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Schools Direct Applicants 2016

Hi :smile: I thought I'd start a thread for those of us applying for Schools Direct placements so that we could share interview tips and whatnot.

I have applied for Primary (Special Educational Needs) through The Sheffield Teaching Schools Alliance, The North Tyneside Teaching Schools Alliance and The Yorkshire Inclusive Teaching Schools Alliance.

I had an interview for the Sheffield one on Thursday. It was ok but it could have gone a lot better, I'm anticipating a "no".

I have been invited to an interview with The Yorkshire Inclusive TSA on 03/12/15 which I'm pretty nervous about! I have to do a written task (which should be fine as I'm an English Lit student), a formal interview with a panel of senior leaders from the alliance and I have 15-20 minutes to teach a kind of reading comprehension lesson to a group of mixed-ability Y3 children.

I am yet to hear from The North Tyneside TSA.

Has anybody else had or been invited to an interview? What did/do you have to do for it?

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good luck.
Went to my interview on Wednesday and got a full offer the same day.

Had to do a teaching episode, a practice numeracy and literacy test, a subject audit and a formal interview. (A casual 6 hours).

This was my first choice, so I've withdrawn from others.
Reply 3
Avatar for Dominique95
Dominique95
OP
2
Original post by Findlay6
Went to my interview on Wednesday and got a full offer the same day.

Had to do a teaching episode, a practice numeracy and literacy test, a subject audit and a formal interview. (A casual 6 hours).

This was my first choice, so I've withdrawn from others.


Congratulations! Where was this at? :smile:
Reply 4
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Dominique95
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Original post by ebonyeyes
good luck.


Thanks! Are you applying too?
Original post by Dominique95
Congratulations! Where was this at? :smile:



Pilgrim Learning Alliance
Reply 6
Avatar for dizzl
dizzl
I haven't applied yet, I am not living in the UK at the moment but teaching English as a second language abroad.
Do any of you know the liklihood of there being places available next year still? I plan to be back in the UK by June to finish my MA dissertation and get on with my application and school experience.

I have read some horror stories about school direct requirements and experiences. What made you guys choose this route?
Reply 7
Avatar for T2710
T2710
Hi!
I finally submitted my application last night after waiting for my references. Now is the waiting game. Have applied to three schools direct providers in the north east, I'm volunteering at one so fingers crossed. How long was it before providers got back to you?
I'm SO worried about the maths professional skills test.
Dizzl, this year the set up is different so you can't know for sure whether there will be spaces. I know last year there were a few remaining but because they have changed the allocation this is less likely. I decided to apply for SD because I figured it would set me up better for NQT year, increase the likelihood of getting a job, and mean there weren't as many lectures to attend.
Ooooh I have a School Direct interview next Tuesday and am waiting to hear what the interview process will be!! Am getting v nervous esp as not had any interview since I started my current job in 2007! Am tips/pointers please?!!
Reply 9
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Dominique95
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Hi! :smile: Congrats on the interview!!

I had one a couple of weeks ago and I received a conditional offer :smile: I also have two interviews next week!

Tips.... Stay as calm as possible, be chatty and friendly with everyone (mine was run by quite old teachers and I got talking to one about her grandkids!), if there is a group discussion, talk! Jump in there. A girl at my interview didn't say a word and the interviewers tried to kindly prompt her and she still didn't... awkward! Make sure that they can tell how passionate you are about it too... Read up on educational issues... See if there are any threads on TSR by people who have had an interview at the place that you've applied to :smile:

Good luck!! Let us know how it goes! :smile:
Original post by T2710
Hi!
I finally submitted my application last night after waiting for my references. Now is the waiting game. Have applied to three schools direct providers in the north east, I'm volunteering at one so fingers crossed. How long was it before providers got back to you?
I'm SO worried about the maths professional skills test.
Dizzl, this year the set up is different so you can't know for sure whether there will be spaces. I know last year there were a few remaining but because they have changed the allocation this is less likely. I decided to apply for SD because I figured it would set me up better for NQT year, increase the likelihood of getting a job, and mean there weren't as many lectures to attend.


I sent my application on a Monday, one provider responded late on the following Friday evening, another responded the Wednesday after that and the final one responded a week and a few days after that (sorry, I can't remember the dates!) - One conditional offer and two more interviews coming up next week! :smile:

I'm worried about that too! Sheffield Hallam (they gave me the conditional offer) sent a letter about support sessions for the QTS skills tests so I think I'll go to one.

