North Star
Primary (5-11) (2PD2)

PGCE with QTS full time

• Accredited body: Leeds Trinity University
• Financial support: Student finance 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.

• Course length: 1 year
• Date you can apply from: 8 October 2019
• Date course starts: September 2020
• Website: http://www.northstaralliance.org.uk

Contents

About the course

Ours is a school-led programme, so you will be continually in school from the first day of term in September until the end of the programme for four days per week until Easter, and then five days per week.

From September to Easter, every Friday you will come to Meadowside Academy in Knaresborough for your professional development ‘hub’ day. These sessions will support you in gaining understanding of the primary curriculum, the principles of planning, teaching and assessment, behaviour and classroom management, pupil achievement and barriers to learning, meeting the needs of all children, safeguarding and being a reflective practitioner. This will be delivered alternately by your Leeds Trinity tutor and North Star Specialist Leaders and teachers. Once we get to Easter you will be teaching 70-80% so you will need to be in school five days per week and the hub days come to an end. We do all come together at the end, though to bring the programme to a close and celebrate your achievements.

You will need to travel to Leeds Trinity University during the application process, but once the programme starts you will not be required to attend the University unless you want to use their facilities, or to attend your graduation ceremony!

Ours is a very practical programme, without a great weight on written assignments. You will build up a portfolio of information (from hub days, reflections on training etc), which will be assessed in the Spring term, plus two written assignments through the year. More crucial are observations of your progress as a primary practitioner, which is an ongoing and supportive process, with Key Review Points during each placement.

Interview process

Once you have submitted your application, Leeds Trinity University will check that basic criteria have been met, and then will pass applicant details to North Star. Interviews will take place shortly after this and will be held in one of North Star’s primary schools. Interviewees will be asked to prepare a short (10-minute) teaching exercise to deliver to a small group of children, there will be a written test and a formal interview with North Star team members. Our aim is to find out what applicants know about teaching and learning and how they interact with others of all ages; we are not trying to catch anyone out! We want to get to know you and give you an opportunity to find out how we will support you in your training. We will inform interviewees by the end of the following day to let you know if we will be offering you a place on our programme.

How school placements work

Trainees on the General Primary (5-11) programme will gain experience in KS1 and KS2, and trainees on the Early Years (3-7) programme will get experience in EYFS and KS1. You will be trained in two contrasting schools - the first from September to November and the second school will be from November to June. In the second school you’ll be placed in two different classes to get a good grounding of experience across the full breadth of two key stages. In a very busy year, you do not want to spend too much time on the road, so we do aim to place you in a school within a 30 minute drive of where you live. We also try to match your interests with placements - for example you might prefer a school with a high number of EAL children, or a school with a special interest in sport. We select the placement schools very carefully - we only choose Good or Outstanding schools and we will only place students in classes with established teachers who can model great practice and offer lots of support. We work with over 40 primary schools, ranging from town schools to tiny village schools, faith and community schools, nursery and forces schools, so we can ensure that your two placements offer very different experiences, to best prepare you for working as a teacher in the area.

Fees

The course fees for 2020 to 2021 are as follows:

UK students	£9,250
EU students	£9,250

Financial support

You may also be eligible for a loan while you study – note that you’ll have to apply for undergraduate student finance.

Find out about financial support if you’re from outside the UK.

Requirements

Qualifications

• You need to be a graduate, ideally with a 2:2 or above, although consideration will be given to students with a lower classification who can demonstrate a commitment to children’s learning and development.
• You should have GCSEs in maths, English and science, grade C/4 or above. Equivalency tests are available.

Personal qualities

We welcome graduates from a range of backgrounds, previous recent relevant experience with young children is preferable but not essential. We are looking for high-calibre students who can demonstrate real passion and commitment to teaching; students who are resilient and resourceful, creative, hard working and who show a willingness to learn and reflect on their own development.

About the training provider

• Our programme is school led – you will be learning from highly skilled teachers in a real classroom.
• We work with over 40 primary schools across North Yorkshire, offering an impressive breadth of experience, from large town schools to tiny village primaries, faith, community and forces schools.
• Our motivation for running the programme is to supply all the schools in our alliance and Trust with ‘home-grown’, skilled teachers – we are invested in making you the best teacher you can be and securing you a job at the end.
• North Star Teaching School Alliance supports entrants to the profession through every stage in their career – from NQT to Headship. Your teacher-training year is just the first step in a rich career supported by high-quality CPLD.
• We have a track record of supporting trainees through all the challenges of undertaking the programme. We pride ourselves on our responsiveness to any obstacles you might meet along the way.
• Ours is a local model – tutors from Leeds Trinity University come to us to deliver the Professional Development element of the programme, so your travelling time from home will be minimal throughout.

About the accredited body

Leeds Trinity University has an established reputation, regionally and nationally, of being one of the UK’s leading providers of teacher training courses. Their outstanding courses are taught by a highly experienced team that understands the learning needs of children, from the early years of 0–5 years, right through to primary education of 5–11 years. According to the latest National College for Teaching and Leadership figures 99% of their recent Primary Education graduates are working in teaching positions.

Training with disabilities and other needs

Our training facility is based in Meadowside Academy, a fully-accessible primary school. All our placement schools are accessible and we work with partners to ensure every placement meets the needs of the trainee.

Our HEI partner, Leeds Trinity University has a breadth of experience in supporting students with a range of disabilities and we work with them to ensure all trainees are fully supported and have equal access to all training and opportunities.

Contact details

• Email: katie@northstaralliance.org.uk
• Telephone: 01423 226389
• Website: http://www.northstaralliance.org.uk
• Address: Meadowside Academy; Halfpenny lane; Knaresborough; North Yorkshire; HG5 0SL

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Support and advice

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