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PGCE Primary (5-11) Modern Languages

Qualify as primary school teacher with a focus on languages

Qualify as primary school teacher with a focus on languages

1 year full time
Bognor Regis Campus
  • Qualify as a primary teacher in just one year
  • Specialise teaching modern foreign languages at a primary level
  • Learn at a university with over 180 years' experience in teacher training
  • Blend of professional placements and creative theoretical teaching
student in class raising his hand

Overview

Qualify as a primary school teacher with a focus on languages

Learn the art of teaching

Our PGCE Primary Teaching with Modern Languages route prepares you to teach across the primary curriculum and develop expertise in teaching modern languages.

You will focus on teaching the primary curriculum and will receive high-quality training in partnership with local schools to build your classroom experience.

As part of the PGCE course you will develop your knowledge and understanding of inclusive practice to meet the needs of all learners. During a two-week enhanced placement in a SEND setting you will be able to apply your understanding of key pedagogies and theories and deepen your knowledge of specialist provision by working with expert colleagues.

This is achieved through the study of knowledge, skills and attitudes required in the teaching profession, the fundamentals of the national curriculum and a dedicated focus on the development of your understanding of the role of the primary teacher.

In addition, you will gain vital hands-on experience of working within the classroom through our 120-day (plus itaps) school placement programme, which will develop your confidence and competence to teach effectively.

After successful completion, you will be recommended for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) so that you can begin working as a teacher in a primary school.

Outstanding Ofsted provider

The University of Chichester is proud to have received a rating of Outstanding from Ofsted at its inspection this year.

The Ofsted report recognised that “trainees leave very well-placed to continue on their journey towards being aspirational, inspirational and motivational teachers.”

Ofsted Outstanding Provider logo

“…trainees flourish at the University of Chichester and develop into skilled and knowledgeable global citizens.”

“University and school staff support trainees to thrive through their highly effective ‘team around the trainee’ approach.”

“Trainees value the nurturing family ethos at Chichester, with one trainee commenting, ‘they are there to catch you when you fall, but they are also there to stop you falling in the first place’.”

Ofsted Report 2023

Proud history of teacher training

The University of Chichester has been training teachers for over 180 years and we look to train employable professionals who can get out there and make a difference.

You will be taught by experienced education specialists and our dedication to small teaching groups allows you develop strong professional relationships with the University teaching team.

On this course you will:

  • Gain Qualified Teacher Status upon completion of the course that will allow you to teach in primary schools in England and Wales.
  • Develop your competence and confidence working within the classroom environment.
  • Gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by the teaching profession.
  • Understand the cornerstone of the national curriculum for primary education, with the opportunity to pursue a speciality in modern foreign languages.

The Course

Develop your knowledge of teaching modern languages at primary school level

As a PGCE Primary with Modern Languages student, you will learn the national curriculum and how to deliver it to young children in exciting and engaging ways.

You will learn the fundamentals of teaching English, maths and science, as well as the key theories of learning development to better understand how to ensure that all children can succeed and thrive in school.

You will also learn how to teach subjects that form the wider curriculum, including aspects of ICT/computing, PE, modern foreign languages, music, art, history, geography, design technology, religious education and drama.

Core curriculum

You will study core curriculum modules that will develop your confidence and enjoyment of primary teaching:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science.

The course will equip you to take a critical and reflective view of each subject’s curriculum and pedagogies. You will develop a detailed understanding of the distinctive features of each subject area and explore relevant research concerning children’s learning in that subject.

By linking your learning to school experience, the module will promote the necessary understanding you need to plan, teach and assess the core curriculum effectively.

Modules

This module list is indicative and subject to change.

Professional Studies

This module aims to develop student teachers’ critical and rigorous understanding of the principles which underpin primary education.

You will be supported in recognising and developing your teacher identity, knowledge, understanding and appreciation of professional roles and responsibilities within professional frameworks.

The module aims to enable you to begin to develop your own personal educational philosophies, so that you can apply these in the classroom and articulate them to other professionals.

The module will investigate the nature of the evolving primary curriculum in terms of its design, principles and application. You will understand how cognitive science approaches can be applied to support and challenge learning.

You will also critically evaluate good practice in planning, teaching, assessment and behaviour management. You will explore key theories and research relating to these issues and their implications for teaching, learning and the work of schools.  As part of this, you will critique research methods and ethics of educational research.

