certainly be inclusions that can give a positive first impression.
From the application form the attention of the panel will move to your accompanying letter of application – and this needs to be good and say not only all the right things, but will portray you as the person that the school would “love to appoint.”
Letter of Application:
This is where you really convince the School that they should interview you and it is on this letter that your application will either go onto the “interview” pile or the “bin” pile!
So how do we go about writing this…let’s take a look:
For an NQT post, your letter of application should be no longer than 1 1/2 pages of A4 – 2 pages at an absolute maximum!
At the top of each page should be in bold type
Your Name
College / University name
Date Qualified and main subjects (inc education as one of the subjects….e.g Maths, French and Primary Education)
Then we have a standard opening line something like this:
I would like to offer the following information in support of my application for the post of xxxxxxxxxxx
Now we are into the letter properly!
You may think that you have very little experience from which you can write your letter. However you now have to draw on the main teaching practices that you have completed during your training. State the age group for each one and if one of them was for a similar age group to the advertised post then you will be able to give much more information.
Describe the learning environment you created or would like to create to maximise learning opportunities…bright interactive and working displays that reinforced the class topic themes and celebrated pupils achievements. The encouragement and availability of independent learning for pupils both by resourcing and through lesson planning.
Additional information that would be relevant would be your experience in planning systems, assessment, marking and also any tracking you may have done on pupil progress. Even if you have not personally been involved in these it is good to say that you “worked within” these systems or that you had experience of.
Tips on your writing: – when you are describing your experiences try and make these as lively and enthusiastic as possible – let me give you a few examples
- Designing creative and exciting lesson plans to spark children’s interest is one of my strengths and something I enjoy.
- I always aim to create a challenging yet supportive classroom atmosphere where every child can achieve to the best of their ability.
- In the course of my teaching practice I was delighted to report that reading levels had improved markedly for every pupil in the class and that this in turn was reflected in the higher standards of the children’s written work.
- My practical experience of the schools marking and tracking procedures enabled me to pinpoint the areas for future planning and to target the exact needs of the pupils.
These of course are specific sentences – however, I want you to notice HOW they are written. You are using action words and descriptions to grab the readers attention and show your personal involvement and enthusiasm.
If you have taught on Teaching practice the age group you are applying for then you will be able to give more specific details and outline how you personally contributed to, or planned for a particular topic. Highlight your successes and outline your own particular teaching style.
In your next section you need to show that you have a good working knowledge of the new national curriculum and also the challenges that it gives to teachers. Base this on what you have picked up in conversation at the schools you have been to and also perhaps any commentary that may have been given at College or university. However be careful to always state that things present “challenging targets for pupils and staff” and never be critical or negative. You can now highlight your working knowledge of the curriculum and how its delivery is planned for success of all the pupils – assessment and tracking systems backing this up.
Link this simply into personal thoughts on your “philosophy of education”….as an NQT of course this will be very basic as your experience is limited. But a brief statement on your teaching aspirations for your pupils and how you provide for this in the classroom would suffice here.
Having covered the educational side of things; you can now move into other positives in your application. So you would be highlighting if you had been involved in any extra curricular activities at the schools on Teaching practice, your own personal interests and activities that you could use in your class or at the school – in other words what additional aspects of YOU that the panel would like to know and of course would think would be an asset to have in school.
Personal qualities are always a good thing to highlight – working well in team situations, being willing and able to take responsibility for a project or an aspect of a project. Friendly, outgoing, approachable, enthusiastic, hard working – you get the general picture.
Finally if you have had the opportunity to visit the school you now have a chance to comment of some aspects of what you saw or was discussed. Be enthusiastic and keen to be involved and say how much you would like to become part of the staff at xxxx school and to begin your teaching career.
End your letter of application by thanking the school for the consideration of your application and how you would welcome the opportunity to discuss any aspect of your application further at interview.
These letters are hard to write and phrase – so don’t expect you can rattle it off in one go. Aim to write a section at a time (and be prepared to write and rewrite a few times) and then make sure it blends well for the full finished document.
Good luck…don’t get discouraged at any stage – there’s a great school out there just waiting for you to apply!
Charles