Choosing The University of Manchester

After completing my undergraduate degree earlier this year, I always had in mind to complete a PGCE. Upon weighing up my choices, filling in applications, attending interviews and receiving offers, I chose The University of Manchester as it offered the 11-18 education pathway, and I knew this suited me perfectly. I am close to the city so this would prove accessible for me to gain more experience and enjoy what the university and city had to offer.

University experience

At the beginning of the course, I attended four weeks of university where I would be introduced to people that are on the English course and in different subjects as well. This allowed me to develop and gain new friendships. I would attend workshops, lectures and seminars with different professional tutors that provided subject specific content and the different areas of teaching too, such as lesson planning, assessment, teacher presence and a whole lot more. During this time, I had the chance to attend a secondary school for 2 days with the university to gain more experience and I had the opportunity to team teach a lesson for a Year 7 class! This boosted my confidence as I hadn’t had any teaching experience prior. These university sessions have prepared me for my placement through providing knowledge around my subject area and the teaching standards that should be met and carried out.

First placement experience

I began my first placement after a few weeks in university. The induction and the first week of placement were merely just observing different lessons and the school. These observations were very beneficial to me as I understood how the school operated and their different policies. After the first week and the weeks up until the present, I have been strengthening relationships with the English faculty, students at the school and other members of staff. I’ve been teaching a Year 7 and Year 9 class and assisting a Year 10 class along with working with the class teachers and mentors. My university has provided me a lot of support during this placement as well as the staff members at the school. I’ve got into practice of creating lesson plans, lesson resources and delivering lessons as well as assessment and marking. I have received a lot of feedback as to how to improve and been given strengths as a trainee teacher as well. During my placement, I have been moulding my teacher identity and I hope it is paying off! One of the challenges that I am currently facing is managing the workload. I am not going to lie, it is a lot! But having the support of fellow trainees, university, and my placement school, I have learnt to manage my time very effectively. The course is designed to have two contrasting placements so after this current placement, I will move onto a different school that will have their own policies and curriculum structure. But I will be taking my learning experience at my current placement and adapting this as I move on. Returning to this placement will be exciting as I feel like a welcomed member of staff by the school.

Top tips for the course

My biggest tips for students who are currently teacher trainees or thinking of doing this course are:

• Manage and plan your time well – keeping organised is a key skill from a university and teaching aspect.
• Reach out to fellow trainees as they will lend a hand and support you on this course. Remember, you are all in the same boat!
• Enjoy the experience! Being a teacher is a very worthwhile career so make the most of it.
• And finally, it’s okay to make mistakes during this training year, you will learn on the job, and they are normal to make at this stage.

Written by Xsarina, current PGCE Secondary student at The University of Manchester

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