Through our Primary Early Years PGCE, you’ll explore how to teach a play-based curriculum and get children involved in immersive and interactive experiences. The course also covers aspects of KS1 and KS2, giving you the flexibility to work across primary education for a career.
During your time on campus, you will have core sessions on primary teaching and 10 additional days devoted to the early years specialism. You’ll also gain classroom experience by working for at least 120 days in two local schools, tailoring your placements to reception and Year 1.
You’ll plan engaging lessons, explore behaviour management techniques and discover how children develop and learn. Our highly experienced team – who have all worked as primary school teachers themselves - will also help you to reflect on your teaching and give you one-to-one support.
But you’ll get far more than just a teacher training qualification with us. As part of our Institute of Education, you’ll have access to the latest research on what works in the classroom and other evidence-based approaches.
There will be the opportunity to draw on the wider early years expertise of our staff as well, including specialists at our Woodlands Day Nursery and Forest School.
On the PGCE, you’ll look at the primary curriculum subjects and a range of education and professional issues. These will include planning and assessment, along special educational needs and disabilities. There will be a mini-research project too.
You’ll also explore the early years foundation stage, which covers children’s learning up to the age of five. This could involve planning a lesson for both group work and wider supervision, with teaching typically delivered through 10 to 15-minute bursts.
You could be tapping into the inventiveness of role plays and other creative activities to help children develop their language and communication skills.
From getting the most out of your induction to tips on teaching your first lesson, your personal tutor will be there to support you every step of the way. We have also developed a close partnership with school-based mentors for your placements.
The PGCE takes just 36 weeks to complete and, after you pass the course, you will be recommended for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). But the support doesn’t stop there – we’ll even offer you a mock interview to prepare you for job applications.
On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: PGCE Primary Early Years
Work placements
At Staffordshire University, we know our partner schools very well and can match your development needs with your school placements.
We have a wide outreach into 50-plus early years settings and local schools across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Cheshire East. We also have partner schools in Birmingham, Shropshire, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Derbyshire and beyond. They range from urban primaries to rural village schools.
We will always aim to arrange placements within 40 minutes of where you live.