Our Primary and Secondary PGCEs are "Outstanding" (Ofsted, 2015).

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Secondary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 11-16. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Secondary courses are structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based. The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I

This module covers the following GPE themes:

• Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
• Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
• Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
• Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
• Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
• Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
• Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.

You will also focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

2. Education Studies II

This module covers the following GPE themes:

• Applying for your first post;
• Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
• Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
• Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
• Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.

You will also continue to focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

3. Education Studies III

This module focuses specifically on supporting student teachers to make an effective transition into their first post and examines the following themes in GPE:

• Preparing for induction and the professional learning action plan for your first post;
• Pathways into leadership in education;
• Learning outside the classroom;
• Contributing to the wider aspects of the formal and informal curriculum and your wider professional role as a teacher.

Subject Specific Course Content

English is one of the three core subjects in the National Curriculum along with Mathematics and Science. As such, it is accorded a high status and there are ample opportunities for the promotion of good teachers. As a core subject in the National Curriculum, English is at the heart of education in the twenty-first century. Interest in the content and practice of the English curriculum is sharpened further by an increasing awareness of the importance of language in relation to learning and the role of communication in an advanced technological society.

English teachers today need more than a solid grounding in the study of literature. They need to be aware of the ways in which children read a vast range of texts in a variety of media; they need to understand how speaking and listening skills are developed; they need to be able to respond to and assess pupils' use of language; they need insight into the needs of very able pupils, those with special educational difficulties and those for whom English is an additional language.

Teaching English in the secondary school is a demanding but exciting and worthwhile career that should be rooted in a confident familiarity with the kind of innovative classroom practice to which, as one of our PGCE student teachers, you will be immediately introduced.

The intensive programme combines courses in principles and methods of teaching with practical school-based teaching placements and students are assessed on both elements.

The Teachers’ Standards are mapped to every aspect of course provision to facilitate the best possible opportunities to support the process of your professional learning.

The Brunel PGCE Secondary course in English equips you with the skills of subject specialist teaching. It also allows you to gain an understanding of teachers' professional knowledge in both the University and school contexts.

The course aims are to ensure you are able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the vital role of the teacher and the school in ensuring excellence in the educational experiences of young people
• Undertake professional practice which enables you to evidence the Teachers’ Standards which facilitate the award of Qualified Teacher Status
• Understand the relationships between Education and English within current national and government frameworks, and critically reflect on the impact of these in the work of schools and the educational experiences of young people
• Recognise the contribution that English as part of the whole school curriculum makes to the development of the individual learner and groups of learners
• Apply a thorough knowledge and understanding of the English National Curriculum to the planning of curriculum experiences for pupils in school
• Demonstrate competence and confidence in your ability to teach across the contexts for pupil learning in the English National Curriculum range and content, applying principles of continuity and progression
• Use subject knowledge and relevant course specifications to plan and deliver the 14-16 curriculum including examination and vocational courses
• Demonstrate an understanding of the subject knowledge and specification requirements for the 16-19 curriculum;
• Utilise a range of teaching strategies to meet the identified learning needs of a wide range of pupils
• Utilise a range of resources, including information and communication technology, to enhance pupil learning in English
• Understand the importance of safe practice and safeguarding and apply these in working with young people both within and beyond lessons
• Use a wide range of class management strategies to maximise pupil learning
• Understand the principles of inclusion and apply these to ensure equality of opportunity for all pupils in the subject area
• Understand national frameworks for assessment within the subject area and use these to support the recording and analysis of data, and the subsequent use of this to plan the next phase of learning
• Raise the status of the subject area by demonstrating high standards of professionalism at all times
• Understand the crucial role of professional learning for the teacher, the pupils and schools.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go on to work as teachers.

We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), young offender’s institutions. This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who will be  there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

• A minimum score of 55% - 65% or 2.75/4 - 3.25/4. Offers within the grade range are determined by the higher education institution attended.
• IELTS: 7 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 64 (51 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 70% (min 60% in all areas)