FIRST Early Years Teacher interview!

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm not sure this is the right section of the forum to post this but i honestly couldn't figure out where to ask for help.

I have a interview as an Early Years Teacher very soon at a Primary school which is an Academy Trust School.I qualified with my EYTS this august and this is my first interview since! I am very nervous! As part of my interview process there will be a 30 min EYFS Literacy lesson that I have to deliver.

 

Now here's the thing, 1) It doesn't say to what age group of children the lesson will be for and 2) i was in a private day care setting for my EYTS training where there was no formal, time blocks for teaching of literacy, rather i incorporated literacy and phonics into everyday activities or through very short circle time activities like a phonics song. No single activity lasted for 30 minutes, the children were 2-5yrs old.

 

so how do i prepare for this?? can i call and ask what age group and how many children the lesson will be for so i can plan appropriately?

any ideas as to what i could do for the lesson, and how to make it last 30 mins?

 

As for the panel interview, what kinds of questions can i expect,from your experiences, what would you ask/have you been asked?

 

I would really appreciate your advice!

 

Salus

x

[Helen]

I'd certainly ask how many children you'll be having, but wouldn't it definitely be for reception, if you're going for an EYTS position? Unless they have a nursery?

If it's for a whole group, I'd also ask about ability- will they be mixed, for example?

For a 30 minutes slot it's probably best to do a whole group activity/presentation/discussion for 5-10 mins, then set them off doing other activities, where you can bob about interacting with them for the rest of the time.

Maybe start with a story and plan activities around it?

We have some articles here using a story as a starting point (scroll down the page a bit) - maybe one of these will inspire you!

[MarshaD]

Like Helen would suggest input then follow up activities. You could look on their website to see if their topic is posted then you could pick something that would fit in with what they're doing. Otherwise nursery rhymes are often good for real life phonics as opposed to flash card stuff.

 

Questions in my experience have been scenarios on SEN and inclusion or equal opps; behaviour management; child protection; lessons that have gone well and why; strengths; weaknesses. Will add if anything else comes to me.

 

Good luck!

[catma]

I'd certainly ask how many children you'll be having, but wouldn't it definitely be for reception, if you're going for an EYTS position? Unless they have a nursery?

If it's an academy it could be any class as you don't need QTS to be a teacher in EYFS in an academy primary.

The key thing is to define what you are teaching - what will the children be learning as a result of the activity?

Cx

[Guest]

Hi all,

thank you for your replies. Well I called the school today to ask how many children i should expect to plan the lesson for tomorrow and it turns out it will be for a Reception class of 30 children and based on Letters and Sounds Phase 2. This is my first time ever planning for this many children and i don't know if i will have any TA's or extra support during the observation. I'm just wondering what will happen when the children are doing small group activities and there's only one of me to go around and support the children...

 

any advice?

 

Salus

Edited October 20, 2014 by Salus

[catma]

I wouldn't assume another adult (ratio of 1:30!)

However a typical Review, Teach, Practice Apply phonics session would generally be about 20 mins then you could have a variety of activities to reinforce phase 2. Most children would have done much of phase 2 by now.

Cx

[MarshaD]

In my class after a teaching input I used to do a group task while the others worked independently - I of course needed to monitor the others while doing so. If you spend 10 mins on input you could spend 10 mins on the group task and the remainder interacting - remember to give feedback to the children you worked with.

For your input, think about your management - check if anyone needs to sit at the front.

I should think you will have a TA, they may be outside though while you are inside if there's free flow.