Seven teachers, heads and trust chief executives let slip the interview answers they’d like to hear

I have a shockingly poor attention span in interviews. If I’m going to have to see you every day, I need to get under your skin. Asking about hobbies sounds pervy, and I don’t want anyone to start talking about sport. So I ask “What are you reading?”

The question comes immediately after: what really excites you as a scientist/artist/historian/economist? In that I’m trying to find out if you still think and care about your subject. I love abstruse and incomprehensible replies. I’ve been down some real rabbit holes: gender politics and the Tudors, plate tectonics in daily life. Artists bring me their paintings and musicians play to me. Linguists perform in as many languages as they can teach. Theologians second-guess my liberal Anglican prejudices.

‘If you can discuss fiction, I know you’ve seen the world’

The reading question exposes another side. I’m not really worried about the reply. If you’ve got the nous to come up with a fancy answer I’ve no way of checking if it’s true: I’m not going to rummage through your bag or visit your bedside table. I just want an engagement with an inner world.

 

Read More ...


Don't worry, please call us anyway to discuss your ideal job.


20/11/24Medway education leader and head of Rivermead Inclusive Trust receives OBE from Prince William

An education boss, who left school without any basic qualifications and worked as a hospital cleaner to fund her teacher training, has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List. Tina Lovey, who rose through the ranks and is now the boss of a thriving academy trust with schools across Medway, was awarded an OBE by Prince William at Windsor Castle.

19/11/24Special Educational Needs system 'has burst'

Children with complex needs are being sent to private schools up to 200 miles away from home because there is not enough capacity in the state system, a BBC investigation has found. Councils struggling to cope with an unprecedented number of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are increasingly reliant upon private providers. Headteachers say funding from government has not kept pace with soaring demand, meaning both mainstream and special schools are struggling to cope.

13/11/24‘Excessive’ 20 hours mentor training requirement scrapped

The government will also launch a new re-accreditation round for initial teacher training providers in spring

12/11/24Majority of parents not deterred by fines for term-time family holidays – survey

The Government should review the marketing and pricing of ‘rip-off’ family holidays, according to Parentkind charity.

11/11/24Anti-Bullying Week 2024: Choose Respect

Anti-Bullying Week 2024 will take place from Monday 11th - Friday 15th November, with the theme: Choose Respect.