School Experience
It is important to have a realistic awareness of the demands of the profession you are seeking to join, otherwise you might start the training and pull out if you realise that the role of a teacher is not at all what you expected.
For anyone applying for a programme at a special needs school, existing experience of children with special needs would be a significant advantage.
We therefore require all candidates to demonstrate some understanding of the role of a teacher and an awareness of some current issues facing the profession.
Spending a couple of days observing relevant lessons in a state primary school would help to support your interview answers, but we understand that this may be hard to arrange if schools are still limiting visitors into classrooms.
We would not reject a candidate based on their lack of observational school experience.
WATCHING VIRTUAL LESSONS
You may be able to watch some virtual lessons in your subject, using the link below to the Oak Academy online lessons used by many schools to help with remote learning during the pandemic. We have noticed that many of the Year 3 teachers in these videos were trained by WLTTA!
https://teachers.thenational.academy/lessons-for-itt
THE DFE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME (SEP)
You should also be aware of the DfE’s School Experience Programme. This is a portal where some schools upload available dates for giving candidates school experience. As long as you have registered on the DfE’s Get Into Teaching website, you can book experience days through the SEP for many subjects. See more information through the following link: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/getting-school-experience