Preparing for your Bachelor of Teaching (Primary)

To follow are some suggestions about how to prepare for application to the Bachelor of Teaching (Primary).  They are not compulsory and unfortunately they will not guarantee you a place on the programme.

Spending time in a school

  • This will help to confirm your career decision, or you may find the realities of teaching may make you question this decision.
  • If you attend a particular primary school on a regular basis you may be able to ask the teacher in the class you are helping to complete one of our referee forms (we do require at least one of our reference forms to be completed by someone who has seen you interacting with children).
  • It will also be a useful resource in the BTP interview process.
  • Contact your local primary school or contact one of our partnership schools and explain that you are planning to apply next year and can you come in to observe or volunteer in a class? (See list of partnership schools at the end of this document).
  • If you are currently working or heavily committed with school/sports there are other ways that you might gain some experience with children – helping coach a sports team, after school care, school holiday programmes, church primary age teaching, scouts, babysitting.

 

Proof of academic ability to study at this level:

  • If you didn’t gain University Entrance but are over the age of 20 you are eligible to apply for the programme. If you are worried about how you will cope with academic writing and the jump to tertiary study we have two certificates, which are designed to help with this transition.  These are both one semester programmes and are offered in both February and July of each year.

If you have questions about either of these programmes please come and talk to us.

 

Trying tertiary study before you commit to three years

Important – please note:

These ideas are suggestions.  They will not guarantee you a place on the programme.  The Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) is a popular programme and there are many qualities that the interview panel are looking for.  We would strongly recommend that you apply early – the 2020 application packs will be available in September 2019.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Tairāwhiti Gisborne Partnership Schools

School                                                           Contact Details

Mangapapa School                                   06 867 5722              5 Rua Street, Mangapapa, Gisborne

Te Wharau School                                     06 868 9819              28 Graham Road, Inner Kaiti, Gisborne

Gisborne Central School                         06 867 5073               7 Central Street, Whataupoko

Waikirikiri School                                      06 868 8297               7 Pickering Street, Outer Kaiti, Gisborne

lllminster Intermediate                          06 867 6233              70 De Latour Roadd, Kaiti

Awapuni School                                         06 868 6660               129 Awapuni, Gisborne

Tolaga Bay Area School                           06 862 6765               Resolution Street, Tolaga Bay

Riverdale Primary School                       06 868 5468              324 Stout Street, Riverdale, Gisborne

HB Partnership Schools

 

School

Contact Details

Bledisloe School

P 06 844 2131, 30A Meeanee Road, Taradale

Clive Primary

P 06 870 0538, 57 Clive Road, Clive

Ebbett Park School

P 06 878 9599, 600 Oliphant Road, Raureka

Frimley Primary

P 06 878 8757, Frimley Road, Hastings

Greenmeadows Primary

P 06 844 7024, Osie r Road, Greenmeadows

Havelock North Primary

P 06 877 8788, Campbell Street, Havelock North

Mahora Primary

P 06 878 2622, Frederick Street, Hastings

Maraekakaho Primary

P 06 874 9700, Kereru Road, Maraekakaho

Mayfair School

P 06 878 5518, 1110 Willowpark Road, Mayfair

Napier Central

P 06 835 8136, 32 Napier Terrace, Napier

Nelson Park School

P 8356078, 48 Kennedy Road, Napier

Peterhead Primary

P 06 879 8570, Peterhead Avenue, Flaxmere

Porritt Primary

P 06 844 4620, 36 Lyttleton Crescent, Tamatea

Puketapu School

P 06 844 7837, 708 Puketapu Road, Puketapu

St Joseph’s Primary

P 06 878 7262, Eastbourne Street E, Hastings

St Mary’s Catholic Primary

P 06 876 6421, 901 Frederick Street, Mahora, Hastings

Te Mata Primary

P 06 877 7246, Nimon Street, Havelock North

Twyford Primary

P 06 879 7667, Twyford Road, Hastings

 

Other preparation

  • As part of the application process we have an interview. The interviews are completed in small groups of approximately six with an interview panel of three.  Most people feel very nervous and this is understandable.  The best way to alleviate these nerves is to prepare.  Think about the possible questions, eg Why do you want to be a teacher?  What skills and attributes would you bring to teaching? If you are at school and have not been interviewed before, you might want to practice with your Careers Advisor or family.  Take an interest in what is happening in the Education Sector and in primary teaching – look online, read the newspaper or watch the news. What topics do you notice coming up about education? Why are these interesting to you?
  • We also have a literacy exercise. If you normally use your computer when writing you might want to practice handwriting and thinking about your spelling and grammar.
  • There is also a numeracy exercise and there are no calculators allowed. You may want to brush up on your manual numeracy calculations, eg multiplication, addition, fractions, percentages, and primary school maths. Check out www.nzmaths.co.nz.