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Pgce placement further education secondary school.

I'm currently on a pgce further education course, just about to start my placement. As it's further education and different from primary/secondary, you stay on the same placement the whole course. In the interview they didn't mention placements being in a secondary school, only fe colleges etc. I am only being offered secondary school places from them, as they waited til the last minute to ask for me (admin errors that have been made throughout since I started, and have been messing up my course so far) . Is this normal? How many fe pgce students end up in secondary school placements? The course so far has been not great, due to disorganisation which is taken out on, and blamed on the students, and a lack of support when I have tried to resolve this. I was also forwarded a fairly unprofessional email complaining that they can't find me a placement, and that I'm the last one left to find one. This made my already shaky confidence in myself on the course (which I had alreadly went to a tutor about, but was ignored) a lot worse. As I've only just started I am thinking of maybe pulling out, and reapplying another year with more experience, or a uni I feel more confident in. Is this normal, or should I reconsider this particular course/uni?
Is it a secondary school with its own sixth form? You might find you don't see many secondary lessons and work in mostly year 12 and 13 classes. You may find you teach GCSE resit classes as part of your career in a college, so it will be a valuable experience for you to see your subject at KS4.
If your placement has no sixth form, I would contact your university and see if it's possible to get another placement. They may be having difficulty securing placements because of Covid-19, so unfortunately you may not get another placement. The DfE have changed the rules of award for a PGCE this year, so I wouldnt worry about the nature of your placement in regards to passing. I do understand it might be quite disappointing to not get a placement with the pupils you will actually be teaching though.
I would speak to student services/student union about your treatment by your department. They can give you better advice what to do about that. I am sorry your university are putting the blame on you. It is your training providers responsibility to organise placements, so try to be confident in yourself and remember it isn't your fault.
Good luck!
Reply 2
Avatar for Cam45
Cam45
OP
3
Original post by Always_Confused
Is it a secondary school with its own sixth form? You might find you don't see many secondary lessons and work in mostly year 12 and 13 classes. You may find you teach GCSE resit classes as part of your career in a college, so it will be a valuable experience for you to see your subject at KS4.
If your placement has no sixth form, I would contact your university and see if it's possible to get another placement. They may be having difficulty securing placements because of Covid-19, so unfortunately you may not get another placement. The DfE have changed the rules of award for a PGCE this year, so I wouldnt worry about the nature of your placement in regards to passing. I do understand it might be quite disappointing to not get a placement with the pupils you will actually be teaching though.
I would speak to student services/student union about your treatment by your department. They can give you better advice what to do about that. I am sorry your university are putting the blame on you. It is your training providers responsibility to organise placements, so try to be confident in yourself and remember it isn't your fault.
Good luck!

Hi thank you for your reply,

It does have a 6th form, I'm not sure if it is separate or not. I have been told that I am expected to teach 14-15 year olds in a different subject to mine. I am worried that this will make up most of my placement, as I hadn't intended to be in a school or teach under 16s for an 16+ pgce. Is this usually expected of students on this course?

Thanks
Hi there, I can't tell you the ins and outs of an FE PGCE, I'm on a secondary one myself, but the age range for FE education is from 14 year olds - adults, so it would make sense for you to see the lower end of this also.
I've worked in a school where some pupils in year 9 and above would spend a few days at college each week completing a vocational course and they did their core subject GCSEs in school. If you were to work in a college setting, you could come across students in the 14-16 age bracket which is possibly why your university has deemed your placement suitable for an FE PGCE.
As for teaching a different subject, I know of some NQTs that's happened to. The subject they taught was exclusively taught to 16+ and there weren't enough classes in the school to make up NQT hours. To make up the hours, they had to teach other subjects. It's possible the same thing has happened to you during your training year if the placement doesnt have enough classes for you to take over.
Reply 4
Avatar for Moana92
Moana92
16
I know of PGCE courses where you spend a couple of weeks in the opposite sector (so go to a primary for a bit even though you're on a secondary course) just so that you get an idea of transition between the two of them etc
Reply 5
Avatar for Cam45
Cam45
OP
3
Original post by Always_Confused
Hi there, I can't tell you the ins and outs of an FE PGCE, I'm on a secondary one myself, but the age range for FE education is from 14 year olds - adults, so it would make sense for you to see the lower end of this also.
I've worked in a school where some pupils in year 9 and above would spend a few days at college each week completing a vocational course and they did their core subject GCSEs in school. If you were to work in a college setting, you could come across students in the 14-16 age bracket which is possibly why your university has deemed your placement suitable for an FE PGCE.
As for teaching a different subject, I know of some NQTs that's happened to. The subject they taught was exclusively taught to 16+ and there weren't enough classes in the school to make up NQT hours. To make up the hours, they had to teach other subjects. It's possible the same thing has happened to you during your training year if the placement doesnt have enough classes for you to take over.

Hi thank you, that is really helpful. I was just surprised as none of this was mentioned in the application, interview process etc. So a lot of things that weren't told to me seem to be happening. So it would have been nice to have been prepared lol. But thankyou, I'm glad it's a normal stuff! I can be ready for it now.

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