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Deputy Headteacher Mock interview Questions

Leadership and Management

  1. Described the approaches you have used to ensure that teams you have led are successful in their work.
  • Shared vision/joint ownership
  • Supportive respectful relationships
  • Clear honest, respectful communication
  • Clarity about expectations
  • Clarity about intended outcomes and approaches
  • Work programmes for individual team members
  • Strong planning and team targets
  • Support, encouragement and challenge
  • Recognition of team and individual successes
  • Support at appropriate level
  • Regular team and individual meetings
  • Efficient team meetings
  • Effective delegation
  • Social and team building activities etc
  1. Describe a successful undertaking which involved you

leading partnership working with an external agency and explain your success criteria.

  1. When leading change in an educational setting, what processes and practices have you used to ensure success?
  • Clear rationale for change with benefits to all explained
  • Honesty around challenges
  • Timescales and milestones set out well in advance
  • Regular progress reviews
  • Timely, regular, open, honest communication
  • Skills audit and support etc
  1. Describe your leadership style
  • Principled – integrity a key principle
  • inclusive
  • Relationship focussed with a keen eye to process, task and resources
  • High levels of communication
  • High levels of engagement
  • High levels of supported delegation
  • Encouraging and supportive
  • Firm and clear
  • High expectations for self and others etc
  1. What do you see as the main differences between being an assistant head and being a deputy head or vice principal?
  • Higher level of contribution to strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation
  • Higher level of whole school responsibilities e.g.personnel, finance, examinations, CPD, Performance Management,
  • Recruitment, timetabling, cover etc
  • Closer working relationship with the head
  • Greater contact with governing body
  • Deputising for head in her absence

Teaching and Learning

  1. How have you supported others so that they are more successful team leaders?
  • Coaching
  • Orgnised 360 degree leadership assessment
  • Support with planning and assessment
  • Feedback on leading team meetings
  • Mentoring
  • Allowing them to observe me teaching/or leadinga meeting/shadowing for a day
  • Training advice/offer
  1. Describe what you see as good practice in the tracking of progress and achievement at the class and year group level.
  • Standardised set of data – CATs, reading and spelling age, prior attainment, predicted exam results for all subject, mocks etc
  • Tutor and subject leader reviews
  • Effective use of journals
  • Regular, minimum of termly reviews involving students and parents
  • Accessible
  • Manageable ( e.g. good use of excel)
  • Success on display in classrooms and celebratedetc
  1. What is your understanding of the Ofsted outstanding category for Quality of Teaching? (i.e. What would a school need to demonstrate to achieve this?)
  • the teaching in all key stages and subjects promotes pupils’ learning and progress across the curriculum
  • teachers have consistently high expectations of pupils
  • teachers improve the quality of learning by systematically and effectively checking pupils’ understanding in lessons, and making appropriate interventions
  • reading, writing, communication and mathematics are well taught
  • teachers and other adults create a positive climate for learning in which pupils are interested and engaged
  • marking and constructive feedback from teachers contributes to pupils’ learning
  • teaching strategies, including setting appropriate homework, together with support and intervention, match individual needs.
  1. Outline how you have used ICT to achieve high standards of teaching and learning.
  • Teaching – powerpoints for teaching and learning writing, quizzes, information – internet sites Google map etc, excel spreadsheets for pupil information – Homework online etc
  • Learning – pupils wordprocess newspapers, produce powerpoints instead of written projects etc
  • Leadership, – exam results by class, targets, tracking, staff attendance attendance at CPD etc
  1. What approaches have you used to monitor and evaluate / assure the quality of teaching and learning?
  • SEF data ,exam data, exclusions, attendance by subject, pupil questionnaires, learning walks, book sampling, benchmarking etc)
  1. What in your view are the key elements of a quality curriculum offer?
  • Breadth, depth, continuity, progression
  • Vocation and academic – personalised
  • Relevant, engaging
  • Develops thinking and research skills
  • Cross curric themes addressed e.g num,lit, ICT, Business and enterprise etc
  1. What do you consider to be good practice in the development of whole school policy?
  • Cross departmental/school working group set up
  • Brainstorming of ideas/key issues
  • Drafts taken back to whole staff and pupils for comments
  • Delegation of writing/research tasks as a appropriate
  • Regular reviews and monitoring regarding effectiveness of policy etc

Personal Qualities and Attributes

  1. What skills, personal qualities and attributes do you have which would support your success in a senior leadership role?

Skills

  • Communication – listening and speaking
  • Thinking skills
  • Interpersonal skills etc

Attributes and Qualities

  • High levels of integrity
  • Dedicated
  • Sincere
  • Calm
  • Good sense of humour
  • Well organised
  • creative
  • Self-starter etc

Parents and Community

  1. How have you worked with parents at a whole school level to ensure their engagement in their child’s learning and the life of the school?
  • Parent’s questionnaire
  • Led parent forum
  • Organised family literacy
  • Organised curriculum evenings etc
  1. How have you worked in partnership with external agencies organisations or other schools to maximise successful outcomes for parents and communities?

Pupil Behaviour and Motivation

16How have you worked with staff to increase their ability to effectively manage pupil behaviour?

What do most teachers, especially NQTs tend to struggle with in this area?

  • Led whole staff INSET
  • Review of Behaviour Policy
  • Observing them teaching and giving feedback
  • Assisting with setting up assertive discipline
  • Observing you teaching/managing pupil behaviour
  • Team teaching
  • Outline key principles – specific praise, eye contact, engagement in learning, building great relationships, notes home, involvement of carers/parents etc
  • sent staff on training etc

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte 0208 657 2264