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Parenting

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Original poster

PGCE? Anyone?

14 replies

geekgrrl · 03/01/2006 14:13

I'm thinking of doing a PGCE in MFL at the moment - have just started a type of funded taster-placement in a secondary school and it all looks good so far. I'm wondering whether to do the PGCE (if I decide to go ahead) with the Open University as a flexible thing, or full time with York uni.

I live an hour away from York so it'd be a bit of a nightmare, got no family support, no after school childcare in the area etc., so this could be a real problem.

OTO - An OU PGCE probably doesn't look as good as one from York on paper, and the OU are being arsey about my lack of GCSEs (I went to school in Germany) and expect me to cough up £600 and do two basic maths and English courses which are of no interest to me, leaving me no time and money to do the Spanish course I had been planning on doing with them, and which would actually be relevant to my PGCE.

York said they'd just make me sit two equivalency exams.

What's the workload like on a full-time PGCE?
Am I kidding myself even thinking about doing it(three children under 6, in the sticks, no support whatsoever, dh required to be at work on the dot)?

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mancmum · 03/01/2006 14:19

my DH doing a PGCE part time and it has been hard he is carer for kids and I work full time the course work he can fit in round the kids but the school placements are a killer -- you can be placed upto an hour away from home so you need to have good child care in place for that.. teh course work is quite huge but I believe it is not so bad for secondary...

Was interested about your maths and english DH had to sit them even though he had passed the equvilency exams it is a requirement legally for GCSE enlgish and maths to teach in the UK - he was told this by all the teacher training agencies.. make sure you check it out as they mightlet you on the course without them but you might not get a job without them

Original poster

geekgrrl · 03/01/2006 14:26

hiya mancmum, thanks for replying. The school I'm at now is one that has students from York in the MFL dept so with any luck I'd be there, it's reasonably close to home. Of course, knowing my luck they'd give me a place far away....
I've never heard about sitting the GCSEs even if you've passed the equivalency tests?! Nobody's mentioned this to me. I'll ask about it when I next discuss this with a university.

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Original poster

geekgrrl · 03/01/2006 16:17

bump - anyone else with PGCE experience? Been talking to a friend and it looks like it'll be the OU flexi one... Would love to hear from others!

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popsycalindisguise · 03/01/2006 16:31

I did one ten years ago when I was young free and sort of single.
Hard work.
I certainly couldnt do it now.
Although one of my friends is doing one now with a 3 year old and a 1 year old

geogteach · 03/01/2006 16:36

i'd say it would be tough, did mine 10 years ago and now have 3 under 5 and gave up teaching when no3 was born. When teaching it is the marking I found a killer and it took much longer when i was training/ newly qualified and didn't know what I was doing. For the teaching practise think you have to experience more than one school now so even if you got the one near home may still have to travel for other practice.

littlerach · 03/01/2006 16:45

I'm hoping to apply to do PGCE Primary in the next couple of years.
I have found that Bath do a part time course which appeals to me more than the full time option; like you, we have no child care really.

My friend did hers in secondary some years ago, and it was a lot of work, but it is only a year.

WethreelittlebabiesOfOrientAre · 03/01/2006 20:04

I am doing a post-compulsory PGCE part-time alongside working as a college lecturer. My first year coincided with my 1st year of teaching, and I can't tell you how hard it was! After a horrendous 1st term I became pg with dd, now 17 weeks. Naturally I did not recommence my 2nd year in September! I have the option to start it in Feb but may well end up leaving it to Sept again. I would really prefer Feb and get most of it done whilst off work, because I have found the workload immense on top of lesson planning etc. I wrote 10,000 words in total in assignments last year, on top of teaching, morning sickness and a toddler! The other side of waiting is that I may hopefully have my brain back by then
Good luck with your course, I am sure you will do well. I echo some of the other posts, but think if you are determined you will manage, a lot of my fellow students worked more hours than me, had children and managed- just need to be disciplined. Have to say I wasn't a lot of the time and was on the last minute for a lot of things!!

Smurfgirl · 04/01/2006 11:23

My friend is doing a full time secondary PGCE and its really really hard work. They say its the hardest course you can do.

Freddiecat · 08/02/2006 20:27

Am currently halfway through a PGCE full time in ICT and so far it is OK. My uni is about 45 minutes from home. My first school took about an hour in the mornings and the one I'm at now is about 40 minutes.

BUT my DP is not working so can deal with all the child care (DS is 3 and DD is 18 mths). Also my HoD at school is VERY supportive (has young children himself so knows what is's like). They've scheduled me one day off lessons a fortnight to do assignments. ATM I am on 60% timetable due to go to 80% after half term.

Very little marking in ICT. Some do more but I tend to see it as a waste of time and am lucky in that my department have the same view. We do more in the way of loads of assisted exercises with an assessed exercise later on. (it's all Assessment for Learning.....).

I have a laptop which is a LIFESAVER. I take it to school and copy and paste lesson plans (i.e. if you've got 4 yr 10 groups then you teach 4 similar lessons so the lesson plans can be the same.

It will be harder in a few weeks I'm sure but so far it is a lot better than I anticipated.

I work about 5 evenings a week from 8pm to 10pm and have managed to avoid work totally at the weekends. I work all through lunch and break at school tho (have not actually met any other teachers apart from those in my department yet!).

Go for it!

Whizzz · 08/02/2006 20:34

Is that the 1 year full time post grad course for those with a degree?
It's something I am thinking of doing but I havent got a degree but have more or less similar professional qualifications - if i can get them to formally recognise them!

roisin · 08/02/2006 20:42

Freddiecat 60%/80% sounds a lot! Our A placement students did just 10 (1 hr) lessons a week for the last 4 weeks, and less before that.

(A classroom teacher with no additional responsibility points or whatever does 22 hrs a week, plus 2.5 hrs form group time per week, plus up to 0.5 hr emergency cover per wk).

So the students were doing less than 50%.

emkana · 08/02/2006 20:47

I did a PGCE in MFL seven years ago. On my application I put that I had the equivalent of GCSE's, because I went to school in Germany. Nobody ever questioned it. IMHO if you have a Realschulabschluss from a German school and you had a Note 3 or better then you have the equivalent of GCSE's!

I did found the PGCE quite hard work, don't know if I could do it now with kids.

harrisey · 11/02/2006 13:30

I did a PGCE (secondary) in 1993-4 (heck seems like a long time ago!) full time and it was hard work, especially when I was on placements. I wasn't married and didnt have kids back then - I wouldn't like to be doing it now when I have 3!
But it was the best decision I ever made to go into teaching and I miss it now while I am a SAHM, but it is great as I will be able to go back to it eventually.

ShellB · 18/02/2006 20:49

I am currently doing a part time pgce course in primary. I have a one year old son so I find that doing it part time allows me to spend time with my child as well as gaining a career. My child's nursery allows me to put my son in one day a week then full time when im on placement. Has anyone got any studying tips when you are at home most days with a child. I just can't seem to find the time?

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