PGCE Primary Mathematics Specialist with QTS course preparation

We’re looking forward to welcoming you on 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 complete.

Please complete all tasks set out on this page. All the tasks are compulsory and will 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 – you don’t need to purchase the books unless it indicates that you need to, as there may be opportunities to purchase books when you arrive or borrow them from the library. 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.

The survey helps the Partnership Development Team (PDT) find an appropriate professional practice placement (PPP) for you. This is done by taking as many relevant details of your personal situation into account as possible.

If you’ve got strong links to a school where you’d like to undertake a PPP 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.

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 first placement, beginning in November.

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.

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.

Task – Writing an opening statement

Using no more than one page of A4, note:

What you are excited about
What you feel are your strengths
What you think you need to learn more about
What kind of primary teacher you would like to be.

You’ll be able to keep this statement, and include it in a professional portfolio which we’ll introduce during induction.

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’d like you to complete a small portfolio of evidence demonstrating what you’ve done to address these targets.

You need to be ready to discuss your targets with your Personal Tutor when you meet them during the first few weeks of your programme.

National curriculum activities and reading – English

Teaching children to explore, master and develop a passion for reading will be a fundamental part of your PGCE year. Aidan Chambers tells us that there is nothing more important in education than ‘helping learners of all ages to develop as readers and writers’ (Chambers, 2020: xiii)

Reading empowers children to engage with rich and wonderful texts which allow them to escape into other worlds and, as importantly, reflect their identities experience and lives in the real world. It is also essential in negotiating and questioning factual and information texts across the curriculum whilst at the same time equipping them with the ability to function in the world outside the classroom.

It is crucial that your knowledge of a range of books and authors to suit all primary age groups is developed in depth before and during your PGCE year. You will be role models and the inspiration for the readers you will meet during the year as student teachers and then as Early Career teachers.

There is no time like the present to begin this process.

Task one – If possible, please read and enjoy the following children’s book – The Boy at the back of the class by Onjali Q Rauf (2018). It’s a great introduction to life in a primary classroom from a child’s perspective and includes a number of important themes that are relevant to all teachers in primary education.

Task two – Please also read at least 8 children’s books: novels, picture books, poetry collections or non-fiction texts, written for primary aged children, before you join the course in September. Aim to include texts and authors that are new to you and include contemporary texts that were published in the last 5 years

Task three – Begin a reading journal and organise this in as creative a way as you wish. Keep a record of all the texts you have read and think about how you might really explore these with children. Record your reactions to what you are reading and consider sharing it with pupils when you begin your placements.

Task four – Read the following report – Reflecting Realities: Ethnic Representation in UK Children’s Literature and consider the choices you make when reading and sourcing books for the children in your future classrooms.

Visit the following websites to give an indication for how to source interesting titles:

National curriculum activities and reading – Mathematics

National curriculum activities and reading – Science

National curriculum activities and reading – Foundation subjects

Your PGP4014 module

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

Your compulsory dates

Sunday 15 October
Friday 3 November
Friday 1 March
Saturday 2 March
Friday 8 March
Saturday 1 June

Please be aware that these dates are subject to change. If you have any questions about this module, please contact Debbie Hooton.

Your PGP4014 pre-module task

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 day one of the PGP4014 module on Sunday 15 October.

Level 7 study

Your training will be guided by the Core Content Framework for Initial Teacher Education. Take some time to look at the ITT Core Content 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.

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.

Teachers are required to uphold professional standards in their working life and beyond. Search for primary school ‘Codes of conduct’ and read about the professional expectations of teachers. We’ll discuss your findings in university sessions.

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:

Dr Ian Shirley

[email protected]