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PGCE Primary Mathematics Specialist with QTS course preparation

We’re looking forward to welcoming you onto your PGCE Primary Mathematics Specialist with QTS programme. It’s designed to develop high quality, reflective teachers who are self-aware and committed to life-long development. Before your programme begins, there are a few activities we’d like you to engage with.

  • Please complete all tasks set out on this page. All the tasks are compulsory and may help you prepare for your programme. They’re not submitted or marked but will be referred to in taught sessions during the first few weeks on your course. And they’re designed to build your confidence and put you in the strongest position to begin your PGCE year.
  • Please engage with any reading highlighted in the curriculum tasks. All compulsory pre-course reading is freely available on the internet. You do not need to purchase the identified ‘key texts’ unless you would like to – these are available for you in the library.

Your induction day information

During Induction day, we’ll focus on your training, on the PGCE programme, and on your development as a primary trainee teacher. You’ll meet members of the wider departmental and faculty team. You’ll also learn about your timetable for the year, and about the opportunities which will be available to you throughout the programme.

Your induction timetable can be found in the Induction Timetable section of your applicant webpages.

Your induction day will be held in person. This session will not be streamed online.

Important: Placement guidance

Edge Hill is an English Teacher Training institution which trains teachers for the English system. In order to widen our students’ experience, and to enhance their employability, we’re sometimes able to provide Professional Practice placements outside England, in Wales, the Isle of Man, and Northern Ireland. It should be noted that such distance placements are not guaranteed, and the government requirement is that all students complete the majority of their training in England. While we are delighted to welcome students from all over the world onto this programme, it should be noted that we are training primarily for the English school system. Where distance placements are possible, they’re normally offered for the developmental placement, which is after the Christmas break.

Trainees are not expected to arrange their own placements; however, if there is a school where you’re already known, and which you think might agree, in principle, to offer you a placement, then you could forward a Placement Allocation Form (PAF), which will be sent out later this summer from the Think Edge Hill Team. Schools are guided to return these forms to our Partnership team. Where PAF placements are sought, we strongly encourage trainees to prioritise KS1 (ages 5-7) placements as these are in greater demand. All students will require one KS1 and one KS2 placement. Both placements must be in different schools.

Our partnership team will usually source your professional practice placements for you, however, if you’ve got strong links to a school where you’d like to undertake a Professional Practice Placement please let us know. You can do this by completing our Professional Practice Allocation Form (PPAF). We’re always happy to consider these schools and have a set process in place to do so.

If you intend to submit a PAF form to a school in Northern Ireland, please be sure to clarify the age range of the class you have sourced, as terminology to describe age phase differs between Northern Ireland and England, for example KS1 equates to Primary 2 and Primary 3 (P2 and P3) in Northern Ireland.

Interview targets

You may have received targets as part of your feedback from your interview with us.

Your targets might have included subject knowledge targets, improving grammar and punctuation in your writing, or improving your spoken English. We’d encourage all students to gain recent experience of Primary School, so you’re confident that this is the right career choice for you.

We strongly advise you to spend some time considering any targets, which you were given following your interview, and undertake any preparatory work which will help you to address these before the start of the programme.

National curriculum activities and reading – English

Your English tasks
National curriculum English orders

National curriculum activities and reading – Mathematics

Your mathematics tasks
Key text

National curriculum activities and reading – Science

Your science tasks
Key texts

National curriculum activities and reading – Foundation subjects

Your tasks

Your Mathematics specialist element

In order to graduate with the title of ‘PG Mathematics Specialist’ you are expected to attend additional taught days, over and above your standard route colleagues. There is no additional assessment, but the days are compulsory attendance on campus. These dates will be shared by your maths specialist lead, Debbie Hooton, at the beginning of the programme and are subject to change.

Your subject specialist tasks

Familiarise yourself with the NCETM website and then take a look at the following sections:

  • News and features. Keep up to date with developments in the maths world and how you can become involved.
  • Teaching for Mastery. Develop an understanding of what this means before you start the course.
  • Maths Hubs. Locate your nearest Hub and find out how they are supporting schools and the projects they are running.

Then create a short (5 minutes maximum) presentation using academic and other sources, titled “Why do children learn mathematics”. This task needs to be completed for the first of your specialist days in September.

Level 7 study

Your training will be guided by the Initial Teacher Training Early Career Framework. Take some time to look at the Initial Teacher Training Early Career Framework document so that you’re aware of the key areas of learning on the PGCE Primary Programme. We’ll look at a range of issues affecting Primary teachers and consider how we might manage these.

Your level 7 study task

Becoming a professional

One of the key priorities of schools is to keep children safe in education, as set out in this Department for Education document. Read part one beginning on page 5, and make sure you’re informed about your safeguarding responsibilities, as a primary teacher. We’ll discuss these during the programme in greater detail.

Useful websites

Over the summer you can also prepare for your programme by keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in the Education Sector. We have listed some useful websites, but you should also try and find additional sites of your own:

Meet your programme lead: