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Annual Mentor Conference Celebrates ‘Community of Learning’
Earlier this month members of the Secondary PGCE and School Direct team at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) held the first-ever fully remote Annual Mentor Conference titled 'In Changing Times, a Time to Change'. The impact of how training teachers within the COVID-19 pandemic is now shaping practices formed the inspiration for the event and throughout the four-hour conference, attended by delegates from across the partnership, presentations by leaders within the BGU Secondary team showcased the aspects of the Lockdown on professional training, and how BGU will be supporting all within continued restrictions. Professor Anna Lise Gordon (Institute of Education, Faculty of Education, Human and Social Sciences, St Mary’s University, Twickenham) gave the keynote lecture reflecting on her research-informed practices within Secondary teacher training and continued to reinforce the need for respect and relationships as the central development of contemporary resilient teachers. There were also insights by Senior leaders from partnership schools; Ms Marie Muir, Queen Elizabeth High School, Gainsborough and Mrs Jo Fieldsend, Director of Charter Teaching School Alliance, Horncastle shared their vision of how they will facilitate professional training programmes for BGU’s trainee teachers. The remote conference was created by Senior Lecturer Helen Bushell-Thornalley, who herself takes a leading role in Mentoring and Coaching for Secondary school professionals, with support from Mark Hall of BGU’s Centre for Enhancement in Learning and Teaching (CELT). Speaking after the conference Helen shared the events conclusions: “The conference’s conclusions were that BGU’s vision continues to be crafted through a community of learning. Mentoring for mentors alongside professionals in schools, for all of our teachers that we work with within our partnership schools. The recovery mentoring programme now more than ever requires a distributed community of practices.” You can find more information on the wide range of innovative PGCE courses offered by BGU on our website. Alternatively you can contact our Enquiries Team or join us on one our Open Days to find out how to begin your journey into teaching. -
How collaboration across Bishop Grosseteste University is supporting students to adapt in uncertain times
By Cassie Rainey - BG Futures Administrator Covid-19 has transformed the world we live in, pushing us to adapt to a ‘new normal’. One aspect of this ‘new normal’ is the way in which graduates will have to navigate their transitions into the labour market. At Bishop Grosseteste University, the support of academic and professional support teams is more vital than ever to students and graduates. Last month, the Primary and Early Years ITE team and the BG Futures: Careers, Employability and Enterprise team collaborated to deliver a virtual session for students across programmes on the format and logistics of online interviews. The sessions incorporated information on best practice, tips for different video calling platforms and guidance on possible interview questions. The sessions included a Q&A from a recruitment industry expert and BG Futures tenant with questions put forward by students. Sarah Howe, Senior Lecturer on the PGCE Primary programme said: “The Covid – 19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the job application process for some of our students and trainees. Lecturers in the Primary and Early Years ITE Programmes turned to the Careers, Employability & Enterprise team at BG Futures to ensure that support offered at our institution, met the needs of our students and trainees. Several on-line workshops and personal tutorials have taken place with encouraging feedback.” Emma McCarthy, Co-Director of McCarthy Adams Recruitment Specialists, a tenant within the Business & Enterprise Centre in BG Futures, was on hand to provide expert tips to succeeding in online interviews and assisted with a video Q&A for the session. Andy Wright, Careers, Employability & Enterprise Coordinator at BG Futures commented: “This has been a great partnership between teaching staff, BG Futures, students and one of our own tenant businesses. We’ve been very excited to extend our reach to those students who are not able to access face-to-face support at this time, and we have been delighted with the results.” George Rhodes, BA (Hons) Primary Education student, who used this session to help prepare for an upcoming online job interview commented: “After being recommended by a fellow student, I joined an online interview support session which not only provided invaluable advice but also built up my self-confidence. I was successful in my interview, running against 90 other candidates, and I believe without attending the session with Andrew this may not have been the case.” Sarah Moseley, Enterprise Development Manager, said: “The BG Futures Business and Enterprise Centre offers 14 leasable office spaces for start-ups and is home to our Student Enterprise Club. With an emphasis on making a positive impact, we strive to attract tenants who will work collaboratively, to improve the lives of our students, bridging theory and practice. We are extremely thankful for Emma McCarthy’s time and input with this session” You can find out more about BG Futures here. You can explore our Primary and Early Years programmes here. -
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*Primary ITE Documents
These CPD guides are only to be used when directed by your SBM. They are designed to support you in your development, but only when gaps in knowledge and understanding have been identified by you and your mentor. You are not expected to complete all of the tasks within the guides and you may find that you do not need to use them at all. -
Secondary ITE Documents
