• Home
• Primary Teaching
  • Pre-course Preparation
  • Subject Knowledge Development
  • Initial School Experience
  • Term Dates
• Secondary Teaching
• Strands and Phases
• To do List
• Fees and Funding
• Fundamental English and Maths Skills
• Fitness to Teach Application
• Safeguarding
• Registration and Induction
• School Placements
• Well-being and Workload
• Internationally Educated Students
• Joining a Teaching Union
• Useful Information
• Contact Us

Subject Knowledge Development

Developing your subject knowledge for teaching is really important. Please access the resources below to begin this development now. You will continue to work on your subject knowledge throughout your course. 

It will be helpful to have a look at the National Curriculum and the Framework for the Early Years to get a sense of the scope and expectations. Please follow the links below:

• Early years foundation stage statutory framework
• Bold Beginnings
• National Curriculum Key stages 1 and 2 framework

Phonics

Primary English is a subject that evokes much debate amongst politicians, media commentators, educators and researchers. In part, this is due to the high value society puts on being literate and the important role primary teachers play in supporting children to become competent and confident speakers, readers and writers.

Your PGCE course will support you to become an effective teacher of primary English, but there is a lot to learn! To give yourself a head start, here are some things you can do:

• Enrol in a local library that has a children’s section. Start reading children’s literature with the aim of reading a range of genres (for example graphic novels, picture books, poetry, non-fiction) and authors you are unfamiliar with. Keep a record of books you have read, perhaps noting down which ones you would want to share with children and why.
  
  For ideas of what to read, there are some useful websites:
  BookTrust
  LoveReading4Kids
  Just Imagine
  
  
• Watch these videos of children learning Systematic Synthetic Phonics and try to notice what the teachers and children are doing and saying. How do your observations compare with your memories of learning to read and write?
  Brooklands School
  Marner School
  
  
• Read the DfE’s guidance for schools on early reading: The reading framework: Teaching the foundations of literacy
  
  As well as setting out the government’s approach to the teaching of reading, this document contains key subject knowledge that you will need for teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics and a useful glossary of key terminology used in primary English teaching and learning.

• If you want to begin reading a core text, we recommend either:
  
  Bearne, E. & Reedy, D. (2017) Teaching Primary English: Subject Knowledge and Classroom Practice. London: Routledge
  or
  Clements, J. & Tobin, M. (2021) Understanding and Teaching Primary English: Theory into Practice. London: Sage

Maths 

Many beginning primary teachers are nervous about teaching maths. Many have had less-than-positive personal experiences of learning mathematics at school and worry that they don’t have enough understanding of school mathematics to be able to teach it to others. Although disconcerting, this is a common experience at the start of the PGCE programme. But, many beginning teachers are also pleasantly surprised once in school that they really enjoy teaching maths and, by the end of the programme, feel much more confident about their own mathematical knowledge and teaching this subject.

To help you to feel more confident about your own mathematical subject knowledge and understanding, here are some suggestions of things you can do:

• Download and work through some old Year 6 SATS exam papers. This will help you to refresh your understanding of the highest levels of primary mathematics. You can also download the marksheets to help you if you get stuck

• Have a look on youcubed for some innovative ideas, resources and research about mathematical learning and teaching.
  
  You might also want to get hold of a copy of Jo Boaler’s book Mathematical Mindsets – which is what the youcubed website resources are based on. This book is an easy and accessible to read and will help you to understand how to help children to have positive learning experiences in maths. The University of Nottingham library has a copy of this book. 

• There are some ‘knowledge checks’ (as well as loads of resources and videos on maths topics) on this Sage website. You can use this website to check what areas of maths you are more and less confident in, and then use the resources to help to develop your mathematics subject knowledge of the primary curriculum.

• You may also want to get hold of a copy of Mathematics Explained for Primary Teachers by Derek Haylock and Ralph Manning. This book provides detailed and accessible explanations of each topic in the primary maths curriculum. 

Wider curriculum

As a teacher in a primary setting, you will be expected to teach across all subjects. Your PGCE course will provide you with the tools to ensure that, when the time comes, you will have the resources, knowledge and research skills to support you in planning, teaching and assessing each National Curriculum subject, as a beginning teacher.

Start reflecting on which areas of the curriculum you feel most confident about. For those areas where you feel less confident, have a look through some of the free resources, found on the websites below (these open in a new link).