Pupils interview teaching job candidates

A London school has taken a novel approach to filling teaching vacancies by allowing pupils to help with the interviews, it has emerged.

Pupils at Coleridge primary school in Crouch End show the potential teachers around the school and ask them questions, reports the Hornsey & Crouch End Journal.

After speaking to an applicant, the pupils then give feedback to head teacher Shirley Boffey to help her make a more balanced judgement on the candidate.

"Children are very intuitive and have definite views of what good teaching is," Ms Boffey told the newspaper.

The head teacher also revealed that the scheme is popular with pupils, as show by the 150 who volunteered when the school advertised its latest teaching vacancy.

According to Department for Children, Schools and Families figures, Coleridge Primary School, which received an 'outstanding' rating from Ofsted in 2005/6, teaches around 500 pupils.

Some 98 per cent of pupils achieve key stage two level four or above in science and English at the school, 96 per cent are at level four or above in mathematics.