Single Parent doing PGCE- please help- advice needed!

wiggywoo9

Hi

I'm a single parent with a 2.5 year old. He will be three in May.

I have my degree (last July) and currently getting experience and doubly training as a TA in a secondary boy's school. I got a D in maths at school so I am doing that too, hoping to get a C by July this year.

I want to do my PGCE in English secondary. I live in a HA flat in Coventry. It takes a 30-min bus ride from the centre to our home. I can't drive and use the bus and walk everywhere.

I'm just looking to see if anyone has any advice for me doing the PGCE? I realise all the work and effort involved. The only thing I'm worried about is my limitations with not driving, being far from town and juggling my son. What is it like? Do you go to uni a few days then placement? How does this work with childcare- different places?

I am also quite a shy person and need to bolster my confidence, raise my voice to able to control kids a bit. Any ways to work on this?

I love TA work but don't feel I can stop just there as I want more. Plus TA jobs are few and far between atm and it is all on me to get my son a good future! I've worked hard to get into the position where I can apply for teacher training and really, really want it!

Also about the money side- childcare for different placements, the travel to and from places?

Even if I scrimped to learn to drive by then, I'd still have to find all the cash for a car, insurance, MOT, etc. Plus the cost of retainers etc for childcare? It is possible to do via public transport? I realise this will be an issue when actually teaching. Should I be saving hard now?

If I don't get my maths this year, I'll be applying for next year start. I don't have any contact with family at all and my son's dad may not be available to help with him as he works odd hours?

Please respond! Really need help here!

Idiophreak

Hi wiggywoo9,

Firstly, it's great to see someone with so much drive and ambition to get where they want to go, very inspiring...I've no advice about the childcare or public transport, but can offer a general thought:

Are you *sure* you know what's involved in the PGCE? You said you are, but then you're not sure about the structure of the placements etc...

Bottom line: It's a lot of work, like a *lot* of work. In fact, it's so much work that drop-out rates can be as high as 60% - and a significant proportion of the people who apply are 21yo grads without any responsibilities at home. Taking on the PGCE *and* caring for a 2 year old is going to be a big ask of yourself - physically, mentally, emotionally.

Now, I'm absolutely *not* saying that it can't be done...but you need to make sure you're 100% clear on what's involved in the course, what's expected of you etc...

ConfusedofYorkshire

My husband used public transport during his pgce. It was York to Leeds. They try to be accommodating with you teaching placements but there are no guarantees as you can be put anywhere within a certain radius.

It's really hard work and my husband struggled at times. I'm not sure he could have done it with a 2 year old at home, as we have one of those now. He's a teacher now and he gets home at 6-7. We eat dinner, he gives the toddler a bath, we put him to bed and then my husband works until 1 or 2 in the morning. It's really not easy.

This is primary though, secondary is probably different as having worked in a secondary school I met plenty of teachers who didn't do those hours. The just followed a scheme of work.

System

My wife is a teacher and I asked her regarding placements. She said that the university does take consideration of personal circumstances when placing the students.


Obviously if you can't get a placement nearby then you will have to look at your options but assuming there are a few schools nearby you should almost certainly get a placement as schools love trainees (you are very cheap for them!).

mummycat111

Hi, I was in the same situation 17 years ago so I did my teaching degree with the OU! I fully recommend as you can do it over more time and you choose which school to do your placement in so you could ask a local school. I graduated in 1998 and easily got a job and I was 40! I'm still a teacher

Jinks_65

Congratulations on doing so well I completed a PGCE (post compulsory) in July 13 - as it was adult ed I was able to do it part-time (not sure if same applies at other levels) - and I have to say it was mental and the thought of a f/t one would have made me feel quite ill! I have kids, they are supposedly grown though (!) and I worked very p/t hours - but I had no time for anything else for the majority of the 2 years. The placements are different, as in I did 3 classes/week for the duration rather than block placements and I had 8 observations, fairly evenly spaced, over that time; effectively, the second year I was running the classes with my mentor just on stand by, which was nice really. We had 4 assignments per year, each of several thousand words on subjects such as curriculum and policy and including an action research project. We had to knock ourselves out to get 4x Level 7 passes, to ensure it was a masters level PGCE - though our tutors always said we only needed to do just enough, as we deserved a life too, but I still need to nip in Tesco and pick one of those up!

