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UEL has been given Grade 1’s by Ofsted for the Quality and Management of its secondary teacher training, the top award.
Our Trainees have had great success is gaining employment in local schools.
The location of the university in the heart of East London. We offer opportunities to experience two contrasting school placements. Many of our partnership schools have multi-faith pupil populations. However, some faith school placements are also available.
We can offer you a place on the TDA Booster Courses that will develop your understanding of the subject before you get into the school.
UEL RE PGCE is also a member of the London RE Providers, along with King’s College London, the University of Surrey Roehampton, St Mary's College and the Institute of Education. Each year the London RE Providers arrange joint lectures with key academics and professionals from the RE world.
The programme is demanding but most find it to very rewarding. UEL tutors are very supportive and give ongoing help and advice through online feedback, discussion boards and personal tutorials. Even before you begin your course you are given targeted information on how to prepare.
If you would like to ask specific questions about the RE ITT programme at UEL, please contact s.smith@uel.ac.uk or PGCE course tutor e.lewis@uel.ac.uk
We particularly welcome applications from students who have an honours degree in Religious Studies, Theology or Philosophy. However, we are also keen to hear from graduates in other subjects. For example, many Social Science and Humanities courses have covered issues related to religious beliefs. In these cases, we would expect you to show evidence of personal study in world religions and religious and philosophical issues. You should be prepared to develop your knowledge of the major world religions as an essential part of the course. We expect all applicants to have a passion for RE and religious/philosophical issues.
We also require -
If you have any doubts about the suitability of your degree and/or experience, please do not hesitate to contact us for further advice.
If you have been offered a secondary teacher training place in RE, we are running an RE Subject Knowledge Booster programme. This will begin prior to the start of the PGCE programme and is funded by the Teacher Development Agency for Schools (TDA). For more details visit the TDA website.
This is a very intensive, full-time programme. It runs for 36 weeks, beginning in September with a week of subject support. Following that, you are at University for the first half term, with weekly observation visits to schools.
The first school placement starts in October for four days a week; the other day is spent back at University for subject knowledge development and core issues. The placement continues after the Christmas break, with trainees in school five days a week.
There is a second school placement in a different school that runs from February half term to the beginning of June. You will have experience in two different secondary schools and will also visit a Junior School to observe teaching and see the skills and knowledge that pupils bring with them to secondary schools.
This programme prepares you for teaching RE in a multi-faith society. You will explore ways of teaching the six major religious faiths in the UK, as well as RE related content such as philosophy and ethics. Through experiencing some of the typical activities that pupils encounter in RE lessons, you will develop the skills to plan imaginative RE lessons that engage pupils of differing abilities and backgrounds. In subject sessions you will consider the aims of the subject and how this affects both content and delivery.
Having examined underlying frameworks and processes that support good RE teaching, we look in more detail at specific themes and topics. These include: handling discussion with sensitivity , teaching controversial issues, using art, drama and story-telling, differentiation, active learning, using artefacts, spirituality, assessment. There will also be personal tutorials as well as opportunities to teach each other and plan lessons together.
Throughout the year there are academic assignments to be completed and tasks that provide evidence against the standards required by the Teaching and Development Agency for Schools (TDA). The school mentors and university tutors assess you against the standards and you are required to provide evidence that you have met each of them. For more details visit the TDA website.
We have a wide range of facilities including an ICT suite and a Learning Resource Centre. We have good links with local school departments and are developing positive links with a number of national museums which we use for some aspects of our training.
We make good use of London itself as a resource. We have run trips to places of worship such as The London Buddhist Centre, The Ramgarhia Gurdwara, and The Swaminarayan Mandir (Neasden). We have also visited the Sacred exhibition at The British Library and explored religious symbolism at the British Museum.
Please go to our Financial Support pages to find out about the benefits for Secondary Teacher on the PGCE Programme.
Applications for teacher training courses are not made at the university. You need to contact the Graduate Teacher Training Registry. Please see How to Apply for further information.
See HERE for the UEL full programme specification.
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