Primary Partnership ITT Programmes Primary School Direct Primary mentoring Frequently asked questions Useful-contacts

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Our University-led Primary ITE Programmes 

Primary School Direct

Primary School Direct is a one-year, postgraduate route into becoming a teacher which allows you to ‘grow your own’ teachers. Student-teachers are embedded within your school community for most of the year, immersing themselves in teaching and learning within your school. They also attend University for central training, and carry out a contrasting school placement for a minimum of six weeks. Student-teachers can be employed members of staff or tuition-fee funded, meaning that they fund their own fees.

Subject Specialism in Primary Mathematics

We offer Primary student-teachers the opportunity to follow the General Primary with Mathematics specialism route. This route is ideal for those with a particular love of mathematics hoping to go on to lead the subject in the future. In addition to the training sessions for all General Primary student-teachers, this route offers some additional central training and school-based mathematics enrichment.

Click here to learn more about our pathways on our main site

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Assessment Only

As an experienced teacher it is possible to gain QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) or EYTS (Early Years Teacher Status) without additional training through the Assessment Only route. The route to QTS or EYTS is only available to teachers who have substantial experience of teaching in either the public or private sector but do not already have QTS or EYTS.

As many schools are unfamiliar with Assessment Only we are very happy to talk to school leaders about the route and its process.

Find out more about the Assessment Only route

Our Primary School Direct Partners

Primary Mentoring 

As well as being rewarding and exciting, mentoring a student-teacher on any of our primary programmes provides a fantastic professional development opportunity. We provide training on the details of each specific programme placement as well as wider training and support on issues such as observing and giving feedback, identifying and meeting targets and having challenging conversations. You have the opportunity to support a beginning teacher as they develop, and to develop your own leadership skills in working with other adults. You will become part of our community of practice, with access to a well-developed certification programme and support from the programme team at the IoE.  

If you are interested in mentoring a primary student-teacher within your school or setting, please contact our placements coordinator.

Frequently Asked Questions

I would like to offer placements but I lead an infant-only school. Is that a problem?

No. We ensure that over the course of their training our trainees get a broad and balanced experience across a range of school years, so we can place them in infant, junior or all-through primary schools at different points in their training.

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My school is a specialist setting for children with SEND. Can we get involved?

Yes. We have specialist routes on our Primary PGCE programme for those wanting to teach in a special school, and frequently have trainees who would like to carry out one of their placements in a special school setting. There are also other ways to get involved, for example offering enrichment weeks or visit day placements for trainees.

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How much time would a trainee need to take over the class?

This depends upon the stage of their training. Trainees at the beginning of their training on our postgraduate programmes or in the first year of our undergraduate programme are often working with groups, individuals or teaching one-off lessons, building up to teaching around the equivalent of two days per week. By the end of their initial training they will be taking on the full responsibilities of a class teacher, for around four days per week. We would be happy to meet with you and discuss what kind of placement would work best in your school.

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A prospective candidate does not have a degree yet – can they study alongside work?

We offer a Foundation Degree in Children’s Development and Learning in partnership with local FE colleges where candidates can study alongside work. You need to work in an early years (birth-5 years) or educational (4-11 years) setting for at least 2.5 days a week. College attendance is required for one afternoon and evening per week.

There is then the opportunity to do a top-up year to gain BA Children’s Development and Learning. Once they have successful obtained your degree, you can then progress on to one of our postgraduate Primary ITT programmes.

Useful contacts

 

Role	Name	Email
Primary School Direct Programme Director and Lead, Postgraduate Primary ITT	Dr Catherine Foley	c.m.foley@reading.ac.uk
Primary School Direct Assistant Director	Dr Alison Silby	a.silby@reading.ac.uk
PGCE Primary Programme Director	Scarlett Murphy	s.l.e.murphy@reading.ac.uk
PGCE Primary Programme Assistant Director	Rhiannon Jarvie	e.r.jarvie@reading.ac.uk
BA Primary Education (QTS) Programme Director	Stephanie Sharp	s.sharp@reading.ac.uk
BA Primary Education (QTS) Assistant Programme Director	Cara Broadhurst	c.broadhurst@reading.ac.uk
Assessment Only Programme Director		Assessment Only Team
Admissions Team		teachertraining@reading.ac.uk
Placements Team		IoE School Placements
Primary School Direct Administration		Schooldirect@reading.ac.uk
Primary PGCE Administration		Pgceprimary@reading.ac.uk
BA Primary Education (QTS) Administration		Primarypartnership@reading.ac.uk