Secondary Physical Education with QTS - PGCE

Overview

This course will enable you to use your degree level skills in the teaching of Physical Education (PE) so that you can promote physical activities and a healthy lifestyle in a positive and enjoyable way for all pupils.

We believe that PE is a crucial element in the education of all pupils, and will work with you to enable you to become the inspirational secondary school teacher that today’s young people deserve.

This course is open to International students.

What's covered in this course?

Our course provides you with the knowledge and understanding that will enable your current creative skills to grow into exciting and engaging teaching for the classroom. The course is a practice-based programme that will fully support you into becoming a confident, dynamic and creative teacher committed to making PE accessible for all.

Central to the curriculum is the study of PE pedagogy and professional practice, which you will access through a synthesis of practical workshops, lectures, seminar groups and individual study.

Curriculum workshops are a key element of your course. Dedicated PE lecturers and teachers deliver these in our specialist education classrooms and lecture theatres, including the Doug Ellis Sports Centre in Perry Barr.

The workshops enable you to experience and develop your understanding of subject pedagogy through topics such as: Physical literacy, growth mindset through PE, dance in the curriculum, gymnastics, invasion games, net and wall games, target games and athletics, health and safety, as well as Key Stage 3 National Curriculum topics, GCSE and A Level PE topics.

At least two thirds of the course takes place within school. You will be placed in a minimum of two PE departments.

Taught modules, assignments and School-Based Training are structured around the development of your Progress Journal which demonstrates your progress against our ITE Core Curriculum.

Our ambitious curriculum incorporates the ITT Core Content Framework (DfE, 2019) and the nationally agreed competences - the Teachers’ Standards,  which all teachers must meet throughout their career. 

The Progress Journal also maps your development as a subject specialist with reference to identified subject priorities appropriate to the needs of secondary teachers entering the profession.

A system of continuous review and assessment of progress within the Progress Journal will support your growing ability to take responsibility for your own professional development and ensure that you approach QTS with a sound understanding of research-informed pedagogies and practices. 

Why Choose Us?

• We are a key source of new teachers to schools across the West Midlands region; a destinations survey of our 2021/22 Secondary Teaching graduates showed they were employed in nearly 100 West Midlands schools as Early Career Teachers.

• Our curriculum is designed by research-active subject experts to be integrated between university and school-based training with input from our partnership schools, ensuring you’re equipped to meet the needs of the teaching workforce now and in the future.

• We have partnerships right across the West Midlands and beyond so you can benefit from training in a range of schools and early years settings, preparing you for work in a wide variety of schools when you qualify. A destinations survey of our 2021/22 Secondary Teaching graduates showed that 76% of their employing schools were from within our BCU partnership.

• You will complete at least 120 days across a minimum of two placements, in line with Department for Education (DfE) requirements, supported by a subject mentor in your school and a personal development tutor at the University.

• Should you wish to take your development further, you'll gain Master's level credits gained as part of this course that you can then use towards a full Master's degree.

• We meet the Department for Education's (DfE) Criteria for Initial Teacher Training and successful candidates on our Initial Teacher Training courses will be recommended to the DfE for Qualified Teacher Status.

Modules

Secondary Professional Studies

This module, Professional Studies, provides opportunities for you as a trainee teacher to explore and understand in practical terms the meaning of professionalism in the context of education and being a teacher. It is well known that education is an ever-changing environment and the desire for improvement is strong from all stakeholders.

This module helps you to understand that the best teachers are those who continue to learn themselves and that your continual development can positively impact the learning experience of your students.

Secondary Subject Pedagogy: 

This module, Subject Pedagogy, provides opportunities for you as a trainee teacher to explore the nature of your specialist subject in the context of learning and teaching in the secondary school. The module provides substantial support for your professional practice in school, assessed through the School Experience modules.

This module provides a strong philosophical underpinning to your awareness of the importance of your specialist subject in the secondary school curriculum.

By undertaking this module you will be shaping your own rationale for your approach to the teaching of your specialist subject, and to meeting the needs of the learners as they move through the secondary school phase.

Professional Enquiry

This module, Professional Enquiry, forms an introduction to active examination of professional practice in the workplace and a reflective approach to personal development. It provides a foundation for future study modules and enables you to develop practice-based enquiry skills.

Increasing importance is placed on evidence-based enquiry to inform professional development in education, most recently in The Carter Review of Initial Teacher Training (ITT).

School Experience 

This module, School Experience 1, provides opportunities for you as a trainee teacher to meet the professional standards and expectations of teaching through practical, school-based experience.

You will have the opportunity to work alongside experienced teachers and other education professionals to develop your knowledge, understanding and skill in the classroom and the wider school environment.

You will be able to implement theory and evidence-based understanding on an on-going and development basis into your teaching into the classroom. You will be assessed against the current statements of professional competence.

School Experience

This module, School Experience 2, follows School Experience 1 and provides opportunities for you as a trainee teacher to enhance your achievement of the professional standards and expectations of teaching through practical, school-based experience.

You will have the opportunity to work independently supported by experienced teachers and other education professionals to further develop your knowledge, understanding and skill in the classroom and the wider school environment.

You will be able to implement theory and evidence-based understanding on an on-going and development basis into your teaching into the classroom. You will be assessed against the current statements of professional competence.