Sample letter for students to request teaching placement in schools

I have been contacted by a number of students who would love some guidance about how to write effective letters and emails requesting schools to host them for teaching placements. I got you covered!

When you are sending out your email or letter to schools, it will be important to show them that you have some degree of understanding and empathy for each school and the individual setting that they have and the challenges that they face. This is all part of tailoring your application. 

Another important thing to highlight - is - that you have lots of useful skills - and that you can offer an extra pair of helping hands. Most schools will be delighted to accept a student if you outline the value of having you there and the skills that you bring. 

Objectives of this letter template

• To introduce yourself and the purpose of your email or letter

• To show that you understand that this is a challenging time for schools at present

• To outline what you have to offer on teaching placement

• To make the letter easily readable for the principal

• To show that you are flexible in nature and willing to help out

Tweak this letter for yourself

While you may be tempted to copy and paste this letter - word for word, part of selling yourself authentically is using your own voice and phrasing things as you would say them - so I encourage you to use the main points in this letter and tweak them to suit yourself. Furthermore, tailor each letter to the schools that you are applying to.

You can find a very useful list of schools and their contact details in Ireland here: https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Data-on-Individual-Schools/

Letter Template

Dear……. (Name of the Principal)

I am………. – a first/second/third-year student of ……… College. I am writing to express my interest in doing teaching placement in your school (you can state why if you like).

I appreciate that schools are very busy places and at (X time of the year) means (name some initiatives that may be ongoing) at that time of the year. 

……. College has also been providing us with interesting ways to...  (1-2 sentences) 

Placement details

In terms of my upcoming placement, the details are as follows

• (class, how many weeks, observation etc.)

A little about me

As you will see from my attached CV

• 1 sentence about your experience with children to date if you have any

• 1 sentence about your top curricular areas and why you are passionate about them.

• 1 sentence about a talent you have and how you could use it in the classroom.

I would love to provide you with an extra pair of hands on my teaching placement. I am excited to begin and put into play the wonderful ideas and methodologies that …… College have taught us.

If you are willing to facilitate my teaching placement I would be very grateful.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Best wishes,

Your name

Click here to download my free CV Template and get access to a tutorial that will help you make your CV stand out from the rest.

If you know any student teacher who is still looking to secure their teaching placement or subsequent placements - share this blog with them so that they will know how to outline to schools what they can offer.