PGCE Secondary English with QTS

Unashamedly ambitious the Athrofa English PGCE pathway prepares you to teach across the secondary age range – from the Area of Learning and Experience for Languages, Literacy and Communication to the exam groups for GSCE and A-level qualifications.

The central aim of the course is to educate confident, expert, competent and professional teachers of English with a secure knowledge of research-based effective approaches to teaching, and the enthusiasm and skill to help all pupils understand, enjoy, and improve their skills and knowledge in English.

Potential candidates will be ambitious and committed, have high expectations, be versatile and resilient, able to expertly engage with their subject, language and literature.

The Athrofa Professional Learning Partnership with its partner schools will support you in becoming a critically reflective practitioner whose practice revolves around a safe, vibrant learning environment with challenging, informed high expectations.

We strive to produce teachers who are resilient lifelong learners, with a passion to do the same for their pupils.

The PGCE English course provides real opportunities for students to build and develop the skills and knowledge required to become a successful teacher of English. Working closely with our partner schools, the programme has been devised so as to support and extend our trainees in their university work and their school practice.

If you are a successful applicant, you will explore key aspects of and approaches to the teaching of English. Support will be provided in developing key aspects of subject knowledge, as well as trainees’ understanding of how to construct, prepare and assess purposeful English lessons. Provision is built in so as to ground trainees’ practice in theoretical, pedagogical and professional approaches and expectations.

The course also provides several enhancement opportunities. These include our Literacy Day event, which gives trainees the chance to present their work alongside school colleagues, advisors and literacy experts.

Other opportunities come by way of, for example, writing columns for local papers, providing peer support for students across all PGCE subjects in literacy and receiving specific training in key approaches.

Providing our trainees with the confidence and knowledge with which to explore their own practice and make informed decisions about teaching and learning is central to our approach. We encourage and support our trainees in developing their exploration of their own practice as teachers of English.

Assessment

The programme offers 60 credits at Masters level and 60 credits at Graduate Level. These are awarded on successful completion of module assessments which include:

• Case studies
• Portfolios
• Video presentation
• Research Project

All assessments are closely linked to practice and are designed to offer you the opportunity to develop teaching and learning that has a positive impact on children and young people.