Courses and Prospectus

Introduction 

The PGCE Primary part-time programme began in April 1999 and is now a well established route into teaching. The programme runs at three venues, the David Salomons Centre near Tunbridge Wells, and at the University’s Broadstairs and Medway Campuses. The programme starts in April of each year and students will complete 20 months later in December.

The programme aims to enable you to be a confident, competent classroom practitioner who can enable children to learn effectively across the whole curriculum. Two age phases are available for you to study, 3-7 or 5-11 years olds. These are also opportunities to gain academics credits at Master’s level.

Teaching and Learning Methods

The programme lasts for five terms with the equivalent of 18 weeks spent in schools, mostly in three blocks. You attend at your Centre for one day per week and attend at the Canterbury Campus on three Saturdays each term. It is essential for you to have access to computer facilities to give access to the University’s extensive websites and other relevant resources. The taught days last from 9.30am to 4.30pm.

Time is spent in lectures, seminars and workshops. Placement demands full attendance in school during each day, Monday to Friday, with evenings devoted to assessment and preparation. Students need to make arrangements to ensure they can be in school by 8.15am and remain until 4.30pm.

The programme runs in partnership with local primary schools which are fully involved in admissions, course planning and assessment of student teachers. The programme has been planned to meet the criteria set out by the current TDA standards and requirements and has four main modules:

Content

Professional Placement – Module 1
Placements take place mostly in local schools in Kent, Medway, East Sussex, Essex and the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley. You will be placed as close as possible to their home area but some travelling may be involved.

During placements, you work towards achieving the standards required for the recommendation of the award of Qualified Teachers Status (QTS). You are required to teach in two or more consecutive age ranges depending on their chosen pathway (3-7 or 5-11). The age ranges are 3-5, 5-7, 7-11.

Professional Studies – Module 2
This introduces you to core professional skills and wider issues which concern primary schools. Areas studied include classroom management, promoting behaviour for learning, children’s well-being, planning for children with varying individual education needs, target setting, planning teaching and accessing learning. Part of the assessment of this module can be taken at masters level.

Curriculum Studies – Module 3
Curriculum Studies ensures that you acquire a secure mastery of the core subjects and ICT in order to teach these subjects effectively to all children within a primary school setting. Taster courses are also taught in all foundation subjects of the National Curriculum, Primary Languages, and RE. You will learn how to plan for, teach and assess in these areas.

Also in Module Three, student teachers will follow a course aimed at the analysis and understanding of more advanced areas of primary pedagogy. This module will take a strong focus on cross-curricular issues and how teaching and learning is applied across the curriculum in a holistic manner. The assessment of this part of the module can be taken at masters level.

Entry Requirements

In addition to the entry requirements you will need the following:

• A good honours degree. In some cases an honours degree below a lower second class may be considered if the applicant also has a Master’s qualification.
• To demonstrate recent experience of working with primary age children (preferably in a school setting) and be able to analyse this in the personal statement of the application form.