Secondary Schools Direct PGCE

Hey,

So I've been accepted onto my Schools Direct placement and passed both my QTS skills tests, so now it's just a nice break until I start in September.

I was wondering if there are and trainee teachers out there currently on a secondary schools direct placement who might be able to answer some questions I have? if you could send me a private message that would be amazing.

Mine is Art & Design but my questions are pretty general.

Thanks

George

Why don't you just post your questions?

Fair enough,

What is a typical day in school?

There is no typical day in a school. Every day is different and the kids will always respond differently on different days to you. You can have a perfect lesson one day with a class and a terrible one the next day. But usually, I arrive at about 7.30, prepare any resources I need for the day and get to it basically. Any frees I have are used for evaluating lessons and planning new ones.

Are you eased into the process? Do you start off learning how to handle a class and progress on to running lessons and classes alone, or are you more or less thrown in at the deep end?

Erm, I started off observing for a bit and taking notes on how they handled the class, what the learning in the lesson was etc. Then you should be eased in by doing starter tasks with the classes you'll be teaching and progressing to taking the full lesson.

How much essay writing is given?

This will depend on the course that you're on. I have 6 essays, but all of them are reflective and to do with my teaching practice or current theory behind teaching and learning.

What is the type of work you do at home? Lesson plans ect?

Lesson plans, lesson evaluations, marking, organising what I need to follow up (pupil detentions, withdrawals, issues etc.), familiarising myself with what I need to teach, writing exemplars (I teach English), writing assessments when they're due, organising my QTS file and evidence. And probably more stuff that I haven't thought of.

Did you feel fully prepared to teach afterwards?

Well I haven't finished yet. But I'd say I'm getting there. I don't think any NQT feels fully equipped to be a full teacher when they start. Most have told me that it is a very daunting experience and they panic and still have bad lessons every so often. You also aren't really prepared for the paperwork that comes with being fully responsible for your own class - e.g. writing reports, data collection.

Would you recommend schools direct placements?

I think it's a good way to learn, although it is very subjective. My school has extremely high expectations of me and therefore are harsher on me than other schools on my course would be. This was evidenced when I went on my other placement.

Did the pupils respond well to you as a trainee or was it difficult to hold a class? (obviously depends on the school and pupils, but in general)

I go by the rule of never telling any class that I teach that I'm a trainee. I will always insist that I am their teacher and therefore they respond to me as they respond to any teacher. If they know you're a trainee then they will often walk all over you. However, you won't be great at managing behaviour at the start, so they may walk all over you to begin with Start tough!

Thanks

See above.