31 Jan How to Succeed in Your Lesson Observation Interview for a Primary School Teaching Position

Securing a teaching role in a UK primary school often involves delivering a demonstration lesson. This gives the interview panel a chance to see how you interact with pupils, manage the classroom, and deliver a curriculum-aligned lesson. To succeed, you need to prepare thoroughly, engage pupils effectively, and showcase your understanding of primary education principles. Here’s are some suggestions on to impress in your teaching lesson interview.

Find Out About the School

A prior knowledge of the school and the catchment area can help you tailor your lesson appropriately, and demonstrates to the interview panel that you are aware that external factors can influence every lesson and interaction with children.

• School and its culture: Consider the ethos of the school and play to its strengths. Is there a big push on the arts? How can you build that into your lesson? Is it particularly sport-driven? Can you incorporate that?
• Catchment area and demographic: Consider how your lesson content feeds into the experiences and lives of the children in the classroom. The way you pitch your lesson and teaching will greatly improve your chances of the teaching being received well by the students and those who are interviewing you.
• Subject-specific approaches: Find out about the phonics and maths programmes that are used. Can this be built into your teaching?

Understand the School’s Expectations

Clarify all details about the demonstration lesson, including:

• Year group and subject: Tailor your lesson to the appropriate age and ability level, whether it’s a phonics session for Year 1 or a maths lesson for Year 5.
• National Curriculum objectives: Ensure your lesson aligns with the relevant key stage framework. For example, include age-appropriate objectives from the Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2 National Curriculum.
• Time limit: Plan a lesson that fits the given time, allowing for an introduction, main activity, and plenary. But don’t try to fit too much in! It’s better to have a good pace of your lesson rather than racing through to get through everything you’ve planned. Perhaps have an emergency quiz or activity as emergency ‘time-filler’ – but make sure it stays on topic!
• Supporting adults: Make sure to find out whether you will have the use of teaching assistants and whether they will be supporting specific children. You will be expected to deploy other adults in the classroom effectively, so plan this into your lesson.
• Available resources: Check whether you can use technology (e.g., interactive whiteboards) or manipulatives like counters or number lines. Have a back up though, just in case the technology doesn’t work, or the resources aren’t available that day.

If any information is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask for clarification in advance.

Craft a Strong Lesson Plan

A well-structured and engaging lesson plan is essential. Depending on the type of lesson that you are asked to deliver, consider using a clear framework such as:

• Learning objective: Clearly state what pupils will know or be able to do by the end of the session.
• Introduction (starter): Capture attention with an engaging hook, such as a question, story, or short activity.
• Main input: Deliver concise, interactive teaching with explanations, visuals, and questioning to assess understanding.
• Activity: Plan differentiated tasks that allow pupils to practise and apply their learning. For example, include a hands-on activity for younger children or problem-solving tasks for older pupils.
• Plenary: Summarise learning, address misconceptions, or use a quick quiz to check understanding.

Make sure the lesson is interactive, age-appropriate, and rooted in the curriculum.

Demonstrate Effective Classroom Management

In primary schools, good classroom management is critical. Show the panel how you:

• Establish clear expectations: Use positive language to outline behaviour rules at the start.
• Build relationships: Introduce yourself and share a few things about yourself. Ask children for their names when they put their hands up so that you can recall this at a later point in the lesson. Children respond positively to being recognised and remembered and it will help with behaviour management too.
• Engage pupils: Keep attention with varied activities, frequent questioning, and active participation.
• Manage behaviour positively: Use strategies like praise and gentle redirection to handle minor disruptions.
• Monitor progress: Circulate during activities, offering support and celebrating successes.

Primary classrooms thrive on routines and positive reinforcement, so ensure your approach reflects this.

Include Differentiation

The ability to support all pupils, including those with special educational needs (SEN) or higher abilities, is a key skill.

• Adjust tasks for varying ability levels (e.g., using simpler instructions, scaffolding, or extension activities) and be prepared to differentiate or adapt activities mid-lesson if needed
• Incorporating multi-sensory learning approaches, such as visuals, physical tasks, and discussions.
• Using resources like word banks, sentence starters, or manipulatives to support struggling learners.

This demonstrates your commitment to inclusive teaching.

Showcase Your Passion for Teaching

Primary schools value teachers who can create a nurturing, inspiring learning environment. Display your enthusiasm by:

• Engaging warmly with pupils, addressing them by name where possible.
• Using an energetic and positive tone to motivate learners.
• Demonstrating a genuine interest in pupils’ ideas and progress.

A friendly, approachable demeanour will leave a strong impression.

Plan for Flexibility

No lesson ever goes exactly to plan, and being able to adapt is a vital skill for a primary teacher.

• Pupils don’t understand: Simplify your explanations or use a different example.
• Time runs short: Prioritise the most important learning objective.
• Technology fails: Have a backup activity or alternative way to present your content.

Adaptability shows that you can remain calm and resourceful in a real classroom.

Reflect and Respond Confidently

After the lesson, the panel may ask you to reflect on your performance.

• Identify what worked well and why.
• Discuss what you’d improve next time and how.
• What you would cover in the next lesson and, if possible, identify groups of children that would benefit from additional support, or from extension activities.

Demonstrating self-awareness and a growth mindset is highly valued in the teaching profession.

Succeeding in a teaching lesson interview is about more than delivering content: it’s about creating a positive, engaging learning environment while demonstrating your understanding of the curriculum and inclusive teaching practices. By preparing thoroughly and showcasing your passion for education, you’ll leave a lasting impression on the interview panel.

At Moore Teachers, we do more than help you to find your perfect teaching or support staff role – we are committed to supporting your professional development and enabling you to achieve the very best. This is why you won’t just register with us and then never have much personal contact with our team. We can provide advice (based on our own expertise and a combined total of over 35 years of teaching experience) to help you with lesson planning for your interview, CPD, assessment, behaviour management, and much more to support you within the classroom and your teaching practice.

Contact us today to find out how we can help you find your next position in the classroom: teachers, teaching assistants, learning support assistants as well as office, midday and kitchen assistants, and caretakers. Call us on 01992 611902 or email us at tina@mooreteachers.co.uk. We look forward to speaking with you!

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