The module will explore key issues relating to inclusion, equality and diversity, SEND and the implications of these in the classroom.  It critically explores issues relating to safeguarding children and their implications for good practice.

This module will equip you with the skills, knowledge and organisational structure needed for school experience placements.

Core Curriculum – English

Semester 1
This module introduces you to the content, pedagogical, and curricula knowledge, along with the attitudes necessary to be a teacher of English in primary and early years settings. In doing so, the module supports you in developing the foundational knowledge required to be a teacher of English.

Through seminar sessions, students will examine good practice in the teaching of reading and writing whilst addressing the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum and EYFS.

Strong links will be made between theory and practice, as you explore the value of different texts in school.

Integral to the module is an understanding of progression in English and how to teach this through drawing upon the language modes of communication, reading and writing.

Semester 2
This module builds upon semester 1 and School Experience A. It is designed to allow you to extend your substantive, syntactical and pedagogical curriculum knowledge through the exploration of communication, reading and writing. In doing so, you will learn how to be an effective teacher of English within the context of developing as a professional.

Core Curriculum – Mathematics

Semester 1
This module introduces you to the subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and curriculum knowledge that contribute to becoming a teacher of mathematics in primary and early years settings.

The module will explore how these elements interplay and will draw on your own experiences of being a learner of mathematics.

Strong links will be made between relevant theory and current practice, encouraging students to critically evaluate these.

The module will provide an opportunity for you to develop your professional understanding of effective approaches to teaching mathematics.

Semester 2
The subject matter, pedagogical content and curriculum knowledge acquired during semester 1 and School Experience A will be built upon to develop your skills and confidence to plan and teach sequences of mathematics lessons.

Knowledge and understanding of progression and complexity in mathematical learning will be central to the module and support your ability to respond to and meet differing needs.

You will explore strategies that support connections within and between mathematical procedures and concepts in more depth.

The professional use of source material to inform and critique practice will be developed further to include more focused evaluation and support decision-making

Core Curriculum – Science

Semester 1
This module introduces you to the content, pedagogical, and curricula knowledge, along with the attitudes necessary to be a teacher of science in primary and early years settings.

The module seeks to develop your understanding of science whilst addressing the statutory requirements of the national curriculum and EYFS.

Good practice in teaching primary, and early years curriculum is dependent on well-developed subject knowledge; as such, this module will partially focus on developing your scientific understanding of key concepts.

In addition, the module will begin to explore the importance of the interplay between substantive and disciplinary knowledge and science-specific pedagogy in order to enable you to teach practical investigative science.

You will also identify how theory and practice are linked so that you can recognise how research informs practice.

Integral to the module is an understanding of progression and how to challenge misconceptions.

You will understand the need to create an inclusive learning environment (e.g. will begin to learn how the science capital teaching approach applies to lesson planning).

Semester 2
This module builds upon learning in semester 1 and School Experience A. You will be expected to continue to develop your knowledge of less familiar, but important, concepts in science and will deepen your understanding of how learners learn and create more complex schemas over time.

In addition to this, there will be an emphasis on developing your ability to know that curriculum design is underpinned by a deep understanding of how children learn and utilise key insights from current thinking on cognitive science.

You will apply knowledge and understanding of when and how to use models and worked examples in combination with verbal exposition and other strategies (e.g. dual coding and concrete representations).

The module will consolidate the importance of the interplay between substantive and disciplinary knowledge and science-specific pedagogy in order to enable you to teach practical investigative science.

You will also identify how theory and practice are linked so that you can recognise how research informs practice.

Integral to the module is an understanding of progression and the importance of building on foundational knowledge.

Wider Curriculum

This module complements the core and professional studies module in that it raises a number of key issues that are applicable across all subjects, e.g. curriculum organisation, creativity, inclusion etc.

It provides a thorough introduction to the primary curriculum that will enable you to gain the curriculum and pedagogical knowledge necessary to critically evaluate and successfully teach the wider curriculum.

Semester 1
This module introduces the foundation subjects to student teachers. You will develop your understanding of the teaching and learning of the range of foundation subjects taught in primary schools and early years.

The module explores the uniqueness of each subject area by drawing upon key literature to emphasise pedagogical underpinnings, subject knowledge and the skills that children need to acquire during the primary and early years.

This module allows you to experience the distinctive challenges and affordances of each subject area.

