Secondary PGCE
Pre-course information – 2017 Entry
Contents: Page:
Welcome letter from the Head of Secondary Education and Secondary
PGCE Programme Leader 2
Section A: Essential Information for all Secondary PGCE Trainees 3
Your communication address 4
Edge Hill contacts 4
Code of Conduct 5
Induction 5
Provisional school experience and term dates 6
Attendance 6
School experience placements 7
Travel to placements 8
Section B: Action you should take now 9
Conditions of offer
Tuition fees
Photographs
Trainee Teacher Profile and Placement Assistance forms
Section C: How you can prepare for the programme
Standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status 13
Subject specific action 13
Subject knowledge audit and enhancement 13
Information and communications technology 13
Professional Skills tests 14
General pre-course reading 14
Appendices:
No / Description1 / Professional standards for qualified teacher status
2 / Checklist of what you should do now
3 / Partnership and school experience
4 / Trainee travel policy
5 / Trainee Teacher Profile Form template
Dear ITT trainee
Welcome to Edge Hill University. We are very pleased that you have chosen Edge Hill as the place to train for your future career in teaching. As you will know, we have an enviable reputation as a provider of teacher training and take great pride in that fact.
We recognise the important role we play in supplying high quality teachers for the future, which in turn contributes to the raising of standards in schools. We will provide you with the high quality training that you need to make such contributions and succeed in the teaching profession. Tutors within the Faculty of Education will support you throughout your time with us and ensure that you achieve your maximum potential. In all that we do, our ultimate aim is your success.
If there is anything that you need to ask us before you start then please do not hesitate to contact me.
We very much look forward to welcoming you as a trainee and hope that you will find the enclosed pre-course information useful in helping you to prepare for the PGCE programme.
Please ensure you return the Trainee Teacher Profile form (Appendix 5) to your Course Leader, whose email address on pages 4 or 5 of this booklet.
When emailing your forms, could you please include the following in the subject title of the email: Name, PGCE Subject and the heading Pre-Course Form e.g. Michael Yung PGCE Science Pre-Course Forms.
Yours sincerely
Lynne Warham
Secondary PGCE Programme Leader
Section A:
Essential Information
A: Essential information
Welcome to Edge Hill University and in particular to the Faculty of Education. You will shortly be undertaking a course leading to PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status and a career that we hope you will find long and rewarding. This is a challenging course which offers opportunities for a high level of personal satisfaction. It aims to produce innovative and creative teachers whose committed professionalism inspires the pupils in their care. Through a carefully structured programme, working with schools and colleges in partnership, we aim to ensure that you develop the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to become an effective classroom practitioner and successful role model.
It is important that you read this booklet and ensure that you complete all the administrative tasks needed to secure your place.
Your address for communications
Successful completion of this course requires regular communication and contact between yourselves and your University tutors. It is essential that we have an up to date contact address and phone number should there be any queries. It is advisable to leave both term time and vacation contact details where these are not the same. Please ensure you keep the Admissions Office and UCAS informed of any change of address. Once you begin the course please ensure that Academic Registry, your Course Leader and the Secondary Programmes Administrator are kept informed of any changes.
Who to contact at Edge Hill with queries
If you need to contact Edge Hill with any query relating to your entry to the course, please call the Admissions Office on 01695 650950 or email .
If you have any queries relating to your school placements, please contact the Faculty of Education Office on 01695 584281, 584794 or 584795.
Other key staff you may need to contact are listed below:
Lynne Warham / Secondary PGCE Programme Leader / 01695 584732 /Justine Smith / Course Leader – Design & Technology / 01695 584303 /
Natalie Reynolds / Course Leader – English, Drama / 01695 584824 /
Charles Rawding / Course Leader – Geography / 01695 584207 /
Steve Illingworth / Course Leader – History / 01695 587473 /
Dawn Hewitson / Course Leader –
Computer Science and IT / 01695 650893 /
Martin Pickett / Course Leader – Mathematics / 01695 584402 /
Rob Burgess / Course Leader – Physical Education / 01695 584807 /
Francis Farrell / Course Leader – Religious Education / 01695 584220 /
Bernard Kerfoot / Course Leader – Science / 01695 584640 /
Liz Bird / Secondary Programmes Administrator / 01695 584281 /
Code of Professional Conduct
As a trainee teacher, you will spend a significant proportion of your course on placement in schools or other setting. When on placement, and in the University, you will be expected to present and conduct yourself in a way that is consistent with the professional expectations of a teacher.
Detailed guidance is provided in the ‘Code of Professional Conduct for ITT Trainees’. You will receive this during your course induction and will be asked to sign a copy to indicate that you understand and accept the professional expectations and requirements of school placements.
First week /Induction
Programme Enrolment takes place on Friday 1st September 2017 at the University. You will receive details later about the enrolment process.
The PGCE Secondary Programme commences on Monday 4th September 2017. You will receive specific details later this year about the programme for the first week. However, it is expected that you will be asked to arrive at 8.30am for a 9.00am start.
You will be in Edge Hill for the first three weeks, attending a series of induction activities as well as beginning your work within your subject areas. Induction at your Professional Practice will follow, and is dependent on all enrolment conditions being met and the practice training schedule.
You will receive Programme and Course Handbooks during this induction phase and these will set out the timetable for the rest of the academic year.
