Teacher CV Example (New Zealand)

Principals and school boards in New Zealand read a Teacher CV for three things: a current practising certificate from the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, evidence of what changed for your students, and signs that you will be a good colleague in the staffroom and a safe pair of hands with whānau. Put your registration and the category of your practising certificate at the top, name the year levels and subjects you teach, and give examples of student progress that are honest about how they were measured.

The Sample CV below is for a secondary mathematics teacher with seven years at two Waikato schools, holding a full practising certificate and two management units as teacher in charge of junior numeracy. It describes teaching in concrete terms, such as NCEA achievement, a numeracy intervention and co-curricular coaching, and pairs each with a result the principal can check.

Tailor it to the school. A large urban college wants NCEA results and departmental systems; an area school wants range across year levels; a school with a high Māori roll wants your te reo and tikanga in practice, not in a sentence about values. Read the advert in the Education Gazette closely for the units on offer. The US counterpart of this page is the teacher resume example, written for American school districts on Letter paper, and the Faculty template is laid out for teaching roles.

Updated . The person and employers in this Sample CV are fictional. Written for applicants in New Zealand; the page for applicants in the US is the teacher resume example.

Teacher sample CV

Drawn at A4 proportions, the paper a New Zealand CV is printed on.

Kiri Donnelly

Secondary Mathematics Teacher, Years 9 to 13, Full Practising Certificate

Hillcrest, Hamiltonkiri.donnelly@example.com021 555 0173

Summary

Secondary mathematics teacher with seven years at two Waikato schools, teaching Years 9 to 13 in classes of 24 to 30. Holds a full practising certificate and two management units as teacher in charge of junior numeracy, and lifted NCEA Level 1 numeracy achievement in my classes above the school's rate for three years running. Collaborative in the department, in regular contact with whānau and committed to the students who arrive behind.

Experience

Mathematics Teacher and Teacher in Charge of Junior Numeracy, Pukete Heights College

– Present

Hamilton

  • Teach five mathematics classes across Years 9 to 13, about 130 students a year, including a Level 3 calculus class and a Year 11 class sitting the NCEA numeracy co-requisite.
  • Built a twice-weekly numeracy intervention for Year 9 and 10 students using e-asTTle data; most students in the group reached the expected curriculum level by the end of the year.
  • Lead the junior numeracy programme as teacher in charge, writing the Year 9 and 10 schemes and moderating assessments with four colleagues.
  • Coach the senior girls' football team and run the school's Mathex team, which placed in the top three of the Waikato competition two years running.
Mathematics Teacher, Taupiri Hills Area School

–

Taupiri

  • Taught mathematics from Year 7 to Year 13 in an area school of 400 students, including a combined Year 12 and 13 statistics class.
  • Completed the induction and mentoring programme for provisionally certificated teachers and gained a full practising certificate in 2020.
  • Moved lessons online within a fortnight during the 2020 lockdown, with daily video lessons and a weekly check-in call to every whānau.

Education

Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Secondary)

Te Rapa Institute of Education, Hamilton

Practicum placements at a Hamilton college and a rural area school.

Bachelor of Science (Mathematics)

Southern Waikato University, Hamilton

Skills

  • NCEA Levels 1 to 3 assessment and moderation
  • Differentiated teaching
  • Numeracy intervention
  • Culturally responsive practice and te reo Māori in the classroom
  • Classroom management
  • e-asTTle and PAT data
  • Scheme and unit planning
  • KAMAR student management
  • Google Classroom
  • Whānau communication
  • Co-curricular coaching

Certifications

  • Full Practising Certificate (Tūturu), Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand,
  • Police vetting completed, New Zealand Police,

Start yours from this example

Opens this sample in the editor, in one of the templates below. Swap in your details, then tailor it to each vacancy in about two minutes.

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How a New Zealand CV differs

A teacher's CV in New Zealand uses a different vocabulary from the American one. Registration is with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and is shown as a practising certificate, provisional or full, rather than a state certification; the students are in year levels, not grades, and the qualification is NCEA, not a state test; responsibility comes as management units, not a stipend; and the appointment is made by the principal and the school board, who expect referees and police vetting. Two pages on A4, no photo, and the Education Gazette is where the vacancies are.

For a teacher in New Zealand

  1. Practising certificate category

    Write Teaching Council registered with the category, Provisional (Tōmua) or Full (Tūturu), and the expiry. A provisionally certificated teacher says so and names the induction and mentoring programme they are on or have completed.

  2. Year levels and NCEA

    Use Years 1 to 13, curriculum levels, NCEA Levels 1 to 3 and the literacy and numeracy co-requisites. Grades, AP and a state standards framework read as written for somewhere else.

  3. Te Tiriti and te reo Māori in practice

    The Standards for the Teaching Profession ask for partnership under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Give one example from your classroom: te reo you use daily, a unit built with local iwi, or how you work with whānau. A pepeha is welcome but not required.

  4. Units and responsibilities

    Management units and middle leadership allowances are how responsibility is shown. Name them: teacher in charge, dean, head of department, and the units that came with each.

  5. Referees, usually your principal

    Boards ask for two or three referees, with your current principal among them, and vet through the New Zealand Police. Name them at the end, or write that they are available on request if your principal does not yet know you are applying.

