Competency Questions

We are looking for applicants with leadership experience and skills that can be
developed on the Teach First Leadership Development Programme. Here we are
focusing on positions of responsibility, achievements and skills which we believe
are an important feature of leadership.
Please note if your application is successful and you enrol on the Teach First
Leadership Development Programme your answers to the following competency
questions and academic information will be forwarded to Teach First partner
schools.
Please note that spelling and grammar is assessed in addition to the answers you
provide in this section.
Part One
In this section, you will be asked a variety of questions about two of our
competencies. Each question should be answered in up to 100 words.
Knowledge
The Teach First Leadership Development Programme is an intensive twoyear programme that combines a full time two year teaching position,
working towards a PGCE qualification and a range of leadership
development opportunities. All participants undertake this to work
towards our vision - are you committed to helping us?
Question 1.1: Why do you want to work towards our vision?
(Please limit to 100 words)
*the thing I wrote for insight about the far-reaching and cumulative effects of
educational inequality
*being [inspired] impact TF has and understanding the [comprehensive] approach
of TF through my previous engagement (BM & Insight)
^make sure this 2nd point answers the question (why) properly!
Question 1.2: What impact do you hope to have on your pupils and how
will you do this?
(Please limit to 100 words)
*raising ambition
*empowering them to [think critically], [succeed academically and nonacademically] and [
*I hope they develop their identities (in ways which involve [pride in their
achievements? is this a suggestion they don't have pride?]
I will do this in a few ways:
teaching in an interactive and engaging way, a way which links up different
topics to see the bugger picture and recognises the common patterns and
mechanisms throughout mathematics, perhaps some historical context or the
place this topic has within other disciplines
Question 1.3: Why does the intensive and challenging nature of the
Teach First Leadership Development Programme appeal to you?
(Please limit to 100 words)
opportunity to have responsibility and autonomy straight away is exciting

because:
--I am no stranger to intensity (peer support training, rowing, academic life at LSE
etc.)
--you can have a greater impact that way (why? because the risk gives you an
edge? because you are in there quicker?)
--I couldn't have it any other way? (this is too weak lol)
Question 1.4: An active network of committed Teach First Ambassadors
is essential to achieve our vision. How would you hope to contribute to
this?
(Please limit to 100 words)
By understanding the nature of the problem (educational inequality), the TF
vision, having experience in the classroom etc. I will better be able to tackle
educational inequality.
educational inequality is a systemic issue, which has causes and effects which
range far outside of the classroom, so we need to reduce the effects and eliminate
the causes both inside and outside of the classroom.
I'm not sure which direction my [life/career] will take after Teach First, I know
though that I [am eager] to tackle educational inequality in this way either in the
classroom or outside of it.

Problem Solving
You will face many challenges and opportunities during the Teach First
Leadership Development Programme; you will need to be able to identify
problems and provide solutions. Think of a time when you believe that
you have effectively solved a problem.
Question 2.1: What was the problem?
(Please limit to 100 words)
definitely do the Ecuador Quilatoa hike ("identify" and "solve" a problem!)
Question 2.2: Which potential solutions did you consider?
(Please limit to 100 words)
Question 2.3: What did you do and what was the outcome?
(Please limit to 100 words)

Part Two
In this section, you will be given the opportunity to provide more detailed answers
to individual questions. Answer each question in up to 150 words.

Humility, Respect and Empathy

You will work with a variety of children and adults every day during the
Teach First Leadership Development Programme. It is essential that all
of our participants are respectful and considerate of others.
Question 3.1: Describe a time when you have shown commitment to the
needs of other people. How did you ensure that these needs were met?
(Please limit to 150 words)

Peer Support for sure

--ensured these needs were met meeting with other peer supporters and
discussing best practice (also with a psychotherapist)
--worked with the warden team and student committee to make ourselves as
visible as possible
--continued to train and go to supervision

Leadership
You will need to be an effective leader in order to have a positive impact
on your pupils and in your school.
Think of a position of responsibility where you went the extra mile to
ensure success for yourself, team or workplace.
Question 4.1: What do you consider has been your most significant
leadership role? How did you lead effectively?
(Please limit to 150 words)
*building the maths soc over 2 years
--consulted others for advice and help
--was organised, reflective and hard-working
--delegated to other committee members and to Eduardo for the programming
classes
--self-reflection with the SU over the summer helped us to improve as a society by
getting more organised, realising which demographics we were attracting and
which we needed to reach out to more, and thinking about strategies to achieve
these goals, to better execute the coding workshops and grow the society.
Please use a different example for the following question.
Question 4.2: When and how have you taken personal responsibility and
exceeded expectations to ensure success for yourself and/or others?
(Please limit to 150 words)
*rowing??
early mornings
hard training sessions
teamwork to stay in time, support each other through the difficult learning stage
(did this through socials and training)
the success was that we came 4th in the indoor rowing championships (check
this! ad decide whether to lie)
another success was that we grew the club, next year we have 2 extra teams as
we have enough participation and success that we have secured funding for 2
more boats [and a professional coach]
Question 4.3: How do you think that the experiences outlined in the
previous two answers will help you to succeed on the Teach First
Leadership Development Programme and in the classroom?
(Please limit to 150 words)
rowing shows commitment, resilience, teamwork
maths soc shows organisation, self-reflection, enthusiasm
these qualities are all crucial to [success/flourishing, you're saying "success" too
much] because they are necessary qualities to... (should I go into detail about
exactly when they are useful qualities? probably not...)

Question 5: Are there any other experiences you have had which you
feel are relevant to our competencies and would like us to be aware of?
(Please limit to 150 words)
*the globalist conference
*BM/Insight
(check through the other competencies which are not covered so much in the rest
of the application, to see if you can get the in here)