1 hour interview lesson, some help please!

[Guest]

Hi, I was wondering if some of you lovely Reception teachers could give me a little guidance.

I have my first NQT interview coming up which involves teaching a one hour session with 30 Reception children on either literacy and numeracy. I've got lots of experience in Nursery but not in Reception and feel a little unsure of how I should structure the session? Obviously the children will only be on the carpet for a short period (I was aiming for about 10/15mins) and then I'd do an adult-led activity with a small group but I'm not so sure what to do with the rest of the session (aside from a short plenary at the end). Will I be expected to plan for all the CI activities and resources as well? Seems a pretty difficult job considering I don't know the children or the classroom. Also, how should I choose a group to work with? Should I pick some children randomly? Or ask the teacher to select some of the HA children? Its so hard not knowing the children!

I'm planning to contact the school tomorrow for a little more info, but I'd just like some advice on how to structure the whole lesson. Any help would be most appreciated!

[Guest]

i would definitely seek more clarification. they should see this as a positive thing, and shows you are really interested in the job. and make it easier for you. i'm nursery so not a lot of use - sorry! good luck and well done

[Guest]

When you speak to them I'd ask...

1. Could you have a copy of their groups and if they want to see you working with specific ones inc children with SEN/EAL that you need to be made aware of

2. What support is in class for you to utilise and will you have an opportunity to brief them on their role

3. What access to outside provision do you have?

4. Is there a topic/theme you will be slotting into/ next steps/ gaps in learning they esnt you to be focussing on,

5. What set up time will you have? If you need to fully resource the class it needs to be a while! What IT do they have at your disposal?

6. Kept carpet time to a minimum - it's got to be pretty wow to hold 30kids for any length of time! No pressure there :-)

They must be expecting you to call for clarification as this is very scant!