POSTGRADUATE STUDY A guide to writing a teacher training personal statement Important: You are advised to go to the Department of Education website for the latest information - www.education.gov.uk • Applications for the 2017 intake are expected to open end of October 2016. • Apply via UCAS – http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/teacher-training • Please note that you will be asked to send a fee with the completed application.
Application Key Dates (These dates are subject to change) • Search opens October 2016 • Applicants can apply online for training programmes starting 2017. October 2016 (Apply 1). Apply 2 opens November 2016. • All choices will be considered in parallel by the providers applied to. (But providers will not know who else you have applied to) • If unsuccessful in Apply 1, applications will be able to add additional choices, adding one choice at a time, through ‘Apply 2’ (like UCAS extra) • Timeframe for decision making by HEI’s will be 40 working days. Therefore, you need to make sure you are able to attend selection days within 40 days of applying. • Apply early, as popular training places always fill up quickly. Your references You will not be able to submit your application until both references are complete and submitted online. • Make sure your referees understand the deadlines. • Encourage your referees to add UTTenquiries@ucas.com to their contact list, so UCAS e-mails do not get blocked by their firewalls. • You will normally have an academic referee and a work/work placement referee
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Personal statement Currently the Personal Statement page of the application has two sections: One section asks you to list your work experience with dates. Like a CV, you should write this in reverse chronological order, with the: Dates of your employment The name of the employer/school Your job title A couple of sentences about your experience This section of your application helps the recruiter to clearly see all of your experience laid out in a logical format. The second section is for your Personal statement. This is the most important part of your application as it gives you a chance to tell the education provider why you have chosen teaching as a career. As well as your experience, you will need to demonstrate your commitment, enthusiasm and motivation to teach.
Writing out your personal statement Write your draft personal statement in Word so you can check it for spelling and grammatical errors before copying and pasting it into the application.
Content The main points a recruiter will be looking for in your statement is: • Why do you want to be a teacher and what influenced this career choice. Avoid using family examples i.e. inspired by my mum or helped teach my little sister to read. • What relevant experience do you have for the age group / subject you are applying for. • Focus on school experience as much as possible. When you give an example of a lesson you have either observed or taught, make sure that you reflect on your experience. Say what you did/observed, what the children did, what the outcome was, what you liked/disliked, what you learnt, and how this experience will influence your teaching in the future. • What skills and characteristics will you bring to teaching and what experience do you have using these. • Do you have a positive attitude, and do you have enthusiasm for learning and education • Your statement will also be scored on your English and grammar. They will expect your statement to be well written, using good English and correct grammar and spelling.
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Beginning Start with a strong opening paragraph that will grab the reader's attention. Middle Who or what has influenced your choice to apply to be a teacher? (keep it brief, a sentence or two should be enough) Why will you enjoy working with young people? Why will you enjoy teaching your subject? What did you learn about teaching through your experience in schools or other educational environments? (The most important part!) What can you offer apart from your own specialist subject? Plus, any other relevant information End Finish by tying together the various issues you have already raised and reiterate your interest in the job or course.
Five step guide to completing your personal statement The Application Assistant pages within the Department of Education Teaching Agency website provides a five step guide to writing a statement. The guide encourages you to answer as comprehensively as you can. (Direct link to the Application Assistant page - http://tinyurl.com/cbwa9ym)
Currently the application asks applicants to: ‘Describe briefly your reasons for wanting to teach giving the relevance of your previous education and details of any teaching experience, including visits to schools and other work with young people. Providers are interested to know the range of skills you will bring to the course. For example, practical experience, managing people, working with/leading a team, communication skills etc.’
Page |4 1. Who or what has influenced your choice to apply to be a teacher? This is your 'opener'. Perhaps there was a specific time when you decided to become a teacher. How did you come to this realisation? Examples of possible openers include: • "What attracts me to teaching is…" • "I am interested in teaching because…" • "Teaching appeals to me as a career because…"
Mention your own experience and skills, and avoid clichés such as "I have always wanted to be a teacher" or "I believe that teaching is my vocation". Some examples: "I helped train eight year-olds in rugby during the school holidays and really enjoyed seeing the children develop their coordination and game skills. This led me to train as a rugby coach and I developed a desire to take this further and train as a teacher." "I taught English to children in France as part of my language degree and I found it challenging and stimulating to select appropriate resources for the age group. I wanted to develop my skills and so wish to train as a teacher." 2. Why will you enjoy working with young people? Match specific examples of qualities you have to that of teaching. There are many qualities that can be attributed to good teachers. A good teacher may demonstrate: • an ability to relate to young people, good interpersonal and listening skills • the capacity to be alert, creative, imaginative, energetic and enthusiastic • an ability to be adaptable and versatile • a sense of responsibility and reliability • good time management and organisational skills • resilience, motivation and tenacity, and • a desire for self-development.
You should focus on the attributes that match your own strengths and identify a specific time when you have demonstrated those qualities. Some examples: "I have good verbal communication skills and worked in the reception class at a local primary school for two weeks. I learnt how to make information accessible to young children and how to hold their attention. I learnt the importance of making connections that children will remember, such as associating farm animals with letters of the alphabet. This can also expand the children’s vocabulary. I found this fascinating." "I am a good team worker and have particularly demonstrated this skill playing netball for my local team over the last six years. I was appointed team captain and have represented our local borough in a national competition. Through my connections with the club I trained as a children’s netball coach. I am keen to grow as a team player and help young people to do the same."
