PowerPoint portfolio
Consistent design and font
All 8 teaching standards with bullet points in each (from the Teaching Standards)
Under each bullet point are examples of how I completed it as evidence
Adaptable
You can include images/ files to the PPT
Your own portfolio should already be online for you to refer to (if you’re training)
Letter 1: Geography (2 pages)
Letter 2: English (2 pages)
I had quite a few people ask for my letter so I thought I’d share it, along with my experience. I sent a generic letter to several schools and I was invited to every interview. You should personalise it.
All my experience was not included in the letter or application forms because I felt that it is too time-consuming. You should include relevant information though and increase your employability. I am a very picky person when it comes to the work environment and highly value myself. I lined up interviews day after day for about 1.5 weeks. I went to the first few and I did not like them. For example, I saw a black student wearing his traditional wear and I made a nice comment. The headteacher referred it as a special day where “they” get to wear “costumes”.
I went to one that really stood out and I have told them I have another interview. You shouldn’t do this unless you are the better candidate. You should just say that you can’t answer the phone at placement.*Never agree to a job unless you are certain. Backing out is unprofessional, leads to bad references and blacklisting = you’re stuck with the school you changed to. Remember if you fail as ECT you are barred from teaching. However, if you are failing, you can quit and rejoin as an ECT in another school - but not if you are blacklisted!
I asked further schools to cover my travel expenses. 1 school didn’t. I felt that they didn’t value teachers so I rejected them. In the interviews I attended, it was common to over-run by a little bit. That’s okay. However, in one school I got to leave after my interview (lunch time for me) but the interviewers went for lunch and made the other candidate wait until after their lunch before interviewing him, and not offering any food for him. I liked that school as I went around but not the way they treated the interviewee so I decided against it. You have to remember your workplace needs to treat you right.
In another interview, I had travelled 3 hours to. They over ran by more than 1 hour. I was debating to just leave. They never offered me the option to leave early. I felt that they did not value people’s time considering the other candidate was local and was interviewed first, yet I was interviewed later. I didn’t like it. They had a good reputation by the locals which is why I accepted the interview. They loved everything I did with the students and class, however when I asked about pay etc. I rejected the offer. With relocation costs, it wasn’t worth it. They reimbursed me £90 (railcard).
After that interview, I decided to take the earlier offer and cancel the rest. I interviewed them and negotiated masters, extra holidays, £3k higher pay etc. Don’t do this unless you’re in a good position. I was a trainee for reference but believe my experience is valuable.
Interview information
I went to a few teacher ones as I lined them up over a week and made them wait before deciding.
Usually you have to decide on the spot unless you’re the better candidate, they may wait.
Check your subject knowledge to know what you need to learn/ study/ build knowledge on.
The document is 35 pages long.
I have my answers on it which you can change.
I completed this before I studied such course/ subject…
I’ve included lots of books and research that you need to read if you’re becoming a geography teacher.
I’ve also made summaries of some of them in case you didn’t want to read the whole thing.
The main book I made a bigger document, and in the book you can find a large table that separates sections well.
These will be useful towards your assignments.
My assignments were around 78 marks.
Simple template on Y7 tectonic plates (not fully completed)
GCSE completed SOW on coasts (from a very good Bristol school - they pay trainees to have 3x meals a day and actually pay you thousands of pounds for having them as a placement - of course your placements are chosen by your university provider).
Year 8 SOW (from private institutions)
If you would like others, feel free to leave the comment under reviews and I can update the files if I have them (History and Geography mainly).