Semester 2
This module builds upon semester 1 and School Experience A. You will continue to develop your substantive and pedagogical knowledge of foundation subjects throughout the module through discussions, and engagement in personal reading and research.

The module will enable you to develop coherent learning sequences in the foundation curriculum in the primary and early years.

You will consider how to adapt, develop and deepen learner’s knowledge in each of the foundation subjects. Drawing on current educational research and inspection evidence in the foundation subjects, you will critically reflect upon the effectiveness of the approaches used.

School Experience A

This module aims to introduce student teachers to the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to become an analytical, effective and reflective primary teacher.

It is designed to enable you to relate the taught curriculum to your teaching and the broader role of the teacher. The experience will draw on your own prior experiences and skills and develop them within the partnership of school-based and university-based training and support.

You will be introduced to the professional practice of teaching and enable you to apply theories from university-based courses to the classroom setting. You will be based in a partnership primary school and supported by a university link tutor and school-based mentor. You will begin by observing and reflecting on practice in the school including classroom teaching and the wider responsibilities of the class teacher.

Over the course of the placement, you will be expected to plan, teach, evaluate and assess lessons. Initially, you will focus on teaching small groups of pupils the core curriculum subjects but over the course of the placement, and in negotiation with the mentor, this will be extended to whole class lessons.

By the end of the placement, you will be expected to show growing independence in your lesson planning and use some of your own planning across the curriculum whilst still working to the class teacher’s weekly plans.

Throughout the placement you will be expected to demonstrate the appropriate values and professional conduct associated with becoming a teacher, sufficiently secure knowledge about the curriculum, personal subject knowledge, and classroom management skills. You will maintain detailed records of your planning, assessment and reflections.

School Experience B

This final school experience is intended to enable you to gain proficiency in whole class teaching of subjects across the primary curriculum. By the end of the placement, you will be able to demonstrate that you have met all of the Teachers’ Standards.

You will have a broader understanding of the relationship between theory and practice in education, and the wider context within which schools operate.

You will also be able to identify areas for future development during your teaching career.

Over the course of this placement, you will take on the responsibilities associated with being a class teacher. You will plan, teach, evaluate, assess and monitor pupils’ progress across the curriculum over a sustained period.

You will be expected to evaluate your progress and demonstrate how you have achieved the targets set for you.

You will make a significant contribution to planning, teaching and assessing the pupils in your class.

Teaching and Learning in Modern Languages

This module enables you to develop an in-depth understanding of the role of the Modern Languages teacher and be able to reflect on the way in which children learn foreign languages. You will also develop your understanding of the role of the Modern Languages Co-ordinator.

This module will develop your knowledge and understanding of the benefits for all primary pupils of foreign languages and of suitable inclusive pedagogy.

You will develop your understanding of how to manage the ML classroom and of the use of the target language by both pupils and teachers.

You will consider strategies for monitoring and assessment including approaches to error correction.

The module will consider the place of Modern Languages in the Key Stage 1 curriculum and how to plan for progression, continuity and transition between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. It will address the place of the four skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing) and the use of songs and games.

You will learn how to make effective use of available resources including ICT.

You will consider the benefits of a cross-curricular approach to Modern Languages and the role of the subject specialist including running staff meetings, creating policies and providing support for non-specialists.

Teaching and Assessment

Innovative teaching methods that develop your full potential as a future teacher

Teaching

We use strategies that are designed to enable you to effectively master a broad base of concepts, skills, knowledge and understanding that will inform your teaching practice.

You will join lectures and small seminars led by experienced tutors, in which discussion and debate are key to developing your knowledge and skills.

Our dedicated learning areas simulate real world classrooms, allowing you to become more familiar, confident and comfortable in teaching spaces ahead of your professional placements.

Many of our staff have a strong background within education and use their experience to inform their teaching, as they help your development into a professional and capable teacher.

Assessment

Your teaching is built to support your theoretical learning and develop your communication skills, through essays, lesson plans, research reports, risk assessments or development plans.

Portfolio requirements

In order to qualify for the award of Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), you must pass all school experiences and pass a 12,000-word portfolio at master’s level.

The portfolio consists of a number of tasks that you will complete during the year and share with your Academic Advisor.

They will provide feedback on your work and support you to achieve. Each of the tasks is designed to support your development as an early years teacher and is directly relevant to your practice in the classroom.