Provisional placement and term dates
PGCE course starts
/ Monday 4th September 2017Professional Practice 1
Phase A (if starting 26.9.16)
/ To begin between 25th September and 12th October 2017.Induction week / 25th September -29th September 2017
Phase 1A Placement / 2nd October – 14h December 2017
(Monday-Thursday)
Phase B
Phase 1B Placement / 8th January – 22nd February 2018
(Monday-Thursday)
Professional Practice 2
(If starting 13.3.17) / To begin between 12th March and 30th March 2018Induction and Preparation / 12th March – 16th March 2018
Practice 2 Placement / 19th March – 22ndJune 2018
Edge Hill based NQT preparation period / 25th June – 6th July 2018
End of Programme (for most trainees) / 6th July 2018*
You will be expected to take the same Christmas and Easter break as the school/college. The timing of Half term holidays varies, and you should attend your placement setting in line with their holiday periods.
*The programme may run until the end of the summer term (mid-July) for some trainees, as required by training needs and progress on professional practice. We advise that you do not make any holiday arrangements prior to end of the summer term.
Attendance
The PGCE is a professional programme and attendance at all sessions is compulsory. You will normally be required to be in Edge Hill between 8.00am and 5.00pm each day, although this may vary slightly in the individual subject areas. Timings will be set in order that you have access to the appropriate resources for your subject.
Once you are in your placement school/college you must fit in with the normal arrangements for staff in that institution. Many schools now commence by 8.30am and you can expect to be in school until 4.30pm, or later if there are specific meetings or meetings that involve you. During your time in school, you are expected to attend meetings and events that constitute part of the work of a member of staff (such as parents’ evenings). Should you have any difficulties with this then you should discuss this further with your Course Leader.
During the programme you will be required to report all absences (and for each day of any absence) and to apply for any leave due to exceptional circumstances in advance. You will be required to maintain attendance registers for your time in Edge Hill and on placement and these should be signed by tutors/mentors as appropriate. All absences due to illness must be supported by medical certification. This is required to ensure compliance with the statutory number of training days and days in school.
Placements
Edge Hill University’s Partnership with schools and other educational settings is at the heart of the Faculty of Education’s work in ITT. The Partnership enables EHU-based and placement-based colleagues to work together to develop and enhance all aspects of the relationship including the trainee’s experience.
The University is proud to operate over a wide range of schools and settings both in terms of their intake populations and geographical location. For example the Partnership operates in the North West, Shropshire, N E Lincolnshire, N and W Yorkshire and the W Midlands among other places.
Such a wide and diverse Partnership gives trainees opportunities to compare and contrast policy and practice in different schools/settings and Local Authorities through undertaking placements in these demographically and geographically diverse locations. The Faculty of Education operates a Trainee Travel Policy to support trainees undertaking placement at a distance and gives trainees material support to undertake placements in the extended geographical area.
Your Placements – getting the most out of the ITT experience
Your placements will be in at least two different schools or settings that match the age range you are training to teach. They are found through matching your training needs with offers of placement made by schools and settings.
On all ITT Programmes the placements follow the pattern:
· Professional Practice Phase 1a (a gradual and staged move from observation to planning and teaching);
· Professional Practice Phase 1b (developing competence in planning, teaching and assessment);
· Professional Practice 2 (consolidating competence and addressing areas in which to excel).
The placements involve you in working towards your named award and Qualified Teacher Status through guidance and consultation with your mentors and tutors. They also enable your mentors and tutors to assess your progress against the Teachers’ Standards for the award of QTS (DfE Revised 2013).
In Appendix 5 of this information pack you will find a Trainee Teacher Profile Form. It is important that you complete this form and return to us as soon as possible (via email to your Course Leader, whose email address on pages 4 or 5 of this booklet).
The choice of main school placements is the responsibility of the Faculty of Education and, consequently, trainees are not able to choose their placement schools.
All contact with placement schools is made formally via the Faculty of Education’s ITT Partnership Team and trainees are not permitted to contact schools directly before placements are finalised and displayed on Faculty of Education electronic notice boards.
Travel to Placements
As a general rule you will be expected to make your own way to a placement. On some occasions, however, it may be financially viable for Edge Hill to provide transport for trainees who are travelling from Edge Hill. Where such transport is provided trainees are not eligible to claim travelling expenses if they choose to use their own transport. Those who are required to make their own way to school will be eligible to claim travelling expenses over and above the cost/distance of their usual daily journey from home to Edge Hill. Where it is agreed that you can use their own transport to school, you must ensure that your car insurance is adequate to cover use of your car for this purpose.
For further information regarding this please refer to the Faculty of Education’s Trainee Travel Policy (Appendix 4).
Section B:
Action you should take now
B: Action you should take now
Conditions of offer
On the letter offering you a place on the course, we may have stated some essential conditions. If this is the case, please address these conditions immediately to avoid delays in registration at the start of the course.
Some forms may not be available until later in the year (e.g. Medical and DBS forms). You are advised to check the following website for news on when these forms will be dispatched: www.edgehill.ac.uk/admissions/pgce-offers/ .
Tuition Fees
For the latest information on PGCE tuition fees and student finance options please visit our website: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/postgraduate/fees. If you have any queries you can contact the Money Advice Team on 01695 657250 or email .
Photographs
You will need to provide us with a passport sized photograph of yourself. This should be inserted into the Trainee Teacher Profile Form and returned to your Course Leader, whose email address on pages 4 or 5 of this booklet.
When emailing your forms, could you please include the following in the subject title of the email: Name, PGCE Subject and the heading Pre-Course Forms e.g. Michael Yung PGCE Science Pre-Course Forms.
Trainee Teacher Profile form
We also require you to complete a word processed Trainee Teacher Profile form in the Faculty of Education’s Initial Teacher Training format (Appendix 5). This will be used to provide your placement schools with more information about your background. It is therefore essential that you reproduce the standard word-processed format included in this pack. A handwritten version is not an acceptable format.