This document provides information about a BCS workshop for computing scholars. It includes: - Details of presenters Dr. John Woollard, Jeremy Barlow, and Beverly Clarke who will discuss supporting referees, preparing lesson plans, and interview techniques. - An agenda that covers first impressions from application forms, supporting referees, preparing and delivering sample computing lessons, and interview dos and don'ts. - Guidance for scholars on writing covering letters, completing application forms, preparing lesson plans, and best practices for interviews.

1. BCS Workshop for scholars
Jeremy Barlow Jeremy.Barlow@hq.bcs.org.uk
John Woollard J.Woollard@southampton.ac.uk
Beverly Clarke BClarke@sunburymanor.surrey.sch.uk
January 2015

2. Welcome
Secretary of State for Education
Nicky Morgan
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3. Presenters
Dr John Woollard is a senior teaching fellow at the University of Southampton where he
trains teachers on the PGCE, School Direct, Assessment Only and Troops to Teachers
routes into education. John is on the CAS Board and is involved with the Barefoot
Computing project, QuickStart Computing as well as advising and working with Hodder,
Rising Stars. His particular interest is the role of computational thinking within the computing
curriculum.
Jeremy Barlow is the Academy Development Manager for BCS, The Chartered Institute for
IT. He is involved in a number of projects BCS/CAS is running to support teachers with the
computing curriculum. This includes the Network of Excellence, Barefoot Computing and
QuickStart Computing. He also manages the BCS scholarship scheme.
Beverly Clarke is Head of Computing at Sunbury Manor School, a CAS Master Teacher
and is also the CAS Sunbury Hub Leader. Beverly is part of the selection team for the BCS
Scholarship scheme. Additionally, at Sunbury Manor, she also works as part of the Sharing
of Good Practice Team as a Leader of Teaching and Learning. She has also lectured at
college level and worked in corporate IT for a number of years.
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4. Programme
★ First impressions – application forms and covering letters
★ Supporting your referees – giving them the right information
★ Preparing a lesson plan – delivering the sample lesson in Computing
★ Interview techniques – what to do and not to do
★ Discussion – lessons learnt and next steps
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5. First impressions
Covering Letters
Addressee
• Always write to a named person; remember to use the correct title, name spelling
Language and format
• Use short simple sentences
• Avoid over using “I”, especially “I” at the start of each paragraph
• Use business/professional language
• Use an appropriate font style
Structure - 3 parts
• Attention grabbing introduction
• The key message
• A strong conclusion
• Keep the letter short - maximum one page of A4 5

6. Golden Rules
• Read the instructions carefully
• Follow all instructions
• Fill in all mandatory sections
• Use the correct colour ink
• Focus on spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)
Practical Activity
Refer to the job application pack
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Application Forms

7. Supporting your referees
Your referee will have to construct a reference that contains a number of points.
Some statements are required by the Children Act, some are prescribed by your
potential employing school and some may be imposed by your referee’s
employer.
A well constructed reference contains statements about...
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8. Preparing a
lesson plan
You may be asked to teach a lesson as part of the selection process.
This is an opportunity for you to show your:
● classroom craft skills of resource, pupil and behaviour management;
● subject knowledge and understanding;
● pedagogic skills of questioning, engagement and informal assessment;
● lesson planning skills;
● understanding of the rationale for your teaching through your lesson plan.
There are five parts to your preparation:
● identifying a computer-based lesson;
● identifying the unplugged alternative;
● resourcing the lesson;
● creating the lesson plan;
● ensuring you have a “lesson in the backpocket”.
Imagining the lesson; planning the lesson
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9. Interview techniques - Do’s
• Interview for as long as you can
• Take along examples of your work
• Be prepared - make your experience relevant to the job
• Be prepared - fully research the school, look at the website
• Anticipate interview questions and practice answering them beforehand
• State what impact you feel you can make to the school
• Always have a question(s) prepared to ask at the end of the interview
• Manage stress - take deep breaths, do not get flustered!
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10. • Dress inappropriately
• Show poor body language
• Arrive late
• Fidget, bite your nails, stare at the floor or out of the window
• Speak negatively about your teacher trainingprevious jobs
• Make jokes, especially inappropriate jokes
Practical Activity
Refer to the interview questions and suggest suitable responses - these are real examples!
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Interview techniques - Don'ts

11. Discussion
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12. Further information
academy.bcs.org/teachingjobs
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