Page |5 3. Why will you enjoy teaching your subject? Match your skills and experience to that of teaching. Here, you should reflect on what subject knowledge you have, how you developed it and how it is relevant to the national curriculum. Candidates for secondary school teacher training can look at the Curriculum Online website (www.curriculumonline.gov.uk) to see what topics are taught at key stages 3 and 4. Primary teacher training candidates should demonstrate knowledge across several curriculum subjects, particularly maths, science and English Some examples: "While working in IT support for the local authority (LA) I spent a lot of time in schools resolving IT problems and, in some cases, working alongside teachers and pupils. I realised that technology and effective learning were interlinked and that working with very young children and supporting colleagues was an excellent way to use my skills and fulfil my desire to work with, and support, children in a learning environment." "I am interested in English as a subject but also in teaching English skills at all levels, helping to develop an awareness of how information needs to be adapted to different groups and purposes. Drama is also my passion as it helps develop a range of skills including communication on all levels, teamwork to achieve set goals, determination and understanding. All are relevant to the primary classroom 4. What did you learn about teaching through your experience in schools or other educational environments? This is your chance to reflect on your school experience. You should identify and comment on a particular aspect of your experience and demonstrate how it affected the teaching and learning process. Some examples include: •
the layout of tables and chairs, different tasks and teaching methods
•
the individual teacher’s personality or behaviour management techniques
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the way the teacher assessed work and gave feedback to pupils, and
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how the teacher worked with other adults in the classroom.
Some examples: "When I work-shadowed a teacher in school, she read a book aloud to a group of children. The teacher used the children’s names as a technique to engage their attention. I saw that positive reinforcement can really help the group to focus." "Working as a volunteer teaching assistant at my son’s school, I learnt that the teacher’s approach to a task has a direct effect on the children. For example, some children needed a lot of discussion before a topic to overcome the perception that it was difficult."
Page |6 5. What can you offer apart from your own specialist subject? Here, you should focus on other skills you have that would be of benefit to a school. These could be: • language skills, including community languages such as Urdu or Punjabi • your interests, like photography, ICT, sport, drama or music, or • a training experience or management skills you have gained in other employment.
Some examples: "As a native Panjabi speaker I can use my linguistic skills and cultural understanding with both pupils and parents." "Part of my job involved me travelling extensively and I have many pictures from all over the world. I could use these to set up an image library which children could use."
Other Questions you could consider include: • How does your previous education relate to the subject(s) you want to teach? • Do you have any other skills that would be useful as a teacher for example, sport, music, drama or
art? • Do you have any skills or knowledge from other work experience/paid work that you feel are relevant
to the role of a teacher? • What in your life story makes you special, unique or impressive? • What personal characteristics do you possess (e.g. integrity, compassion, persistence) and, again, can
you provide evidence to back up your claims? • What difficulties have you overcome?
Remember this is a guide – you should edit your personal statement and add more information if you feel it is relevant to your application.
Remember to double check your work With just forty-seven lines it is important to make every word count, so it is a good idea to read through your statement to yourself or out loud several times and make any necessary adjustments to ensure: • it reads well • makes sense • doesn’t repeat itself or use the same words too often • ensure you use good English • remember to check your spelling and grammar
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Entering your personal statement onto the application The application system may count the lines differently from Word. You are advised to paste you statement and then save it. The system will then tell you how many character spaces you have left or how many you are over the limit. Previous applicants have found the system to be time consuming, so allow plenty of time to enter the personal statement online. Remember to regularly save what you have entered.
Important - Your statement must be your own work! All the statements are checked for plagiarism and any applications that are similar are likely to be halted while an investigation takes place. You will normally be asked to produce some written work as part of your interview where it will become obvious if you have had a lot of external input into your statement. Limitations of service The Careers Advisers will give advice on producing a personal statement; however due to the reasons stated above they are limited in how much they can help. You are advised to attend one of the workshops on producing a personal statement. If you require further help you can attend a short appointment with a Careers Adviser.
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Skills test You will need to take the numeracy and literacy skills tests as part of the application process, and ensure you have passed them both before the start of the course. The first attempt at taking your skills tests in each subject is provided free of charge. You can book up to two resits if required, but you will be expected to pay for these yourself. You can book your tests up to three months in advance for a date by which you are expecting to have submitted an application. When you take the tests you will need to provide proof that you have applied for a teacher training course.
Go the Department of Education website to view full details -
http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching (click on the link to the skills test) Initial teacher training (ITT) providers will use the skills tests results to help them decide the suitability of an applicant, so candidates should ensure that they take the tests before interview for the best possible chance of a successful application. Practice tests Via the Department of Education https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/passing-the-skills-tests Numeracy
Ø Information about the Numeracy Skills Test content Ø Numeracy Practice Test Literacy Ø Information about the Literacy Skills Test content Ø Literacy Practice Test
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