PGCE - Secondary - Religious Education

Jessica White

I graduated from my Undergraduate Degree in Sociology at the University of Worcester. I had never thought about being an RE teacher but I applied for the course and was successful. A condition of being accepted on the PGCE was that I completed a subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course. This is an 8-week course, equivalent to 200 hours with a £200 a week bursary. The main purpose of the SKE is to enhance your subject knowledge in a variety of ways. You get to pick which religions you focus on and converse with your mentor to agree focus and questions.

I love being able to develop a new passion for RE whilst still fostering and incorporating my Sociology background into the classroom. RE is not just about teaching pupils about religion, it is about assisting in creating inquisitive, respectful and knowledgeable pupils to have an understanding of the multi-cultural society in which they grow up in, whilst developing the necessary skills that can be transferred to other subjects, their wider lives and their futures.

Nicky Hill

I feel the PGCE really helped me become a reflective practitioner. It gave me lots of opportunities to try different pedagogies and reflect on their effectiveness and adapt my teaching as a result.  I also feel like I entered the NQT year equipped with strategies I could use to engage the wide range of learners I would encounter in the classroom.

I think everyone enters the PGCE with strengths and weaknesses within their subject knowledge. But through subject sessions as part of the PGCE I definitely feel I have broadened my knowledge set. Your subject knowledge is something that just continues to develop throughout your teaching career. 

Chris Johnson

The specialist training and advice I received at Worcester was exemplary, allowing me to understand a wide variety of different techniques and schools of thought in teaching. The fantastic staff provide trainees with the research skills to study educationalists who are experts in their specific field; whilst simultaneously receiving advice from accomplished and experienced teachers, both at university level and from school mentors, carefully picked by the university.

This course and university provides an environment that trainees can really thrive in, becoming brilliant teachers, who are very employable and have the tools, knowledge and skills to progress confidently on through the NQT year and beyond throughout one’s entire career. The Religious Education PGCE has really set the foundations for me and provided the support to become the teacher I always wanted to be, and to excel in my field of specialism. Last but not least, you may find yourself smiling a few times along the way!

Dan Tipton

I found several aspects of the PGCE course at Worcester exceptional. The support I received from my subject tutor was phenomenal and the subject specific lessons at university helped me adapt my pedagogy, shaping me into a reflective practitioner. The essays were thoroughly scaffolded, giving  learners who had been outside academia for a period enough support to complete these at the necessary level.

I decided against teaching in a secondary school and am currently employed as a sociology lecturer in an FE college. My training allowed me the freedom to train in different levels of education, selecting which one would suit my style and long term career goals. Without this freedom to complete additional placements I would have struggled to access the FE sector. After a successful PGCE course I will be applying to complete my master’s in education at Worcester University, furthering my chances of becoming a PGCE Tutor in the future. In addition to this I have taken on positions of responsibility within my current role and I am delivering seminar sessions on the PGCE course at Manchester University.

Sarah Gilbert

I chose to do my PGCE at Worcester because it has such a fantastic reputation for teacher training. It was a fantastic coincidence that the year I decided to change my career saw Worcester offering a PGCE in RE for the first time - it just had to be fate! In the first few weeks the university has lived up to its reputation offering fantastic advice, support, workshops and training. I can't wait to get into schools and begin to put it all into practice.