Jurassic Coast Teacher Network Biology (35KW)

PGCE with QTS full time

• Accredited body: University of Exeter
• Financial support: Bursaries and student finance are available if you’re eligible
• Qualification:
  PGCE with QTS

  A postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) with qualified teacher status (QTS) will allow you to teach in state schools in England and may allow you to teach in other parts of the UK.

  It may also allow you to teach overseas, though you should always check what qualifications are needed in the country you’d like to teach in.

  Many PGCE courses include credits that count toward a Master’s degree.

• Age range: 11 to 16
• Course length: 1 year
• Date you can apply from: 11 October 2022
• Date course starts: September 2023
• Website: https://www.woodroffe.dorset.sch.uk/jctn/

Contents

Course summary

This course is a School Direct @Exeter programme. This means that you will attend the taught PGCE programme at the university. You are registered with the university and are eligible for training bursaries and student loans. You will be based in school in September, before the taught course begins, and then will have interspersed days at the University during your placements. The majority of the spring and summer terms is spent at your home home school, with a second placement of approximately six weeks at another local school.

The programme has three fully integrated components:

• Secondary Education and Professional Studies Module The Professional Studies component introduces you to key educational ideas and principles within a range of educational contexts. The module is followed throughout the year with both University and school-based elements and is concerned with classroom issues, whole school issues and the role of education in the wider society.

• Secondary Professional Learning Module Central to school-based work is the development of your ability to meet the standards of professional competence which trainees must demonstrate in order to meet national standards for the award of QTS.

• Secondary Biology Subject Knowledge and Pedagogy module The principal aims of the module are to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the background issues and practice of the current teaching of Science and Biology in the secondary school, in order to meet national standards for the award of QTS. Read more at

For further information about this course please see https://www.exeter.ac.uk/teachertraining/

School placements

Schools within the JCTN identify the subjects in which they wish to train a teacher. This means that biology is only offered in those specific schools. If you are offered and accept a place in that school, it then is designated as your home school and the bulk of your teaching practice will take place there. In addition to your home placement, you will have a second placement that will be in a different school within the network. All of our schools are located in West Dorset, Chard and East Devon. All of the placement schools are designated as good or outstanding by Ofsted and there is opportunity for 16-18 experience if desired.

Locations

You can select one of the following locations when you apply.

Location	Vacancies
Main Site JCTSA, The Woodroffe School, Uplyme Road, Lyme Regis, DT7 3LX	Yes
The King’s School Cadhay Lane, Ottery Saint Mary, EX11 1RA	Yes

Entry requirements

Qualifications needed

An undergraduate degree at class 2:2 or above, or equivalent.

Your degree subject should be in biology or a similar subject. Otherwise you’ll need to prove your subject knowledge in some other way.

Grade 4 (C) or above in English and maths, or equivalent qualification.

We’ll consider candidates with pending GCSEs.

We’ll consider candidates who need to take a GCSE equivalency test in English or maths.

We accept equivalency tests from A Star Equivalency and equivalencytesting.com (please do contact us for further guidance before signing up for an equivalency test).

Fees and financial support

The course fees for 2023 to 2024 are as follows:

UK students	£9,250
International students	£20,000

Financial support from the training provider

For information on Government loans and training bursaries, please visit the Student Finance England (https://www.gov.uk/student-finance) and Get into Teaching (https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/) websites.

For more information, please see our Fees and finance webpages (https://www.exeter.ac.uk/teachertraining/apply/feesandfinance/)

About the training provider

The Jurassic Coast Teacher Network (JCTN) is a network for schools of all phases to work together to support and improve the expertise within each school. The JCTN is coordinated by The Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis and includes schools across West Dorset, East Devon and Somerset. We work in partnership with the local authorities, The University of Exeter and the Teaching School Hubs, providing a local link. There is also integration with curriculum hubs, including the Jurassic Maths Hub.

The Woodroffe School is an outstanding secondary school located in the middle of the Jurassic Coast, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Our consistent focus on pedagogy and outstanding learning and teaching leads to excellent progress for every student irrespective of starting point.

By training with JCTN you will develop your skills as a teacher in schools that strive to deliver an outstanding learning experience for the pupils. You will gain a breadth of experience thus enabling you to start your career with confidence. There is considerable experience across the schools of working with trainee teachers and staff are keen to support those new to the profession.

About the accredited body

We work with The University of Exeter because they are leaders in Initial Teacher Education (ITE), consistently graded as outstanding in all areas by Ofsted. They recruit excellent trainees who relish the opportunity to gain a strong grounding in the field of education to complement their knowledge of the subject/s they teach, whilst gaining substantial experience in the classroom via the Exeter Model of ITE. The trainees are supported by excellent teachers in partner schools across the region, and by University tutors who are also experienced teachers and experts in their field including world-class educational researchers.

Interview process

Interviews will take place in the home school. You will be interviewed by the head of department, a member of the leadership team and a teacher with responsibility for initial teacher training. Before the interview day, but as part of the interview process, you will be expected to arrange a visit to the school. On the interview day itself you will be asked to observe a lesson and discuss what you notice and you will be asked to work with a small group of students for part of a lesson, supporting them through an activity prepared by their teacher.

International candidates

You’ll need the right to study in the UK. You already have this if, for example, you:

• are an Irish citizen
• have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (you may still be able to apply)
• have indefinite leave to remain in the UK

If you do not already have the right to study in the UK for the duration of this course, you may need to apply for a Student visa.

To do this, you’ll need to be sponsored by your training provider.

Before you apply for this course, contact us to check Student visa sponsorship is available. If it is, and you get a place on this course, we’ll help you apply for your visa.

Alternatively, check if you’re eligible for a different type of visa, such as a Graduate or Family visa, that allows you to train to be a teacher without being sponsored.

Find out more about training to teach in England.

International qualifications

If your qualifications come from a non-UK institution, we may want to see a ‘statement of comparability’ from UK ENIC. This will show us how they compare to UK qualifications.

You can call Get Into Teaching on 0800 389 2500 for:

• guidance on the UK equivalents of your qualifications
• a free statement of comparability once you’ve submitted your application (if we ask you for this)

Training with disabilities and other needs

The University of Exeter provides comprehensive student services that include AccessAbility and Wellbeing teams, Student Learning Skills Service, Student Advice Unit, Counselling Service, Students’ Union Advisors, Student Health Centre, Family Centre and the Chaplaincy. For further details on the wealth of support available to you please go to Student Support Services (https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/newstudents/supportandservices/studentservicesdirectory/) PGCE trainees can access the support of a Wellbeing Services Welfare Consultant to discuss concerns, talk through options for support or understand more about how the University Wellbeing Services may be able to help. Alongside the support described above, every PGCE trainee is assessed by an Occupational Health provider as part of the admissions process to ensure they are fit to teach in a school setting. The Occupational Health provider can recommend ‘Reasonable Adjustments’, which will be put into place by the provider, providing they are logistically possible and reasonable.

Contact this training provider

• Email: jctn@woodroffe.dorset.sch.uk
• Telephone: 01297 442232
• Website: https://www.woodroffe.dorset.sch.uk/jctn/
• Address: The Woodroffe School; Uplyme Road; Lyme Regis; Dorset; DT7 3LX

Support and advice

For support and advice, you can speak to a teacher training adviser for free. They’re all experienced teachers who can help you to prepare your application, book school experience, and access exclusive teaching events.

You can also call Get Into Teaching free of charge on 0800 389 2500, or chat online Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm (except public holidays).

Find out about the different ways to train if you do not have a degree, or are already an experienced teacher.

If there is something wrong with this course listing, contact us by email.