5th December 2019
Being interviewed for a new teaching position is an intimidating prospect for everyone, whether you’re an established teacher or an NQT looking for your first full-time teaching position, but interviews can be extra daunting when you’re going for a Deputy Head role.
While nerves are to be expected, feeling as prepared as possible can help you put some of your anxieties to rest. Our expert education consultants have a whopping 300+ years of experience in the education sector between them, so we’ve gathered some of the most-asked Deputy Head interview questions for you.
These questions need to be unique to your teaching style and school, so while we can offer advice, your best strategy when preparing for your interview questions is to practice them – with a friend or family member – so that you know how you want to sell your self, and what your strengths are. (This will come in handy for any questions they throw at you!)
Some tips to help you to answer deputy head interview questions:
To help guide you, here are some common deputy head interview questions and example answers:
Question: ‘Where do you see yourself in this school in five years?’
An interviewer will be asking this to try to see whether you plan to stay at the school and invest in your career, as they invest in you. It also helps the interviewer to judge if the school can provide you with the opportunities to meet your career goals.
Answer: ‘In five years’ time, I’d like to be continuing to assist in providing direction and leadership for the school, enabling it to meet future goals and achieve even more.’
Question: ‘How do you ensure that your staff’s wellbeing is a priority?’
An interviewer will be asking this question to ensure that you will actively support the school’s staff. You can highlight the importance of staff wellbeing and include previous examples of relevant experience.
Answer: ‘An increased level of staff wellbeing results in increased student wellbeing and academic performance. In my last position, I helped to encourage staff wellbeing by setting up a wellbeing team to organise regular events. I also allocated time within the weekly staff meeting to ask how staff were feeling and to praise individual members of staff for the successes of the week.’
Question: ‘Why are you interested in being this school’s deputy headteacher?’
The interviewer will want to see that you have done some research about the school and that you understand that you can add value to their school in particular.
Answer: ‘I’m very interested in working here because I have spent a lot of time researching about schools in the area and your school stands out. As I live locally, I have been able to talk to parents with children at the school and they have told me all about certain teachers here who have really inspired and helped their children. I am also very impressed by the admirable reputation you have for SEND provision. It is important for me to work at an inclusive school with strong core values of [refer to the specific values on the school website]. I would be immensely proud to work here’.
If you’ve mastered the questions above, here are two things you can do to take your teaching career to the next level:
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