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BGU Academics Awarded €178,000 Erasmus Funding for Well-being Research
Academics from Bishop Grosseteste University’s (BGU) Well-being and Workload in Education RKEU group have been awarded 178,000 euro of Erasmus+ funding to research and develop the well-being of initial teacher education students. The group from BGU, who will be leading this international project, consists of Dr. Emma Clarke, Dr. Phil Wood, Shaun Thompson and Aimee Quickfall. They will be working with colleagues at the University of Eastern Finland and Kobenhavns Professionshojskole, University of Copenhagen. Aimee, who is Head of Programmes for Primary and Early Years at BGU, commented that: “It is great to be working with our Finnish and Danish colleagues again on a topic that is dear to all of us – the continued success and happiness of our teacher trainees.” The aim of the project is to produce a package of resources for ITE students, school mentors and university staff, including ‘well-being toolkits’ that will be tailored to Finnish, Danish and UK contexts. Shaun, who is Regional Partnership Lead at BGU explained this: “It is really important to consider different education systems and also the different people that need support with well-being. If a student struggles with their well-being during their training, mentors and university tutors also need resources to support their trainee in their context; on placement, in tutorials, at a distance and in person.” The project will run for three years and include events in all three countries to share findings with students, school mentors and initial teacher educators. Emma pointed out: “The project has a real activist aim – we want to improve the experiences of teacher trainees as widely as we can.” To that end, the project outcomes will include a website with free to access online resources, blogs and advice, as well as the toolkits for supporting trainee well-being. Phil explained that: “Although the toolkits and resources will be based on research carried out at BGU, UEF and Copenhagen, there will be useful materials and findings for teacher trainees, mentors and tutors in other contexts and countries.” If you’re interested in a future in education, our BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS (3 year undergraduate degree), BA (Hons) Primary Teaching Studies with QTS (15 month top up degree), and PGCE courses are the perfect ways to begin or continue your adventure on the path to becoming a fantastic teacher! If you have any questions, our Enquiries Team are ready to help. Contact them today or visit our website to find out how to take your next steps. -
Professor Julian Stern
Professor of Education and Religion julian.stern@bishopg.ac.uk Julian Stern works on education and religion, leading research projects and organisations, and supervising doctorates. He qualified as a piano teacher, and then as a teacher of humanities and social sciences, and was a school teacher for fourteen years. Moving into teacher education and research, he has worked in universities in London, Yorkshire, and now Lincolnshire. Themes of his work include the philosophy of schooling, religious education, spirituality in education, research methods, and issues related to solitude, silence and loneliness. Related courses: PGCE Religious EducationMA in EducationEdDPhD -
BGU announces new partnership with Teach North
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) has announced a new partnership with leading teacher-training provider, Teach North. The partnership will see the two organisations team up to provide first-class teacher training through the Teach North School Direct Programme. At completion of the programme, those on the course will receive a PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status in addition to 60 Master’s credits. Following its most recent evaluation, Ofsted awarded the PGCE programme at BGU, a Grade 2: Good. Emma Tate, Director of Outwood Institute of Education and Programme Lead for Teach North, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with BGU to provide first-class teacher training to future teachers, through our School Direct Programme. “The new partnership means Teach North is now working with five universities to deliver teacher training, while supporting the communities within which these universities are based. Working with BGU will enable us to focus on supporting not only Lincoln, but surrounding areas like Worksop and Scunthorpe. “We believe that by working together with BGU, we can ensure trainee teachers get the very best support both in and out of the classroom as well as gaining invaluable experience teaching their own class as they study.” Teach North recently announced that its 2020-2021 cohort was the biggest it had ever taken on, with over 100 trainee-teachers training to teach with them. While BGU has been educating students in the historic heart of Lincoln for over 150 years. Stephen Smith, Head of ITE Partnerships at BGU, said: “Bishop Grosseteste University is delighted to be working in partnership with Teach North. We look forward to working together in a joint venture, helping to develop the very best teachers who will serve the children and schools in our region.” -
Christmas Tomfoolery
See how our Staff fared in their Christmas Taskmaster Challenges -
Edward Collyer
Edward Collyer is an Honorary Research Fellow. He has previously worked in the School of Teacher Development across PGCE and PGDE programmes. He is a member of the Telling it Like it Is Group and the LiLi Research Knowledge Exchange Unit. Edward is also studying towards his PhD part-time where he is exploring how the professional identity of trainee English teachers changes throughout the initial training year in relation to the core aspects of the secondary English curriculum.
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