Whilst I say it was mental - it was nothing compared to the first year as a tutor - this is full-blown sitting in a corner rocking - and it's not just me, it's long term experienced tutors going off with stress and starting to have panic attacks. The other literacy tutor left secondary teaching after several years due to the pressures and though our pressures in adult ed are becoming similar to the school ones in terms of paperwork and the funding troubles, she still states the students are sooooo much easier to deal with - and it's still worth the 75% pay cut. I have ended up on a fixed term p/t contract (funding) supposedly 16 hours/week, working 20 hours officially (just going to lose those hours as there has been no time to use them as holiday) and around 45 hours in reality - but I still have to maintain my other p/t weekend job to get the rent paid - so, as it is I rarely see my grandkids and certainly wouldn't bother buying myself a life yet. I've also had well enough of having everyone bar God click their fingers at me and insist I ask how high I must jump - some of my students make the whole thing worthwhile - but not long term. I don't regret the PGCE, I liked the learning and the experience - I wish I'd thought longer about whether I really wanted all this though. I rarely see my grandchildren and never do anything that might be considered as having a life, I have also more or less stopped reading, which I previously loved to do - not work/life balance in action at my age sadly.

Well - I don't know if I've put you off - if not, I guess you'll make it - you are clearly younger, probably have more energy, and you are also heading into a different sector - but be aware that, however, much time you think you have to do stuff in it just gets eaten up by uni/placement/planning/study and basically, jumping through harder and harder hoops - and this is just child's play compared to the QTS year. Don't imagine that doing good planning for a lesson will be worth it, as it can be reused later - it won't be - Ofsted, uni tutors, mentors, students, policy makers all ensure that you will never be able to reuse stuff and you will always have to learn new curriculae.

Best of luck whatever you decide

liney

Applications for September 2014 PGCE's opened in November, so you might be looking at a 2015 application regardless. You can search courses here: http://search.gttr.ac.uk/cgi-bin/hsrun.hse/General/gttr_search/gttr_search.hjx;start=gttr_search.HsForm.run

The work load on a PGCE is intense. When you are in school, you will be required to work a full working day, arriving at at school at 8am and leaving at 5pm - 6pm. You are likely to then have work to do at home in the evenings. Add a realist hour or more to that day if you are having to use public transport.

Different courses manage the placements differently. Some will have a block of a few weeks in placement, then back to uni for some time. Others, for example the SCITT courses, will have a day or two in Uni and the rest of the week at school pretty much all year.

wiggywoo9

Thanks for all the advice. I am not put off. Just wish I had an extra pair of hands!

I had a feeling it'd be 2015 anyway. My son is under 5 and thus I am on income support, but I really need to start before I get anywhere near the cut-off and the move to JSA. I hear they are not tolerant of courses and would be more pressured than I am now.

I'm hoping my son's dad may help a bit, even if just playing with him for a bit so I can work. I'm really keen to get going as soon as possible. I'm one of those people who also looks for what's next, so teaching seems natural progression from this TA course.

I wonder, is there a 'clearing' process for PGCE? To get on for this year? I thought there was but may be wrong. Should I be saving for the course in 2015 then and how much? What else can I do to prepare? Books/reading? Would it be useful to start making files on books, etc- like a folder on 'Of Mice and Men' for teaching?

I thought of doing this but was unsure if there was any point. Any other tips on how to juggle it would be great

Note- the OU doesn't do English PGCE, thanks though!

Rosemary7391

The school I work at does something called 'school direct' - it is based at a single school and can be salaried. That might be a bit better for you practically if anywhere nearby does it. More info: http://www.otsa.org.uk/home/initial-teacher-training-school-direct/ - think this one is only in Oxfordshire though.

Jinks_65

If you do the course full-time you will get some form of loan, similar to an undergrad - direct.gov.uk will give you an estimate of what you would get - this would certainly prevent JSA, but I think you get quite a fair amount to live on plus childcare costs - the bloke at the same placement as me but on the f/t PGCE was better off than when he was working :0! Of course funding has changed considerably since then, but I don't think you'd be out of pocket as teaching is often funded to an extent. There was a girl on our p/t course with a rising 5, on income support, and she had a lot of hassle about doing the course till she also got a job - 1/day per week and her placement was 1/day per week. Where I work, however, we manage to persuade the jobcentre to put our courses on the JSA agreement - though the claimant does have to promise to give up the courses if a job comes up - these are lower level courses but we have managed to persuade the work programme to allow someone to continue their Admin course (which I teach, of course I do - I specialised in literacy!). I believe there is a form of clearing for the PGCE - phone and enquire at the unis you are considering. Best of luck with it all

liney

As a PGCE student you would claim a student loan, grant, and bursary if applicable depending on your subject and degree classification.

There does not seem to be a clearing process for PGCEs anymore. Here is how the application works: http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/teacher-training/when-to-apply

As of this year you also need to have passed the Numeracy and Literacy Skills tests before beginning the PGCE, so this may have something to do with the lack of clearing.