The Teaching Coach is a platform to help teachers, leaders and support staff by providing a range of quality pastoral, teaching and career resources.
You will find a host of resources here from form times and assemblies through to interview prep, application letters, professional development and guidance. Not to mention, lessons, schemes of work and learning resources.
If you can't see what you need, you can email me at: theteachingcoach@hotmail.com.
The Teaching Coach is a platform to help teachers, leaders and support staff by providing a range of quality pastoral, teaching and career resources.
You will find a host of resources here from form times and assemblies through to interview prep, application letters, professional development and guidance. Not to mention, lessons, schemes of work and learning resources.
If you can't see what you need, you can email me at: theteachingcoach@hotmail.com.
Updated
This resource is a Head of Year application covering letter. It has been created using knowledge of the role and experience of previous pastoral applications.
This includes sections on:
attendance
behaviour
progress
using experience of being a form tutor and teacher
parent-carer partnerships
high expectations and behaviour management
student development/extra curricular/pastoral development
working with a team of tutors
reading data
working with external agencies
celebrating student achievement
This template is over 4 pages long and packed full of ideas to use!
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This PDF includes 5 key questions asked on pastoral interview and their answers in detail.
These are intended to support existing or new heads of year as well as being potential questions you may get asked on interview.
In this set I answer:
how do you deal with angry parent?
how do you support a student struggling to fit in?
how do you lead a team?
how do you deal with poor student behaviour?
do you monitor student progress?
These answers are suggestions – they are not necessarily definitive.
If preparing for interview, I always recommend you tailor your questions to the school you’re applying to and ensure you are giving specific examples of what you’re able to offer.
If in post, always remember the policies of your school.
You can also find Set 2 of this resource here: www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12527827
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In this 4 page resource I detail guidance for completing a prioritisation task in a pastoral interview. This includes answering the questions:
What is a prioritisation task?
Why do interviews use it?
What questions might you be asked on prioritisation?
What kind of answers could you give to prioritisation questions?
This also provides an example of a prioritisation task and a worked answer of the order I would organise the tasks in as well as my justifications.
Great for preparing you for one of the in tray tasks at interview!
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In this resource, you will find a set of approx. 15 questions which you might be asked on a Head of Year interview and, for each question, a set of bullet points which detail ideas for responses.
These are perfect for getting yourself ready for Head of Year/pastoral interviews!
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In these three PDFs, I answer 15 big pastoral questions.
These are intended to support existing or new heads of year as well as being potential questions you may get asked on interview.
This set includes questions like:
how do you create year group cohesion?
why are assemblies important?
what is included in a successful form time?
why is monitoring attendance important?
how do you improve the resilience of your year group?
what should you do with your failing FT?
why are form tutors important?
how do you deal with an angry parent?
how do you lead a team?
The answers to these questions are suggestions only – they are not necessarily definitive.
If preparing for interview, I always recommend you tailor your questions to the school you’re applying to and ensure you are giving specific examples of what you’re able to offer.
If in post, always remember the policies of your school.
This resource is my first set of practice data task for Heads of Year/Pastoral Leaders preparing for interview. The resource provides a fictionalised set of data from a fictionalised year group, space to analyse the data yourself and to come up with your three priorities. In addition, I provide the three priorities I would identify in timed conditions as well as the ‘answers’ I would provide in an interview circumstance.
This is the great way to practice your data analysis skills for interview from a pastoral perspective. This resource goes well with my other resources on raising attainment and analysing data as a pastoral leader.
You can find a 2nd example of this in tray here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12732369. This is another set of data to provide a 2nd chance to practice prior to interview.
How to analyse data as Head of Year: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/how-to-analyse-data-pastoral-leader-interview-cpd-data-analysis-and-progress-achievement-12436735
How to raise attainment as Head of Year: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/how-to-raise-attainment-secure-progress-head-of-year-house-pastoral-role-interview-cpd-12425572
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In this resource, we explore 10 questions you might be asked on a SENCo interview and 10 detailed possible answers. This resource is 7 pages long.
