This course will provide a foundation towards helping you become an outstanding practitioner of Religious Education. You will explore a range of teaching and learning styles, alongside engaging with pedagogy that has proven to be successful for teachers of the subject. The course focuses on helping teachers understand how to engage students in the classroom and to become critical thinkers who develop a love for learning.

The course blends looking at subject specific skills ranging across the key stages whilst also exploring reading techniques, questioning techniques and a range of techniques to develop the learning of students. As part of the course, Philosophy for learning will be explored to consider how to create a learning environment that inspires confidence and reflective thinking in the classroom. Practitioners will have opportunities to explore how to bring scripture alive in the classroom, whilst exploring how artwork can provide opportunities to explore faith from a creative lens . The course will explore how to develop students ability to write extended responses, alongside developing skills of analysis and evaluation.

The course provides a gateway into how to develop the confidence of teachers and how to transmit this confidence into the learning environment provided for students, culminating in providing outstanding provision for Religious Education.

Bishop Challoner Training School, in partnership with Alliance schools (BCTSA), is an accredited provider of school-based teacher training in Birmingham and across the West Midlands.

You will be in school 4 days a week where you will be fully involved in all aspects of a teacher’s work. One day a week you will have your pedagogical training, which will provide a mixture of specific Subject Studies and more general Professional Studies sessions.

To enrich your professional practice and develop your expertise you will complete 2 PGCE assignments, which will contribute 60 credits towards a Master’s degree.

You will be in your school from day one. At the beginning of the year you will observe expert practitioners, moving towards leading small parts of a lesson and gradually building up to teach whole lessons. You will receive the support of school-based mentors, as well as members of the BCTSA Central Team and Subject Tutors.

Interview process

You will be required to attend one interview, either face-to-face or online. Interviews include:

* exploration of curriculum knowledge

* discussion about relevant experiences

* a presentation or small teaching exercise

* written task (English and Maths)

* formal interview

We will also be looking for:

* good communication skills

* potential / suitability to be a good teacher

* robustness to cope with the demands of the course

Full details of the application process will be sent to applicants who have successfully progressed to this stage. Before interviews take place there will also be an opportunity for an informal conversation to ask any questions that you may have about our programmes.

BCTSA is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Staff involved in the interview process will be assessing applicants, their suitability to work with children, experience, qualifications (and subject knowledge) and potential.

School placements

You will have a main placement school for the majority of the programme with a contrasting school placement for a few weeks during the Spring Term.

The main placement school for an applicant is discussed at interview, so that individual requirements can be taken into account. We have a large number of primary and secondary schools in our Alliance so there is a wide range of types and size of schools in locations across Birmingham and the West Midlands. If you are interested in being placed in a particular school not in our Alliance then we will talk to the Headteacher about our programme, but we cannot guarantee that the request will be fulfilled.

You will be based at your main placement school for the whole of the programme except for a second contrasting placement which will take place in the Spring Term. This second placement school will be discussed with you before any decisions are made.

We will let you know your main placement school as soon as possible, and there will be an opportunity to visit the school and meet with your school-based trainers prior to the course commencing.

Course length / fees

1 year

£9250

Requirements and eligibility

2:2 degree

Pending GCSEs – yes

Equivalency GCSEs – yes English and Maths