PGCE UK 2007 - Most Reputable College?

tyres

Hey,
First time poster here, just wondering can anyone give their adive on which UK colleges are thought highly of and the PGCE course that it offers back here in Ireland?

With so many colleges offering the PGCE course and with what appears to be very few distinguishing differences between the courses, am i missing/overlooking some obvious reasons to pick certain colleges over others.

At the moment looking at the likes of East London, Strawberry Hill, Brighton...mainly down to ease of acess to airports and getting back home with the least amount of effort required...any other colleges that i should bear in mind?

Closing date for applications is Dec 1st, crept up and me quick so any help would be great

Cheers,

Tyres

Trotter

I know a girl who qualified out of Liverpool Hope University. She enjoyed it, said it was a good course, and transport wasnt a problem with direct flights from Liverpool and Manchester. She's got a fulltime permanent job here too, so no issues there with recognition.

katyk

Im in Brighton uni doing the PGCE. Its a great area with lots going on. Transport links are fantastic, only about a half hour from Gatwick airport. There is no parking at the uni without a permit, and these are extremely hard to get.
Im doing Secondary teaching PCGE. The course lecturers are friendly and helpful. The course itself is really tough going, and expect to have no time for a real life, but do try your best to make some. The structure of the course is pretty instense. You are in uni 9-5 (or sometimes 9-4) for 5 days a week for the first 2 weeks of uni. There are alot of talks and lectures going on, some are good, others are a waste of time. After the first 2 weeks, you start in your school, 3 days a week and with the other 2 days in uni. The schools most of people have been put in, are on average an hours drive from where people live. (this is actually a good thing, because believe me, you dont want to be living close to your students!!) Most of the schools that have taken people this year, are large mixed comprenhensives. There are also some private schools who will take PGCE students. After about 2 weeks in the school, you are expected to start teaching some classes, and certainly after mid term you should be teaching most or all of your classes. This can be tough, if like me you've never had any teaching experience before. By the end of November, you will go on block placement (5 days per week) and will be teaching your full timetable. This goes on until the end of Jan and then you will have 2 weeks full time in Uni, before you go off to another placement school on block (5 days per week) until the end of May. Course finishes around first week in June.
Holiday wise, we get 1 week in Oct for mid term, 2 weeks for Christmas (you follow your own schools timetable), 1 week in Feb, 1 week in May and 2 weeks for Easter.
The above is just how it is for us this year, it may be slightly different dates and holidays for next year, but Im sure it wont be that much different.

I dont know about any other unis, but Ive a friend in Bristol and her course doesnt seem to be so full on, and she thinks its a really great uni aswell.

If you have any other questions just let me know.

kittex

I studied my PGDE in Secondary at Glasgow University. Lots of good links home (both Aerlingus at Glasgow and Ryanair at Prestwick airport). There are loads of Irish there, especially on the Primary courses.

In Scotland you do 18 weeks in Uni and 18 weeks in school, broken up over 3 main placements in 2 schools. You can also obtain a Catholic Teachers Certificate there for free alongside studying for your course.

I found the course stressful but not too bad. In Scotland you're also guaranteed a year of teaching following graduation. During this time you're supported alot and given additional time to get your head round planning, reporting, marking etc. It is very much seen as a 2 year process here, althgough you don't have to do the year to come back to Ireland and teach any Irish I know have stayed to do it.

The hardest thing for me was getting my head round the way they assess here, but again, there is lots of information available on it.

Glasgow itself is fun, but can be a bit grim given the awful weather. But there's loads going on, and there's a growing GAA contingent too.