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On the road to becoming an early years teacher .. Am i going about it the right way?

Hi, well first up I'll let you know a bit about myself so it can help you to help me :tongue:

. Okay so I'm a "mature" student and unfortunatly decided to mess around in school :frown:

silly mistake. I now live to regret it (a bit )but everything happens for a reason . As you can tell by the title i want to be an early years teacher (3-5yrs) , and I'm wondering if i'm going about it the correct way. Im currently studying maths and English gcse equvialent at college and intend to go on an access to higher education course (I think Humanities & Social science is the one i need please correct me if im wrong) I was then going to study ,Teacher Education :BEd primary, at uni. However i need a B in GCSE science which i do not have :-( and am proving very difficult to find a college that does GCSE Science resits for over 19's the only other option is distance learning and with 2 young children at home i will find it hard to complete never mind achive a B or above. I then got advised i could study a course called Early Childhood Studies and then do a PGCE then QTS . I was told this would give me the career prospects i want plus it also leaves a wider oppertunity if i decide i dont want to be a teacher(highly doubt that i would change my mind bbut you never know).So if you know if this is correct/incorrect could you please let me know if you are doing similar i would love to know your journey many thanks in advance Laura xx :biggrin:

Reply 1

laura_88

P.s sorry for the essay :tongue:

Reply 2

22KT22

Thats a good way of getting into the career, my only word of warning is to say that PGCEs are incredibly competative and therefore you wont necessarily get a place straight after your degree unless you have a 2:1 and above plus lots of experience. Also, it may be worth considering that some jobs may be wanting you to have that GCSE in science so you may have to do it and that the early childhood studies course may not give you enough experience working with children so you may have to do more volunteer work etc outside of the course.

Reply 3

laura_88

Apparently on the early childhood studies you have to do workplacement too thanks for the advice x

Reply 4

22KT22

I know some of you do but it's always good to check. Also with the competative nature of PGCEs it would be good to obtain more experience when you can.

Reply 5

ithinkthereforeiam

If you do opt to do an Access course, you should check whether or not any local colleges to you offers the Access to Teaching course, rather than the Access to Humanities and Social Sciences course....

Reply 6

singerella

Hiya, I'm in the same situation as you, working mum of 3, back at college. I'm doing an Access to Education Professions and I honestly can't sing it's praises enough. You gain GCSE equivalency in Maths and Science (Science is actually Level 3 at my college though) and English too if you need it. This is usually enough for most uni's entry requirements. Other modules are all based around teaching and the way children learn. I've found it prepared me really well for my interviews and I now have offers for Primary Ed and Early years QTS :smile:

It is hard work, but if you want it enough, you'll do just fine :smile:

hth x

Reply 7

katherineturner229

Hi im a mature student im 28 and finally in my first year of primary ed at BG in Lincoln. Like you I had to do my maths and sci equivs which were offered as part of my Access to teaching course! Some colleges let u study them alongside others do not! so please check because as you know you cannot teach without them. I have friends on childhood studies who were offered this as an alternative to primary ed, the courses are sooooo different and although primary ed is hard to get on (took me 2 attempts) PGCEs are even harder. If you know you def want to teach then most def aim for primary ed. It is really really hard work, very intense but you have three years learning how to be a primary teacher wth lots of placements teaching. PGCE students have to cram this in to 1 year.
Good luck and dont give up :-)
x

Reply 8

Nitebot

Hello! I may need a new career path soon! :smile:

If you do Primary Ed/BEd does that make you a qualified teacher and you don't need the PGCE? Also given the competition are most Primary Ed/BEd students well into their 20s and in their 30s?

Reply 9

Nitebot

Original post by Nitebot

Hello! I may need a new career path soon! :smile:

If you do Primary Ed/BEd does that make you a qualified teacher and you don't need the PGCE? Also given the competition are most Primary Ed/BEd students well into their 20s and in their 30s?