[yasouchat]

Hey Everybody!!

I'm starting a PGCE MFL in September 2012, I'm a French native speaker and although I'm looking forward to this challenging year, I'm getting a bit nervous... Is anybody starting a PGCE at Keele as well? I'm living in Northen Ireland at the moment and won't be able to get to Stoke-on-Trent (I'm planing on living there)before the 1st of Sept. Does anybody know if it's easy enough to find a place to rent there? And did you guys start reading books, preparing anything?

Any advises would me much appreciated

Cheers!

Yas.

[myrtille]

(Original post by yasouchat)
Hey Everybody!!

I'm starting a PGCE MFL in September 2012, I'm a French native speaker and although I'm looking forward to this challenging year, I'm getting a bit nervous... Is anybody starting a PGCE at Keele as well? I'm living in Northen Ireland at the moment and won't be able to get to Stoke-on-Trent (I'm planing on living there)before the 1st of Sept. Does anybody know if it's easy enough to find a place to rent there? And did you guys start reading books, preparing anything?

Any advises would me much appreciated

Cheers!

Yas.

Hi,

I'm starting my PGCE French with Spanish at Leicester this year, but am going on a 2 week Spanish Subject Knowledge Enhancement course at Keele in August.

My university has sent me a Subject Knowledge Audit to complete, and there are also things I'm supposed to read before starting my preliminary observation on 10th September. Luckily my dad is a mature student and can get books out of the library for me over the summer, but I haven't had time to do anything about it yet. Once term finishes (9 days!) I'm going to get stuck into it, and also focus on improving my Spanish as it's been years since I studied it.

Good luck!

[yasouchat]

Thank you for your answer and good luck to you!

[maharGharaS]

Hi yasouchat,

I'm going to be doing Spanish with French so I'll see you there!

I've set up a FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/164014870400342/ - please join, even though it's only me for the moment...

I don't have much advice about renting locally, I'm afraid, but get in touch with the Students' Union advice people. I'm really not sure how many people will be around over the holiday, but if you join the FB group & there are other people in the same boat, you can help each other out.

Also try posting on the Keele University FB page - there may well be others out there looking for a housemante for next term. Are you sure you want to live in Stoke & not in NuL? There may be people with opinions about localities/ bus routes, etc. (I live on campus already.)

> And did you guys start reading books, preparing anything?
I've just started looking at a few threads on the TES, as well as in the course handbook which was sent electronically, but I haven't bought anything yet or really started. I'll do so soon.

All best wishes, see you in September!

Sarah

[maharGharaS]

Not sure what happened to my earlier reply, so sorry if another similar one pops up...
I'm also doing MFL at Keele - Spanish & French. I've set up a Facebook group for us - search Keele PGCE MFL 2012-13 & you'll find it!
Good luck with finding accommodation - NuL nearer & nicer than SoT. I already live on campus so can't help with rental info!
As for prep, I've had a look through the course handbook but not really started reading yet.
Maybe see you on FB, & in Keele in Sept for sure!
Sarah


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[jaime1986]

(Original post by maharGharaS)
Not sure what happened to my earlier reply, so sorry if another similar one pops up...
I'm also doing MFL at Keele - Spanish & French. I've set up a Facebook group for us - search Keele PGCE MFL 2012-13 & you'll find it!
Good luck with finding accommodation - NuL nearer & nicer than SoT. I already live on campus so can't help with rental info!
As for prep, I've had a look through the course handbook but not really started reading yet.
Maybe see you on FB, & in Keele in Sept for sure!
Sarah


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

You should get as many of the MFL crew to join the facebook group as poss (then make it a closed/private group of course).
I finished my PGCE at Keele two weeks ago and we were all on a hidden Facebook group - complete lifesaver when you have hit a wall with planning as there are always people online to help. In our end of course feedback we told Keele that they should recommend this years ATs to set up groups so you're already one step ahead!

Best of luck with the PGCE the first few weeks at Keele are the best (and easiest) so enjoy them.

[yasouchat]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your reply, I'm so happy to "meet" somebody who's gonna be in my course! I'm going to join the facebook group now. Indeed NuL is better so I'm going to look for flats over there instead. Thanks for you advises.

Yasmine.

[yasouchat]

(Original post by jaime1986)
You should get as many of the MFL crew to join the facebook group as poss (then make it a closed/private group of course).
I finished my PGCE at Keele two weeks ago and we were all on a hidden Facebook group - complete lifesaver when you have hit a wall with planning as there are always people online to help. In our end of course feedback we told Keele that they should recommend this years ATs to set up groups so you're already one step ahead!

Best of luck with the PGCE the first few weeks at Keele are the best (and easiest) so enjoy them.

Hello!

Just seen your post there. Well done on finishing your PGCE! There's aa question I'd like to ask you: do you actually have to completely forget about your social life during a year? That's what everybody seems to say, and I'm just wondering if you get a bit of free time every now and then to do something else? Also I was wondering: how many students were you in the course? Thanks for taking the time to read my post

Yasmine.

[maharGharaS]

Hi Jaime,
Well done on finishing! It's already a closed group - I'll mention it to the office & se eif they can bring it to people's attention in an e-mail or something, once all places are confirmed.
Thanks for your good wishes - best of luck with your own next steps. Do you have a job lined up?

[jaime1986]

(Original post by yasouchat)
Hello!

