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Sheffield Hallam Early Primary Education Interview

I have an interview for BA Early Primary Education on Monday 25th and I'm completely stuck on what to do for the teaching task. It says teach a skill but I'm not too sure as to what sort of thing they're after. It's my first choice so I really want to impress them enough to get an offer.

If you've had an interview at SHU please can you let me know what sort of skill you and the other people in your group did? Thanks :smile:

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Original post by chloealiceb
I have an interview for BA Early Primary Education on Monday 25th and I'm completely stuck on what to do for the teaching task. It says teach a skill but I'm not too sure as to what sort of thing they're after. It's my first choice so I really want to impress them enough to get an offer.

If you've had an interview at SHU please can you let me know what sort of skill you and the other people in your group did? Thanks :smile:


How did the interview go? What skill did you end up teaching? I have an interview there this week and I still don't know what I'm going to do for it :/ hope it all went well :smile:
City campus, Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield
Visit website
Reply 2
Original post by charlottecornall
How did the interview go? What skill did you end up teaching? I have an interview there this week and I still don't know what I'm going to do for it :/ hope it all went well :smile:


It went really well thank you, I've had an offer! I ended up teaching 1-5 in German but other people in my group did things like drawing certain things easily, making paper aeroplanes, making fortune tellers etc. I would say that the more prep you can do the better. I'd put a lot of effort into making resources for my task and that impressed the people who were interviewing me, which most likely contributed to me getting the place. Good luck with your interview! x
Reply 3
That's great! What type of resources did you use? :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by Emily-L
That's great! What type of resources did you use? :smile:


I basically got a load of lollypop sticks (in different colours - one colour for each number) and wrote the number in german on one end and stuck the corresponding number of ladybird embellishments on the other end. I made enough for everyone to have a stick for each number 1-5 and tied each little pack together with a ribbon. Apparently they looked shop-brought which was lovely to hear!:smile:
Reply 5
It sounds like you did really well, well done! 😊 I have an interview there soon for primary education 5-11 years, I am so nervous! I just don't know what to teach without it being predictable and something the interviewers have seen time and time again 😣
That sounds a great idea! How did you go about the actually teaching of it though? Really stuck on this and got an interview next week, really worried as its my first choice too so really want to get an offer! Also what sort of questions did they ask you in the interview? :smile:
Hi, that's sounds a really good idea! How did you actually go about teaching it to the other candidates? I have an interview next week and have no idea how to go about teaching the actual skill! So worried as it is my first choice so really want an offer! :smile:
Hi, i have my interview tomorrow for Primary Education. I have a written reference but i don't have it on the reference form that they asked for. This is because this is the reference i have taken to all my interviews and i didn't think twice about it. Im abit worried that they will not acept this and Sheff is my first choice. Does anyone think they will accept my written reference?
Reply 9
Original post by AdamTroake
Hi, i have my interview tomorrow for Primary Education. I have a written reference but i don't have it on the reference form that they asked for. This is because this is the reference i have taken to all my interviews and i didn't think twice about it. Im abit worried that they will not acept this and Sheff is my first choice. Does anyone think they will accept my written reference?


As far as I know hardly anyone at my interview had references written on the form they provided. Just as long as your reference includes everything they mention on the form you'll be fine. Good luck!
Original post by chloealiceb
As far as I know hardly anyone at my interview had references written on the form they provided. Just as long as your reference includes everything they mention on the form you'll be fine. Good luck!


Last minute panic over. Thanks for that!:smile:
What sort of questions did they ask you in the individual interview? And what was the written test about? Any help would be appreciated!
Reply 12
Original post by shannonpb95
What sort of questions did they ask you in the individual interview? And what was the written test about? Any help would be appreciated!


For the written test we were given a report and we had to answer questions on it (primarily about how as a teacher we would respond to the mentioned issues) referencing our past classroom experiences etc.

The interview questions were the standard 'why do you want to be a teacher' (we had like 2 sentences to do it though so be prepared), current issues in eduction, our biggest weaknesses etc. Nothing was too unexpected.