This is a complimentary resource to the set 1 and set 2 SENCo questions listed in my shop. It can be used in conjunction or on its own to help you prepare for interview.
We answer the questions:
Why are you interested in the role of SENCo?
What skills could you bring to our SENCO role?
Give us a summary of your understanding of the Code of Practice:
How would you use data to inform this role?
How would you demonstrate value for money in this role?
Tell us about your ability to work under pressure.
A parent arrives in reception angry about the support their child with SEN has received. What do you do?
How would you time manage as a SENCo?
A student with ADHD is struggling in their English lessons – they are not making expected progress and the teacher is challenged by their behaviour - how would you support the teacher to help the student?
Why have you chosen this school to apply to as SENCo?
Please note: whilst the questions are detailed and thorough, they are NOT a definitive list, and the answers are not exhaustive. You may want to select parts of the answers which apply best to your knowledge. You should also add to your answers using experiences of your own and include your learning from these experiences that you would take into the new role. You should never use generic answers in an interview setting. Always link your answers with what you know about the school and their priorities.
In this resource you will find 6 resources to help you prepare for in tray tasks at a Head of Year interview.
an overview of in trays you can expect on a Head of Year/pastoral role interview - this covers 10 tasks you might be asked to tackle
a detailed guide on how to analyse data as a Head of Year
2 x example data analysis tasks
a detailed guide on how to respond to a parental complaint letter
a detailed guide on how to complete a prioritisation task
guidance on a gold fish bowl task
This PDF includes 5 key questions asked on pastoral interview and their answers in detail.
These are intended to support existing or new heads of year as well as being potential questions you may get asked on interview.
In this set I answer:
how would you maintain positive parent relationships?
what would you do for high ability students?
how important is the role of FT?
how would you deal with a failing tutor?
how would you target bullying?
These answers are suggestions – they are not necessarily definitive.
If preparing for interview, I always recommend you tailor your questions to the school you’re applying to and ensure you are giving specific examples of what you’re able to offer.
If in post, always remember the policies of your school.
You can find set 1 here: www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12348129
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IMPROVED FOR 2024
This resource is an example application letter for the position of SENCo in a secondary school.
This letter should be developed by including your own examples of where you have completed the points referenced and the impact of that work as well as your learning from the work you have completed – using the spaces to help you do this. This letter is for guidance only and should not be used exclusively to apply for a SENCo role but instead used to support the writing of your own letter. Letters should always be tailored to the school you are applying to and your own experiences. This example includes more ideas than you may wish to include in your own letter and is intended to highlight a variety of content you could use.
This template is over 5 pages long and full of ideas which you could use or remove.
This resource is aimed a secondary school SENCo role, but could provide ideas for other stages of education also.
Please note: covering letters should not exceed 2 pages in length.
I never recommend sending blanket templates for prospective roles and always advise an application is tailored to you and the school.
REFRESHED FOR 2024
In this resource, you will find resources to help you prepare for a Head of Year or Pastoral Leader interview.
You can also find two smaller bundles here:
Pastoral Leader Interview Bundle 1: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/head-of-year-head-of-house-pastoral-role-interview-bundle-12348298
Pastoral Leader Interview Bundle 2: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/head-of-year-head-of-house-pastoral-role-interview-bundle-12425576
This ultimate bundle of resources contains everything to help you prepare for almost every area of an interview!
This includes:
3 x sets of pastoral interview questions - 45+ questions questions in total (no answers - just questions!)
set 1, set 2 and set 3 of my 5 big pastoral questions - these each include how to answer 5 common questions or scenarios posed in an interview (15 questions and answers total)
set one of my pastoral question and answers series - this details 15 questions with potential responses in bullet point form
NOTE: you may find duplication of questions in the resources above - however, they are all designed to give you breadth and depth of understanding in relation to the questions you may face on interview and the answers you could provide!
