Cover supervisor/TA3 job interview - what to expect?

Gleeful

Hi all!

Trying to give myself a head start here. Has anyone been to an interview for a TA/cover supervisor position and what did it entail? Will they observe me in the classroom?

Thanks

NOWSE

It's over 5 years ago that I had an interview for a Cover Supervisor post. I got the job and lasted 2.5 years.

My background wasn't in education, aside from being a governor at a couple of schools, and so their questions seemed skewed towards how my past experience made me suitable for the job. I talked about being in schools as a governor and PTA member, reading about education in the press (including TES), I'd been a volunteer in a primary school, & I'd been involved in my son's football team which covered a secondary school age range. There were probably other (bullsh*t) points that I threw in. I was also asked about dealing with unrulely kids. I was given basics tests in numeracy and literacy. A panel of pupils also asked me some questions. In addition I was given a typical set of instructions for the covering of a class and asked to come into the room and begin the lesson. This was in front of the adult panel and they let me go on for about 3/4 minutes before stopping me.

I don't know whether you have a background in secondary schooling but you might do worse than have a look at the following website and especially the forum (you could make further enquiries there).

http://www.coversupervisors.co.uk/

As I indicated earlier I am no longer a cover supervisor. For much of the time I hated it. Poor pupil behaviour, a lack of support from some teachers (some were great but others gave poor instructions, some "forgot" to leave any at all, whilst other looked down their noses at cover supervisors) all meant that I was happy when I found another job.

Gleeful

Thanks for your post. I've had a look at that website and it's very useful. I'm a qualified teacher so should be ok on the experience side. I did think they'd probably want me to teach during the interview so thanks for confirming it

Gleeful

I got the job, so thanks NOWSE for your help