School experiences are assessed against the Teachers’ Standards – you will be regularly observed by your mentor and link tutor and will collect evidence of your progress.

Classroom Resources

Over 20,000 classroom resources available to use on placement

As a PGCE teaching student, you will gain access to our dedicated library of teaching materials.

You can find thousands of classroom resources that you can borrow to use while on placement.

From posters to books, classroom kits to DVDs, our library of resources has options for all ages and needs.

You can take resources out for up to six weeks, and they can be taken on placement to aid with your teaching or help you develop your skills and confidence within our classroom environments.

Experience

Discover dedicated facilities that help support your learning

School Placements

Gain vital experience as you develop your confidence at the heart of the classroom

The PGCE programme is taught in close partnership with a range of local schools. During the course, you will experience a number of different placements.

In addition, you will gain vital hands-on experience of working within the classroom through our school placements, which will develop your confidence and competence to teach effectively.

At the start of the course, you will be teaching small groups of pupils. By the end, you’ll be teaching subjects across the curriculum to a whole class. During the extended placements, you will be supported by a school-based mentor and a link tutor from the University.

These placements develop your understanding of progression, inclusion and signature pedagogy.

These placements will usually provide distinctive opportunities in which to develop your professional and teaching skills.

In particular, efforts will be made to place you in schools with different organisational characteristics and in contrasting socio-economic catchment areas.

Careers

Take the first steps towards your career within early years education

This programme will enable you to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and work as an early years teacher.

While the vast majority of graduates choose to work in a primary school, in previous years, some students have been employed in secondary schools, special schools or the wider education sector.

Many of our previous students have progressed in their careers and now hold senior posts in their schools.

Course Costs

Course fees 2025/26

UK fee
£9,250
International fee
£16,560

For further details about fees, please see our Tuition Fees page.

For further details about international scholarships, please see our Scholarships page.

To find out about any additional costs on this course, please see our Additional Costs page.

Course specific costs

You will be required to have a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check costing £40 which needs to be paid for before the start of the course.

Entry Requirements

  • Applicants will require an undergraduate honours degree or equivalent.
  • C/4 or above in English language, mathematics and science at GCSE level.
  • Where relevant, IELTS 7.0 including 7.0 in academic writing with other components no less than 6.5 – or equivalent qualification.

GCSE requirements

We will consider applicants who are taking the relevant GCSEs whilst applying.

We would normally expect applicants to have taken and passed the full GCSE course, however in some circumstances we do accept equivalent qualifications or equivalency tests. Please note, however, that we are unable to accept Level 2 Functional Skills courses that do not cover the full breadth of a GCSE. If you are unable to enrol for the full GCSE course, please contact Admissions to discuss which equivalent qualification we may accept.

Personal statement

Your personal statement is important; it should convince us that you are serious about teaching as a career. You will need to demonstrate a strong awareness of the complex role of the teacher in supporting learning. You should ensure that you refer to any voluntary or paid experiences in schools or early years settings.

Modern language requirements

Students on the modern language routes will also usually need to have an A2 or above in French or Spanish (grade A – C or equivalent) and the ability to be sufficiently proficient in that language to carry out training requirements and teaching within a primary placement.

If you do not meet these entry requirements but are keen to follow the modern languages specialism, please contact the module tutor, Elaine Minett at e.minett@chi.ac.uk. Evidence of proficiency will be sought at interview.

Interview

We pride ourselves on the interview experience. You’ll learn about the University and the course while we learn more about you and see your potential to teach.

The interview will be made up of the following elements:

  • Registration, DBS and qualification checks
  • Presentation from a university tutor
  • Paired interviews.

DBS check

PGCE applicants are required to have an enhanced Disclosure Barring Service check which needs to be paid for before the start of the course.

Occupational Health Assessment

A satisfactory occupational health assessment is required.

Cost incurred during placements

School experiences are organised in our partnership schools which extend across East & West Sussex, Hampshire and Isle of Wight and into Surrey.

Travel to placements, which can be by car or public transport, varies but your commute will not usually exceed an hour from your term-time address to the placement school (assuming your term-time address is within our partnership area).

Students may receive a contribution towards travel costs depending upon the distance.

Whilst on School Experience appropriate professional dress will be required.

Students may wish to purchase a laptop/tablet to use whilst on school experience as schools are not required to provide these.

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