Hey there,

On a job advert is said the interview date and also said that if you make it to the interview, you will be given 25 minutes to work with a small group of children, no planning is required. Then the interview will take place after this.

If no planning is required then what are they expecting of you??? Will they give you a book or an activity to do with the children, or will it just be a case of talking to them??

The job is in Reception TA3 btw. Have never heard of this before so its thrown me.

Thanks,

Bobette x

I would think that if you get offered an interview they will give you more information.

I have only been for one interview and that was a few years ago, I had to listen to two children reading together. I found it really difficult because the children I listened too were excellent readers so didn't really need to offer any support.

Good luck with the application.

Dot
xxx

If it's reception it will be pretty straight forward.

It could be a phonics group or a numeracy group. it could be something simple like free activity time.

Don't worry. the planning will have been done and you will just have to read it.

They are probably checking out how you cope with a sudden change. Lets face it how many times are we suddenly expected to cover a group/class.

i'd rather have an activity to do because personally i would feel more relaxed. and then it would something else to talk about in the interview proper.

in interviews in the past when i have had an activity to do i've found i've just got on with it. a bit like being observed when i did my NVQ. i was so busy getting on with what i was meant to be doing that i forgot anyone was watching!

good luck with it.

Catbells x

I have had to do this as part of an interview. It was to see how I interact with the children. It was a free play session so the children came to me and asked me to join in! I tried to spend a bit of time with several groups and played while asking questions ,what is your favourite lesson' etc. I also talked to the class teacher nd TA as they would be feeding back as part of the interview.

It made the whole process much more relaxing and gave you something to comment on in the interview eg 'I noticed the children are encouraged to support each other' etc.

Thanks for your advice Buttercup! I went to have a look round the school and asked the teacher about what this part was about. She seemed surprised really and acted like it was no big deal. She mentioned there wouldn't be an activity or anything, just a chance to see how you interact with the children.

Phew