Good luck! If I can be of any more help just ask x
Reply 13
How did you find the maths task? Was it quite simple or complex? I have an interview on thursday and I am so scared that I will mess it up :frown: X
Reply 14
Original post by Emily-L
How did you find the maths task? Was it quite simple or complex? I have an interview on thursday and I am so scared that I will mess it up :frown: X


I'm not going to lie, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world but if you've already done/started revising for your maths skills test you should be absolutely fine. To be honest I don't think they put that much emphasis at all on the maths and writing tests at all, whether or not you get an offer is predominately based on your individual interview and teaching task. Good luck x
Reply 15
Original post by chloealiceb
I'm not going to lie, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world but if you've already done/started revising for your maths skills test you should be absolutely fine. To be honest I don't think they put that much emphasis at all on the maths and writing tests at all, whether or not you get an offer is predominately based on your individual interview and teaching task. Good luck x


Thank-you! Its the maths task and individual interview that I am most nervous about :frown: What type of questions are asked in the individual interview? Is there only one interviewer? Sorry for all the questions- Im stressing if you can't tell haha! X
Reply 16
Original post by Emily-L
Thank-you! Its the maths task and individual interview that I am most nervous about :frown: What type of questions are asked in the individual interview? Is there only one interviewer? Sorry for all the questions- Im stressing if you can't tell haha! X


Feel free to ask me as many questions as you want, I'll do my best to answer them all as best I can!

When you get to the interview day you're split into a number of groups (I had 6 in mine but I think it can vary depending on how busy an interview slot it is) and each group has 2 members of staff - mostly one from Hallam itself and one from a partnership school. It's that team of two who observe your teaching tasks and perform the interview. But you're only predominately talking to one of them in the interview (mine was the member of uni staff) and the other is listening but going through your paperwork at the same time.

The interview questions were the standard 'why do you want to be a teacher' (we had like 2 sentences to do it though so be prepared), current issues in eduction, our biggest weaknesses, recent examples of resilience etc. Nothing was too unexpected.

Good luck! x
Reply 17
Original post by chloealiceb
Feel free to ask me as many questions as you want, I'll do my best to answer them all as best I can!

When you get to the interview day you're split into a number of groups (I had 6 in mine but I think it can vary depending on how busy an interview slot it is) and each group has 2 members of staff - mostly one from Hallam itself and one from a partnership school. It's that team of two who observe your teaching tasks and perform the interview. But you're only predominately talking to one of them in the interview (mine was the member of uni staff) and the other is listening but going through your paperwork at the same time.

The interview questions were the standard 'why do you want to be a teacher' (we had like 2 sentences to do it though so be prepared), current issues in eduction, our biggest weaknesses, recent examples of resilience etc. Nothing was too unexpected.

Good luck! x


Aw, thank you! Do you mean recent examples of resilience as in the classroom? or in general? Also, what paperwork was they looking through? Certificates and reference from the teacher- that sort of thing. I bet you're relieved that your interview is over :smile: X
Reply 18
Original post by Emily-L
Aw, thank you! Do you mean recent examples of resilience as in the classroom? or in general? Also, what paperwork was they looking through? Certificates and reference from the teacher- that sort of thing. I bet you're relieved that your interview is over :smile: X


hi what time is your interview on thursday? i have an interview for primary ed on thursday too!!!
Best of luck to anyone who's going to an interview, I had mine on Monday and found out about 6 hours ago that they have offered me a place!

My teaching task was based around how to convert a number into binary and how to convert a binary number back into a normal number (not the most interesting thing I know) but it went down quite well, they said it was quite different and adventurous. Others in my group taught sign language, how to tie a knot and making paper airplanes.

It seems like the questions in the individual interview are similar for everyone;

Why do you want to be a teacher (In 2 sentences)?
Weaknesses/challenges that you might face
What you could bring to teaching (specific skills/passions etc)
An example of when you have shown resilience

The maths and English exams aren't really anything to worry about, there are some difficult questions but I saw my marked answer sheet on the table when I was having my individual interview, I had gotten quite a few questions wrong but they didn't bring that up and offered me a place so I wouldn't worry too much about them.

Having all the paper work will definitely score you bonus points, I had all my paper work, including the reference form and declaration sheet which seemed to go down very well.

Good luck to any of you attending an interview soon, don't stress about it too much, I found it was one of my most relaxing interviews.

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