Primary school teacher CV example

How to write a CV for a primary school teacher

So now that you’ve selected the perfect format for you, it’s time to get into the details of your CV.

In the following sections, we’re going to outline how to write a CV for a primary school teacher, including:

• How to add contact details to your primary school teacher CV
• Primary school teacher CV personal statement
• How to present your work history on a primary school teacher CV
• Primary school teacher CV skills
• Primary school teacher CV education

How to add contact details to your primary school teacher CV

Let’s get the first thing right – it’s important to add up-to-date contact details, so that any schools that you apply to can easily reach you. The general process for doing this is to note your information near the top of your CV, in a larger or bolder font so that it’s easy to spot.

Make sure to include:

• Your full name – you can leave out any middle names.
• Location – so that your employer knows where you’re based.
• Phone number – if you can, list a mobile number so you’re easy to reach.
• Email – make sure to use a professional address.

Example of contact section for primary school teacher CV

Primary school teacher CV personal statement

Are you trying to make the perfect first impression? You can do this with an effective and persuasive personal statement. This is your chance to outline your most highly sought-after skills, achievements, and qualifications. Keep in mind that hiring managers will be looking for quick information, especially if they’re going through multiple CVs. You’re only going to have three to four sentences to work with, so you’ll have to pack them with information.

Use sentence one to introduce yourself, including your career focus and how many years of experience you have. With sentence two, define something you have achieved backed up with concrete evidence. Sentences three and four are all about highlighting any unique skills or experience you have.

What do we mean by ‘concrete evidence?’ In short, this is any fact or figure you can use to show your employer evidence of previous experience. For example, you could say how you have taught a year 6 class for over a year and achieved high SATs results.

Here are some other important things for you to keep in mind:

• Always write in the third person as this is the standard for professional CVs.
• Don’t exceed 100 words.
• Use a formal, polite, and friendly tone.
• Use keywords and phrases to let the employer know you have the right experience and knowledge.
• Don’t talk about future career ambitions.

Example of personal statement for primary school CV

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How to present your work history on a primary school teacher CV

Your employment background is likely to be one of the first things a school or local authority will check. The more experience you have, the more suited you are for the position. However, this doesn’t mean that a newly qualified teacher is not desirable. Either way, you’re going to want to define your work experience in an eye-catching and cohesive way.

Begin from either your current or most recent role, noting up to six responsibilities for each role. We would advise you to add more details about your experience that directly reflect the job advertisement in question.

Work through your experience in the following order:

• Job title
• Employment start and end dates
• Company name
• Company location
• List of key responsibilities
• Any achievements, awards, and promotions

Make sure to keep adding statistics and concrete evidence. For example, if you have previously led after-school clubs, make sure to mention this, such as “coached after-school football, leading team to victory in three tournaments.” Adding in details like this is a sure-fire way to catch an employer’s eye!

You will also want to make sure that you avoid both repetitive or irrelevant information. Instead of writing “taught lessons,” you can write “taught engaging lessons catered to students of all ability levels.” This expands upon the otherwise regular and expected responsibility for all teachers. You should also avoid writing basic tasks such as “answering emails,” as this is a given for many professional job roles.

Lastly, make sure that you write with confidence. Use positive adjectives and action verbs to make your experience come alive. For example, describe yourself as “supportive,” “experienced,” and “positive.” Action verbs are anything you can replace “responsible for” with. For a primary school teacher, consider using “led,” “guided,” and “conducted.

Example of work experience for a primary school teacher CV

Primary school teacher CV skills

There’s also a chance that employers may go right to the skills section of your CV. CV skills sections are vital for this reason. These keywords and phrases are added to stand out and let the reader know that you have the right experience for the experience right away. It’s important to note around 12 in total, including some hard skills and some soft skills.

Hard skills are specialised skills that you have obtained through practical experience or through education. This will include things like “lesson planning” or “health and safety.” Soft skills, on the other hand, are positive personality traits that help to describe what you’re like as a teacher. Some of the top examples here include “organised,” “adaptable,” and “compassionate.”

You’re going to need to add both of these to stand apart from your competition. If you need some ideas, check below for some good examples:

Primary school teacher CV education

You can think of the education section of your CV as the foundation for everything else. It is your chance to show that you have the required qualifications to be an effective primary school teacher. Here is the time for you to discuss your school, college, and university career. You can also add any relevant professional training or memberships to governing bodies that you may have.

As a primary school teacher, you’ll want to extensively outline your educational history, including your GCSEs, A-Levels, and your higher education experience. You’ll also want to outline your PGCE year or any other teaching qualifications that you have. If you’ve worked in different professions, these might not always be relevant – so watch out!

When it comes to outlining your educational history, use the following format:

• Name of school, college, university, or other awarding body
• Study start and end dates
• Subject title
• Qualification level
• The result you achieved

Example of education for primary school teacher CV

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