PGCE Secondary Mathematics

Study PGCE Secondary Maths at the Institute of Education and benefit from our highly experienced academics and our consistently high employment rates.

Our Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Secondary Maths course is consistently graded as good in Ofsted inspections, and leads to the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), qualifying you to teach the 11-18 age group in secondary schools in England and Wales.

You will be taught by experienced mathematics teachers who are all specially trained as mentors. They are a diverse and incredibly experienced community of academics with extensive school teaching and academic experience. You will benefit from their expertise and understanding of educating and influencing policy. You will benefit from their expertise and understanding of educating and influencing policy.

We recognise that children need different ways of accessing mathematics in the way that’s most comfortable to them, and delve deep into what makes children care about maths.

Through seminars you'll participate in active discussions around the key issues in teaching and we'll provide you with a wide range of techniques that you can employ in the classroom, including manipulatives in maths, outdoor maths and global maths.

Your assignment actively connects the research and work of others in the field to what you’re doing in the classroom.

Your teaching is through a series of lectures, practical seminars and workshops, where interactive and discussion-based techniques will encourage you to engage, reflect and challenge. Sessions may include:

• participating in workshop-style sessions with your peers
• attending presentations by subject experts
• working on tasks in groups
• having individual tutorials
• visits to schools or other education settings
• collaborative lesson planning, delivery and evaluation (lesson study)
• writing assignments on aspects of subject teaching and Professional Studies.

These learning activities will help you to develop a toolkit of knowledge and skills, ensuring you are well prepared to tackle challenges and opportunities throughout your training and your career.

Alongside the University tutors, you will be taught and guided by a team of committed and experienced University-trained school mentors. We have a great team of mentors behind us who are either currently teaching or have a wealth of teaching experience behind them.

The PGCE Secondary Mathematics programme is all about helping you discover the kind of teacher you want to be and your style of teaching.

Climate and sustainability education

• what is happening to our climate, how to help children learn about climate and sustainability in an age-appropriate and accessible way, and how to develop your own positioning as a teacher
• climate justice, the impact of current and future changes to our environment and climate on ourselves and others and implications for teachers
• how to translate knowledge and theory into change and personal action through building climate and sustainability education into your planning, teaching, and children’s learning.

Visit Partnering for the Planet to find out more about the University of Reading’s world-leading work in climate science.

Placements

Placements enable you to develop the skills and knowledge valued and desired by employers - you will build your confidence in the classroom and gain practical teaching experience. Placements also provide you with the opportunity to connect with potential employers and build your professional network.

At Secondary level we have strong relationships with around 90 schools in the local and surrounding area. It is a testament to the strength of these partnerships and the regard with which our graduates are held, that most schools in Berkshire employ at least one graduate of the Institute of Education.

On your Secondary PGCE course, you are required to carry out three placements in two different age groups — ensuring you receive a broad range of experiences. Two placements must be undertaken in a school setting, but the third can be taken in a different setting, allowing you to sample teaching in an alternative environment.

We offer our students an unusually flexible and broad range of contexts and educational environments - you will have the opportunity to gain experience in special needs schools, Pupil Referral Units, independent schools, museums and charities.

You will have plenty of opportunities throughout your course to apply your developing skills in real settings. In schools, you will be involved in:

• observation of other teachers
• planning and teaching small groups and whole classes
• planning and teaching elements of lessons and whole lessons
• reflecting on and evaluating your teaching
• receiving feedback on your teaching
• gaining experience of the range of responsibilities of classroom teachers.

Research

The quality of our research was recognised in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, placing the Institute of Education in the top quartile of education departments in the UK.

REF also rated more than 80% of our research publications as world leading or internationally excellent. The impact of our research on educational policy and practice in first and second language education was judged to be world leading.

School Direct

This subject is also available via School Direct as well as the University-based route. Those students following a School Direct route may be studying for a PGCE or QTS only. However, all students come together as a subject group in University sessions.

Those taking the PGCE will spend more time in the University than those taking the QTS-only course. The PGCE will involve writing assignments that are designed to help trainees to plan their teaching effectively and imaginatively, and to evaluate their developing knowledge and skills, particularly in terms of the quality of learning achieved by pupils. Successful completion will result in 60 master's-level credits.

For more information, please visit the Institute of Education website.