[*Corinna*]

Hello everyone, I want to apply for a teaching position (classics) at a private school. I need to write a cover letter and I really don't know what to write in it. I don't have a PGCE, I am currently doing my masters in classics, but the advertisement said that they don't mind if we don't have that or work experience. I actually have work experience as I tutored kids for 5 years during my undergraduate but that was in another country so I don't know if it matters as much since the syllabus was different.
The school also wants us to be involved in sports/games etc and I am a bit worried about that last part. What should I say in my cover letter? I am not a particularly athletic person, although I did dancing for many years. Should I mention that?
I would appreciate your help.

[oxymoronic]

(Original post by *Corinna*)
Hello everyone, I want to apply for a teaching position (classics) at a private school. I need to write a cover letter and I really don't know what to write in it. I don't have a PGCE, I am currently doing my masters in classics, but the advertisement said that they don't mind if we don't have that or work experience. I actually have work experience as I tutored kids for 5 years during my undergraduate but that was in another country so I don't know if it matters as much since the syllabus was different.
The school also wants us to be involved in sports/games etc and I am a bit worried about that last part. What should I say in my cover letter? I am not a particularly athletic person, although I did dancing for many years. Should I mention that?
I would appreciate your help.

Follow the person spec word for word. So you essentially need to go through the person spec and show exactly how you meet their specification. If they split it into sections (eg: experience as a heading, then several points) it makes sense for you to do the same. There's a lot of good information on the TES website for if you're unsure although tbh, if having experience of teaching is only optional (which I find odd) I'm not overly sure what they're expecting you to say because your person spec is supposed to be a reflection/summary of your teaching style showing how you as a teacher meet all of the school's requirements. Presumably this is for some kind of GTP teaching position? If they're employing someone with zero experience of teaching they will surely need to support/train you appropriately even if it isn't technically a government requirement in an independent school.

Have you visited the school? This is important to do before hand as then you can refer to the visit in your statement.

[*Corinna*]

(Original post by oxymoronic)
Follow the person spec word for word. So you essentially need to go through the person spec and show exactly how you meet their specification. If they split it into sections (eg: experience as a heading, then several points) it makes sense for you to do the same. There's a lot of good information on the TES website for if you're unsure although tbh, if having experience of teaching is only optional (which I find odd) I'm not overly sure what they're expecting you to say because your person spec is supposed to be a reflection/summary of your teaching style showing how you as a teacher meet all of the school's requirements. Presumably this is for some kind of GTP teaching position? If they're employing someone with zero experience of teaching they will surely need to support/train you appropriately even if it isn't technically a government requirement in an independent school.

Have you visited the school? This is important to do before hand as then you can refer to the visit in your statement.

Actually, it's two schools. One says that they offer training for a month if you have no work experience, the other one is a part-time position and they don't mention anything. I have not visited, no. I received the email from the mailing list of my department at uni and one school doesn't even have a deadline, they just say send us your CV and cover letter as soon as possible.

The other school says: "PGCE qualification is not necessary for this post" and nothing else concerning training..

[oxymoronic]

(Original post by *Corinna*)
Actually, it's two schools. One says that they offer training for a month if you have no work experience, the other one is a part-time position and they don't mention anything. I have not visited, no. I received the email from the mailing list of my department at uni and one school doesn't even have a deadline, they just say send us your CV and cover letter as soon as possible.

The other school says: "PGCE qualification is not necessary for this post" and nothing else concerning training..

I would visit the school and/or at least contact them to find out exactly what training they will be offering you to develop your skills as a teacher. You should also find out whether it is a GTP programme where you gain structured training which will eventually lead to Qualified Teacher Status. Surely, they can't just be expecting to drop someone with zero experience into a classroom with zero training and actually expect results? That really concerns me. Essentially, I think it would benefit you to find out much more about what you would be expected to teach/who you'd be expected to teach and the professional development that comes with it. This will help you to work out what to write and how to present yourself in the cover letter. Personally, if they're offering you nothing at all in the way of development then I'd be fairly wary of the school generally in terms of their educational priorities and how they treat their teaching staff - they will be charging parents an awful lot of money for you as a teacher and they should be interested in developing you into a talented, resourceful and outstanding teacher. That's just my opinion though.

For the vast vast majority of teaching jobs a CV is never required. It's only a few, fairly archaic schools who ask for CVs (as far as I know) as that just isn't a requirement or necessary in teaching as you can't show off you as a teacher in a CV.

[*Corinna*]

(Original post by oxymoronic)
I would visit the school and/or at least contact them to find out exactly what training they will be offering you to develop your skills as a teacher. You should also find out whether it is a GTP programme where you gain structured training which will eventually lead to Qualified Teacher Status. Surely, they can't just be expecting to drop someone with zero experience into a classroom with zero training and actually expect results? That really concerns me. Essentially, I think it would benefit you to find out much more about what you would be expected to teach/who you'd be expected to teach and the professional development that comes with it. This will help you to work out what to write and how to present yourself in the cover letter. Personally, if they're offering you nothing at all in the way of development then I'd be fairly wary of the school generally in terms of their educational priorities and how they treat their teaching staff - they will be charging parents an awful lot of money for you as a teacher and they should be interested in developing you into a talented, resourceful and outstanding teacher. That's just my opinion though.

For the vast vast majority of teaching jobs a CV is never required. It's only a few, fairly archaic schools who ask for CVs (as far as I know) as that just isn't a requirement or necessary in teaching as you can't show off you as a teacher in a CV.

thanks for the advice. I'll try to email them and find out more.