Just seen your post there. Well done on finishing your PGCE! There's aa question I'd like to ask you: do you actually have to completely forget about your social life during a year? That's what everybody seems to say, and I'm just wondering if you get a bit of free time every now and then to do something else? Also I was wondering: how many students were you in the course? Thanks for taking the time to read my post

Yasmine.

In all honesty, yes. You're fine until end Nov, so no matter how busy you feel, still keep up your social life as it gets harder. If you're going for Masters credits in your essays a lot of the Xmas hold will be taken up with that.. (as the deadline is your first day back at school in Jan, which you will also need to plan for). . I had about 3whole days off in that hol. You leave your first school end of Jan, then there's a Keele week and a half term (with an essay due Feb), but you'll be able to catch up with social activities around then. After Feb you're teaching 15 hours a week, which feels CRAZY...but it goes soo fast it'll be the last week before you k ow it.
I o ly cried once during the course, but others cried more. I'd read a lot about previous peoples 'nightmare' experiences so was expecting the course to be awful (it wasn't) but I don't think others were aware of the work/ time involved.
Get organised, and treat it like a 'job' rather than a Uni course and you'll enjoy it and make friends.

Will you be taking a car?

[jaime1986]

(Original post by maharGharaS)
Hi Jaime,
Well done on finishing! It's already a closed group - I'll mention it to the office & se eif they can bring it to people's attention in an e-mail or something, once all places are confirmed.
Thanks for your good wishes - best of luck with your own next steps. Do you have a job lined up?

Yea, I got a job in January in a placement school, so biggest piece of advice is treat it like a professional job - a lot can be done through word of mouth!!

[yasouchat]

(Original post by jaime1986)
In all honesty, yes. You're fine until end Nov, so no matter how busy you feel, still keep up your social life as it gets harder. If you're going for Masters credits in your essays a lot of the Xmas hold will be taken up with that.. (as the deadline is your first day back at school in Jan, which you will also need to plan for). . I had about 3whole days off in that hol. You leave your first school end of Jan, then there's a Keele week and a half term (with an essay due Feb), but you'll be able to catch up with social activities around then. After Feb you're teaching 15 hours a week, which feels CRAZY...but it goes soo fast it'll be the last week before you k ow it.
I o ly cried once during the course, but others cried more. I'd read a lot about previous peoples 'nightmare' experiences so was expecting the course to be awful (it wasn't) but I don't think others were aware of the work/ time involved.
Get organised, and treat it like a 'job' rather than a Uni course and you'll enjoy it and make friends.

Will you be taking a car?

Thank you so much for your answer! Yes I will be taking a car (French one, ahah).
Like you, I read a lot of horrible stories about people describing the PGCE as a "nightmare year", so I think I'm prepared for the worst. Lol. I have another quick question: is there one specific thing you would advise us to prepare before the start. I mean obviously I keep myself up to date with educational issues etc., but I was wondering if there's one thing you wish you had taken the time to prepare before the start in September? Once again: thanks for your valuable advises

Yasmine.

[jaime1986]

(Original post by yasouchat)
Thank you so much for your answer! Yes I will be taking a car (French one, ahah).
Like you, I read a lot of horrible stories about people describing the PGCE as a "nightmare year", so I think I'm prepared for the worst. Lol. I have another quick question: is there one specific thing you would advise us to prepare before the start. I mean obviously I keep myself up to date with educational issues etc., but I was wondering if there's one thing you wish you had taken the time to prepare before the start in September? Once again: thanks for your valuable advises

Yasmine.

Had my graduation at Keele this morning...I'm officially a teacher!

The first assignment is about personalised learning in the primary school and you will be on a week long primary placement approx 3 weeks into the course - so you may find it useful to have a look at personalised learning.

I wish that I had become more familiar with the GCSE mark schemes and KS3 assessment levels before the course and, if possible, found examples of pieces of work at different levels so that I had more of an idea what I was looking for when I first started marking! Assigning grades takes a long time (and confidence in your marking) at first, so the more familiar you are with mark schemes and examples of pupils' work the quicker that should be for you.

[yasouchat]

(Original post by jaime1986)
Had my graduation at Keele this morning...I'm officially a teacher!

The first assignment is about personalised learning in the primary school and you will be on a week long primary placement approx 3 weeks into the course - so you may find it useful to have a look at personalised learning.

I wish that I had become more familiar with the GCSE mark schemes and KS3 assessment levels before the course and, if possible, found examples of pieces of work at different levels so that I had more of an idea what I was looking for when I first started marking! Assigning grades takes a long time (and confidence in your marking) at first, so the more familiar you are with mark schemes and examples of pupils' work the quicker that should be for you.

Wahoo!! Congratulations!! You must be so happy. Hopefully next year I'll feel the same way....Now you can fully enjoy your free time!
Anyway, thanks for the tips, I'll make some research about those 2 subjects. Did you read any books prior to the course? God, sorry about all the questions, but I'm as excited as I am nervous about it!
Thanks again!

[maharGharaS]

Congratulations on your graduation! I was in Union Square yesterday walking past all the graduands, but it didn't quite strike me that, all being well, this would be me in a year!

Thanks, too, for your tip on marking, I've been working in an independent school for a while, so I'm relatively happy with report writing & all the levels, but it's a good heads-up!

Enjoy your summer & thanks again.