2 x data analysis prep tasks to help you hone your data skills - great for practicing data analysis as a pastoral leader
a form time quality assurance form - to help you be able to discuss what you’d look out for in a great form time and how you would quality assure your tutors
example year group planning and improvement planning documents for you to read and be able to reference ideas from
two booklets to read before your interview ‘40 Ideas for…’
a) improving attendance and behaviour
b) working across school and leading a team
guidance on the prioritisation in tray task
a 7 page PDF guide on getting ready for a pastoral leader interview including tips on what to expect, what skills you’ll need to show and what you can practice before the day!
a PDF on student panel guidance and how to ace a student panel - a task which has been included on every HOY interview I’ve attended
an example attendance improvement plan to give you plenty to talk about when you’re asked about how you would improve attendance
guidance on writing a response to a letter of concern from a parent - a common in tray task
a detailed guide to analysing data as a pastoral leader - full of top tips and hints for how to offer your best analysis from a pastoral perspective
my detailed guidance for new heads of year - this will give you a great feel for the role and how you will manage it!
A genuinely awesome bundle of resources to help prepare you for an interview. To aid these, there is also some free resources in my shop which you may want to consider adding to your prep.
In this resource, I detail a guide to analysing data as a pastoral leader.
This is perfect for practice for an interview setting as data analyse if often given as an in tray excerise or great as CPD/support for a new head of year/head of house etc.
This resource is 4 detailed pages including:
a list of key terms often used in data analysis and their definitions - perfect for those new to data
a step by step guide to analysing data including what sub-groups to explore, what questions to ask of the data, what gaps to look for - especially from a pastoral perspective
a list of suggested actions for an action plan from a pastoral perspective
plenty of top tips on how to approach this task in an interview or in a new pastoral appointment
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In this resource bundle, you will find:
a senior leadership role application/covering letter example
a set of 80 interview questions with follow up questions (no answers)
another set of almost 30 interview questions (no answers)
a guide to acing a student panel
15 questions to ask at the end of your formal interview
guidance on school tours for interview or application
guidance on goldfish bowl interview activities
guidance on how to ace a common in tray on leadership interview - the prioritisation task.
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In this resource, you will find a detailed guide for answering a parental concern letter when presented as an in-tray task at a pastoral leader interview. This is a common task on pastoral interviews and is usually under timed conditions!
This includes an example letter and a detailed breakdown of how to answer this type of letter. This also includes lots of top tips for completing this task and how to structure your letter.
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In this resource you will find a 5 page example letter of application for a senior leadership role, for example, assistant principal.
This resource includes many ideas you could include your own letter as well as providing you a useful structure for organising your own application or supporting statement.
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This resource is intended to take your through a prioritisation task which you may find on a SENCo interview.
This resource includes information about what this kind of task looks like, why interviewers include this kind of task, the skills they are looking for you to demonstrate, common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
It also includes top tips on answering prioritisation questions on interview and an example prioritisation task for you to practice prior to interview day
On the PDF, there is a blank chart for you to practice 12 provided priorities and 5 of these have been put into a worked example also.
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In this resource you will find guidance on a Senior Leadership prioritisation in tray task. This guidance goes through the purpose of an in tray like this, including why they’re used, how to ace them and things to avoid!
This document also provides an example prioritisation task for you to practice prior to the interview.
This is a great way to prepare for a very popular in tray task on an assistant principal/SLT interview.
Please note: this resource DOES NOT include a worked example of the answers - this is because there is no correct answers for a priorisation task - you only need to make informed and educated decisions and justify your answers clearly.
This is a compiled list of websites and resources which are useful for reading to help improve student vocabulary and to ‘close the vocabulary gap’.
These are not my websites - I have simply compiled a useful lists for professional developed purposes.
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In this resource you will find a selection of positive quote posters - these can be displayed in classrooms, for personal use or displayed in corridors.
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In the role of head of year or head of house, perhaps one of the most confusing things I found was wrapping my head around the various different abbreviations and acronyms.
As such, I thought it would be useful to compile the ones that are most common into one PDF.
Please note, these are not exhaustive - they are the most commmon ones in my experience.
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