DD on cause for concern PGCE

[feelikeraindrops]

My DD is on her PGCE, she has been on a cause for concern which has been reviewed and she’s been told she’s made good progress in some of her targets but there are some areas that need fine tuning and working on still. Because of this she has been put on the next stage of a cause for concern.

DD is feeling worried about passing but I’ve told to try her best and just listen to and respond to feedback, which she is determined to do.

Lots of people don’t complete their pgce. Unless you’re going for teaching jobs, its not a problem. It’s the same as any career change. You just say you started but realised it wasn’t for you.

I know this is a minor point, but when I was at primary school, I don’t think many of us interacted with the teacher on playground duty. We were too busy playing! There were one or two little ones who sometimes liked to walk around with the teacher, holding her hand, but most of us didn’t do that.

I know this must be cultural /I am from a post-communist country/ but talking like this to children during playtime at school sounds absolutely ridiculous to me.
It may be even different now versus when I was a child but teachers or before&after school carers wouldnt approach children like this at all. Break time was not supervised in the classrooms, only lunchtime in the canteen was.

That said, it was a nice school where the teachers remembered what was going on in our lives. For example, when my mum was pregnant, all the teachers knew and remembered and they helped prepare me for the arrival of my sibling.

Hi OP, things sound tough for your daughter. I'm a subject mentor for pgce and currently have a student who is on a support plan which is the stage before c 4 c. A few things that give me concern are her inability to take targets I set seriously. We agree she will do things in a certain time point and they don't materialise. When they are eventually completed they are poor quality and it's normally too late to do anything about it. She seems to go away and not take what I say seriously. She has also had to be pulled up on various professional behaviours such as being on time. Individually they aren't awful, but collectively they give a really poor impression. This lack of insight into how she comes across and her progress in meeting very specific targets makes me worry about her competence. Your daughter needs to show that she takes mentor feedback very seriously and is doing everything she can to develop weaker areas. She should show some initiative and not expect everything to be handed to her on a plate, especially at this time in the year.
In terms of specific ideas. Could she ask to spend a morning shadowing a really effective TA as she could see some excellent practice there in terms of relationship building. Is there an after school club where she could volunteer and be able to focus on having some fun with the children? If this isn't an option, could she identify some students in her class that might benefit from a small lunchtime club with a focus on building social relationships.

This is the most accurate statement about teaching that I have heard. It's this, plus educating and encouraging learning that is at the heart of teaching. The curriculum and lesson plan is the script and you are improvising and acting a role all day.
One of the best teacher I know came on supply to our school. She was so quiet and nervous I didn't think she'd make it. The bell went, students started lining up at the door and it was like "curtain up" for her! There was an instant transformation, She became a really confident woman within seconds. Chatting to the children, organising them, showing them she knew what she was doing and gaining their confidence and trust. I saw her at the end of the day quietly marking and assessing on her own, she was back to the timid mouse.

She's an experienced head teacher now, her school has excellent results. She's well respected and the children adore her.

Lots of people don’t complete their pgce. Unless you’re going for teaching jobs, its not a problem. It’s the same as any career change. You just say you started but realised it wasn’t for you.

@PurpleDaisies I don't think that's anything OP's DD has to worry about (unless she decides to stop) as she's virtually at the end of the course.)

I know this is a minor point, but when I was at primary school, I don’t think many of us interacted with the teacher on playground duty. We were too busy playing!

@Cattenberg I agree.

It is a performance, my dad left due to stress eventually, partly because he's quite introverted.

Really gently- everyone has a very skewed version of their own school life

Until you are a teacher you don't realise the bigger picture

But if just a few different dc talk to a teacher every day for a couple of minutes that's the whole playtime. And you keep yourself busy by initiating contact with them while you are walking around. Each one would take 20 seconds and it's not something you would remember a decade later.

I didn't know you could skip Lou.
Good kick Jessica.
Have you had a haircut Joe?

The playground thing is a bit of a red herring. You don’t get put on an action plan for that. This must be part of a wider picture.

I don’t generally spend lots of time chatting to kids unless they come up to me during play time. It’s their break from me too! You often need to have an eye on the whole area to spot any trouble brewing and that hard if you’re deep in conversation.That’s pretty normal at most schools I’ve worked in.

To add to @CoffeeWithCheese’s very helpful post (and I hope @feelikeraindrops is still reading as many pp are offering really kind and constructive advice): I would advise your DD to volunteer to run a quiet play / colouring / craft / board games club for quiet or vulnerable children during playtime. Many primary schools have quiet areas or benches in the playground for just this purpose. The school will bite her hand off, she will build her confidence in interacting with children outside of the classroom, and she will be proactively showing that she is addressing her CFC targets as a well as teaching standard 8.

The playground thing is a bit of a red herring. You don’t get put on an action plan for that. This must be part of a wider picture.

Agree. It's an example of not meeting the standards in the forming positive relationships with children category. It won't just be in the playground, it could be in the classroom too. The interaction needs to go beyond just standing up and teaching the curriculum. The mentor will be looking to see that the trainee teacher interacts with the children positively and that the children respond positively to her, that she cares about them.

I found the PGCE very demanding and had a phase where I got bogged down in a negative spiral and things deteriorated for a while trying to keep up and deal with feedback. It wasn't the easiest of schools in a number of ways and I'd gone from a very prescriptive mentor in school one to a very hands-off, inexperienced mentor in school two. I did a repeat teaching practice and even that decision being made and easing the uncertainty lifted a weight. Repeat teaching practice went really well, I hit the ground running, understood the expectations and had a good, experienced mentor and came out with a strong grading.

I then launched straight into casual supply and did my NQT year across two long term supply jobs and it was so much easier. Less scrutiny and I'd found more of how to put myself into teaching. On teaching practice two there'd been too much "mask" of me trying to be too serious and grown-up because I felt that I should, and not giving enough hint of myself to make interactions easier and more genuine. I've enjoyed a decade of teaching before a lengthy break to prioritise family life (DC with additional needs) but would like to return longer term.

Getting this far into a PGCE before having issues does not inherently mean that you're unsuited to teaching. If you have a positive approach to feedback, are willing to tackle the core issues and potentially reset, it can be a valuable learning curve. Often the best teachers are those who've dealth with adversity and can use that to be more understanding with their pupils as they learn.