Good luck! :smile:
Original post by dizzl
I haven't applied yet, I am not living in the UK at the moment but teaching English as a second language abroad.
Do any of you know the liklihood of there being places available next year still? I plan to be back in the UK by June to finish my MA dissertation and get on with my application and school experience.

I have read some horror stories about school direct requirements and experiences. What made you guys choose this route?


Last year, a few providers still had spaces. They do change the number of spaces offered year by year through so there's no way of knowing. Push comes to shove, you could always go through Apply 2/clearing, apply to PGCE courses through universities and stuff instead? There are a lot of routes, I'm sure if you really want to train you'll find at least some spaces somewhere. It just depends if you're happy to compromise on where I guess :smile:
Original post by Dominique95
Hi :smile: I thought I'd start a thread for those of us applying for Schools Direct placements so that we could share interview tips and whatnot.

I have applied for Primary (Special Educational Needs) through The Sheffield Teaching Schools Alliance, The North Tyneside Teaching Schools Alliance and The Yorkshire Inclusive Teaching Schools Alliance.

I had an interview for the Sheffield one on Thursday. It was ok but it could have gone a lot better, I'm anticipating a "no".

I have been invited to an interview with The Yorkshire Inclusive TSA on 03/12/15 which I'm pretty nervous about! I have to do a written task (which should be fine as I'm an English Lit student), a formal interview with a panel of senior leaders from the alliance and I have 15-20 minutes to teach a kind of reading comprehension lesson to a group of mixed-ability Y3 children.

I am yet to hear from The North Tyneside TSA.

Has anybody else had or been invited to an interview? What did/do you have to do for it?



Yay, I actually got a conditional offer from Sheffield! I have also got an interview with the North Tyneside TSA :biggrin: Excited!
Reply 13
Avatar for T2710
T2710
Marvellous, well done. Particularly when you thought it hadn't gone well. Which place is your first choice?
Reply 14
Avatar for T2710
T2710
Which school
Is your north Tyneside TSA based at/what code is it? I may have applied for that too!
Just had my interview details for next week: English, Maths and spelling and written test. Any tips or pointers?!! Plus interview and also got to teach a Maths session of 8 Year 2 pupils on teaching of place value!!


Excited and scared and lots of prep to do!!
Hi there, I was wondering if anyone has any idea about the School Direct interview for Primaru PGCE, I just found out that I have an interview and a 20 minute lesson to prepare for a class of students. Can I ask the school what age or class year it will be? what tends to be the trend e.g year 4 or any year and what is the best topic to cover in 20 minutes? I was thinking of doing something about packages and how items are sold in stores bringing in lots and letting the students then design their own brand what makes a good package, why space is important vs waste? or should i do something else? science art poetry?
Had my Interview today, 20 min short essay if you like on "What makes an effective teacher?"

30min Interview, of which 5 mins was a presentation of my understanding, knowledge and skills acquired in my school experience. Brought some evidence with me (mostly things I'd made in school) which wasn't examined by the panel, also a portfolio of evidence which I almost had to force upon them to take.

Think I answered most of their questions ok, they were standard questions you'd expect; what are your strengths, what makes an effective teacher (again), what have I done in my previous employment that will help me.

Wish they'd have been more personal with the questions so I could show off what I have achieved in school so far, they didn't really probe any of that.
Original post by sunnylass
Hi there, I was wondering if anyone has any idea about the School Direct interview for Primaru PGCE, I just found out that I have an interview and a 20 minute lesson to prepare for a class of students. Can I ask the school what age or class year it will be? what tends to be the trend e.g year 4 or any year and what is the best topic to cover in 20 minutes? I was thinking of doing something about packages and how items are sold in stores bringing in lots and letting the students then design their own brand what makes a good package, why space is important vs waste? or should i do something else? science art poetry?


You've got the right to know what year group certainly, you couldn't prepare adequately otherwise and you'd have little chance of preparing an effective lesson!
Original post by T2710
Which school
Is your north Tyneside TSA based at/what code is it? I may have applied for that too!


I'm not sure about the code but the lead school is Benton Dene Primary (a SEN school) :smile: What's the lead school of the one that you applied for?

I'm not sure which my first choice would be, I figured I'd just worry about it when I have all three decisions :') What's yours?

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