Programme Director Welcome
PGCE Primary (Full-time) 2012-13
Welcome to the PGCE Primary Programme. This letter outlines two key areas
of importance for the beginning of the course; the Observation Practice in
schools and the start of the new term.
Before Joining the Programme
Please read all the information on the website incredibly carefully, particularly in terms of dates for each term and both school practices. One crucial decision you must also make is to confirm which age phase you would like to train in. You provided this at your interview, but subject to written request to me, you can change your mind at this stage. Your choices are:
- 3-7 year olds (Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1)
- 5-11 year olds (Key Stages 1 and 2)
This information should be included on the Placement form, which is also
on the website. This form must be completed in its entirety and sent back to
the address provided by August 1st at the very latest. We will use this
information to organise your placements, so early receipt is vital. The
blurb on the webpage referring to the Placement form gives further details
on this.
Initial Observation in school
Before the PGCE begins we feel it would be beneficial for you to undertake some further observation experience in school as this will help you to develop your understanding of teaching and learning before the start of the course. We would like this to be two weeks and it can be in any primary school.
During this period of observation we would like every student to have some experience in all three key stages in the primary school period – Foundation, KS1 and KS2. These experiences will give you an insight into progression and continuity in the primary curriculum and confirm your choice of age phase (3–7 or 5–11 years). There is no teaching requirement/expectation in this practice.
It is your responsibility to make arrangements for this initial observation with your local schools. You should approach them to see if they are willing to have you in the first instance either by phone or in writing. After you have made the initial contact with the school/s, and agreed the arrangements, then arrange to send the letter marked for the Headteacher/s, which can be found under the Independent Study pack on the main menu of this site. Remember you might need to visit more than one school in order to see all the key stages. You will also find the observation instruction booklet for you to follow, and report form/s, which should be given to the Headteacher for completion when you have finished your observation experiences. The observation report form will be your confirmation of attendance and should outline the experience you have gained during your time in the school/s. Hand this report to the Partnership Office (Of39 in Old Sessions House) during your first week in University.
In a booklet we have written some observation tasks to help you make the
most of the time in school. The booklet is full of suggested structured
activities that will help guide you through your observations, rather than
simply allow the days to pass through potentially aimlessly. Please make
sure that you discuss with your class teacher what is involved. The
completed booklet will not be formally marked by your tutors, but please
bring the completed document into University as your experiences during the
observation will feed into seminar discussions during the first part of the
Programme.
Arrangements for the start of the Programme
The PGCE Primary (Full-time) 2012/13 programme is provisionally due to start on Monday 17 September.
A draft outline timetable to help you with your arrangements is available
on this site. Please note that this timetable is for illustrative guidance
only and is subject to change. Ahead of the 2012-13 the Faculty of Education
is undertaking a revalidation of all its Initial Teacher Education
programmes, which may mean a significantly different timetable is
constructed for next year, and this may not be
available until the Programme starts in September. However, please bear in
mind that attendance will be required in University on a full time basis and
arrangements will need to be organised with this in mind.
I hope that your observation experiences prove to be informative and enjoyable. We look forward to welcoming you in September at the start of what we hope will be a challenging, but exciting and rewarding new career.
Yours sincerely,
Graham Birrell
PGCE Primary Programme Director
Tel: 01227 782476
Email: graham.birrell@canterbury.ac.uk