Every CV in New Zealand

A4 paper
New Zealand prints on A4. Set the page size before you export; a Letter-sized PDF is the usual sign of a US template.
Two pages is normal
Two pages is the norm. One page for a first job; a third page only for a long senior career.
No photo
No photo, date of birth or marital status. New Zealand employers do not expect them and most prefer the CV without them.
Dates as DD/MM/YYYY
Day first where a full date appears, and month and year for each role. Never the US month-first order.
New Zealand English
New Zealand English follows British spelling: organise, programme, centre, licence, specialise.
Suburb and city, not a street address
"Mount Eden, Auckland" is enough on the contact line. A full street address is not expected.

More on applying in New Zealand, with every CV example for it, on the New Zealand page.

Templates for the teacher CV

All templates

Every template exports on A4. The previews are drawn on Letter; the editor sets the page size when you export.

How the CV changes with experience

The same teacher CV, written at three levels: a profile and three bullets for each.

Entry level

Zero to two years, or a first post in the title

Provisionally certificated teacher with a Graduate Diploma of Teaching and two practicum placements in Years 7 to 10 science. Teaching Council registered, keen to begin the induction and mentoring programme at a supportive school.

  • Planned and taught full days during a seven-week practicum in Year 9 and 10 science at a Hamilton college.
  • Ran a lunchtime homework club twice a week that the school kept going after the placement.
  • Worked as a teacher aide for a year before the diploma, supporting students with learning needs in a Year 7 class.

Mid level

Three to seven years, owns a process or a workload

English teacher with four years at an Auckland college, focused on writing and on getting Year 13 students through the literacy credits they need for university entrance.

  • Teach four English classes across Years 10 to 13 and one Year 11 literacy class.
  • Redesigned the Level 2 writing portfolio unit with clearer steps and more feedback.
  • Run the school magazine and mentor its student editors.

Senior

Eight years or more, leads people, budgets or programmes

Head of Faculty with fifteen years of experience leading a mathematics faculty of nine teachers and lifting NCEA achievement across a school.

  • Lead a faculty of nine teachers, write its annual plan and run its professional learning.
  • Mentor provisionally certificated teachers through observations and feedback towards full certification.
  • Led the move to the new NCEA Level 1 standards across the faculty a year ahead of the deadline.

Skills to put on the teacher CV

Hard skills

Registration and subject depth
A board can only appoint a teacher the Teaching Council has certificated, and a principal checks the category and expiry before reading anything else.
NCEA assessment and moderation
Secondary schools are judged on NCEA achievement, and a teacher who assesses accurately and moderates well protects the school's results.
Differentiated teaching
A New Zealand class spans several curriculum levels, and meeting students where they are is the core of the job.
Data use with e-asTTle and PAT
Schools track progress on these tools, and a teacher who plans from the data is valued by the senior leadership team.
Culturally responsive practice
The Standards for the Teaching Profession include Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership, and a principal wants evidence of it in your teaching, not a sentence about values.
Classroom management
A well-run room is where learning happens, and the interview panel asks how you set it up.

Soft skills

Patience with students who are behind
Progress takes time, and principals look for a teacher who stays steady with the students who need it most.
Whānau communication
A partnership with whānau supports attendance and learning, and schools notice the teacher who makes the first call.
Collaboration
Teachers plan and moderate in departments and across Kāhui Ako, and a principal wants a good colleague.

Mistakes that cost teacher interviews

  1. Registration buried

    Put Teaching Council registration, the practising certificate category and the expiry in the headline or near the top. A principal screens on it before reading a bullet.

  2. Duties instead of evidence

    Planned lessons and marked assessments describes every teacher. Show what you did differently and what happened for students, with the measure the school uses.

  3. Claiming results that are not yours

    Be honest about how progress was measured and who contributed. A modest statement about e-asTTle growth in your own classes is more credible than a whole-school figure.

  4. American vocabulary

    Grades, a state licence, semesters and a one-page layout on Letter paper tell a New Zealand principal the CV came from a US template. Use year levels, NCEA and A4.

  5. Leaving out the co-curricular

    Coaching, camps, kapa haka, the school production and committee work show commitment to the school community, and boards ask about them. Include the ones you would do again.

Questions about the teacher CV

What should a teacher's CV include in New Zealand?

Teaching Council registration and the practising certificate category, year levels and subjects, class sizes, your teaching approach, student progress with the measure used, units and responsibilities, work with whānau, co-curricular roles and referees.

How do I show student progress on a teaching CV?

Use the measures the school uses, such as NCEA achievement, e-asTTle or PAT progress and curriculum levels, and say what you did that contributed. Keep the claim to your own classes.

How do I write a CV as a provisionally certificated teacher?

Lead with your registration and the diploma, then each practicum with the year levels, the subject and what you planned and taught. Add teacher aide work, tutoring, coaching and anything else with young people.

How long should a teacher's CV be?

Two pages. A provisionally certificated teacher often fits one; a head of faculty with several schools may run to a third, but rarely.

Do I need a cover letter as well as a CV?

Yes. Most schools ask for a cover letter and an application form alongside the CV, and the letter is where you speak to the school's values and the advert. Write the CV first so the letter has something to point at.

How do I tailor my CV to a particular school?

Read the advert and the school's charter, lead with the year levels and the units on offer, and move the bullets that match to the top. Paste the advert into Resume Master and it rewrites the CV against it in about two minutes.

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