Guest Posted March 11, 2010 Posted March 11, 2010 Hi all I am a qualified Nursery Nurse to level 5. I am looking to find employment as a teaching assistant but unfortunately because I have no recent experience of working in a school, this often goes against me. I cannot volunteer in a school due to work (financial). I was wondering if there is any advice you could give to me to get my experience etc across as I know I can do the job and would be good at it. My question to you all is what are schools really looking for in the terms of working in reception etc. Thank you. Netta
Guest Posted March 11, 2010 Posted March 11, 2010 My husband, as a governor, has recently interviewed for TAs. He tells me that, like everything else, one of the big things has to be child protection. They also need to know that you have an understanding of different learning styles and how to use this knowledge in practical ways. In the end they employed the woman with less experience but who showed how interested in helping the children. Jane
Guest Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 Agree with Jane re safeguarding definitely. One of the big things I was interviewed on when I applied for a TA post was reflecting on different situations and how I would adapt things if faced with the same issues again. Behaviour management was also a big one that kept cropping up in a round about sort of way. They worded the questions differently each time but they still came back to the same principles. I didn't feel that my interview went all that well actually as I felt I kept repeating myself, but I did get the job (was a short term contract) and I loved it! To be fair though, I think the reason for this was because I had not long completed my FD and the teacher I was working with was an NQT with very little EY experience. We worked well together because of our different professional backgrounds. Like you say, it is difficult when you can't get a break. I am pleased I had the six months experience because it has made applications to other schools so much easier. I'm not in a school now, but when I was applying it was better. You just have to remain positive and really sell yourself and your experience to them. I had to do a formal interview with the HT and senior TA and then a practical interview, large group story time (which I hate doing as I'm not very confident) in front of the HT, DHT and Senior TA. Most frightening job interview of my life, but I acted like I belonged there and that I felt confident doing what I was doing. I was then asked to reflect and could instantly pull out strengths and weaknesses. This all helped, I'm sure. Good luck.
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