NQT’s, Initial Teacher Training and PE – Part 1

Initial teacher training and PE

Initial teacher training and PE

It is now longer than I care to remember, that I fulfilled my dream of training to be a secondary school PE teacher.  Little did I know that I would spend the greatest amount of my time in primary education and ultimately, find my true passion.  However, I feel that if initial teacher training and PE (ITT) for primary teachers had been what it should, I’d never have stepped through the front door of our campus primary school back in 2002.  Sadly, it appears not much has changed in the proceeding 15 years.

At 22 and fresh out of university I was sent as a ‘specialist’ to work within the primary school and help train the staff.  As an NQT because I’d only just learned these skills for myself, I felt ill-equipped to lead others.  Who was I to tell a professional of 30 years how to teach a lesson?!

This was not the first time I was part of the ‘training’ of new teachers.  During my PGCE we had practical sessions covering the rules, skills, and teaching practices of the main activity areas such as invasion games and gymnastics.  One afternoon we were told that we would be teaching the primary PGCE students to play hockey…and this was to complete their 4 hours of PE as a foundation subject.   4 hours of students teaching students.

Changes in initial teacher training

While conducting research for my blog, I was interested to see what changes had occurred in initial teacher training and PE. I looked at 3 universities that run the PGCE and Teach First routes.  First of all, I expected to see a huge amount of change because of the recent investment in schools for PE, sport, and physical activity.  Maybe the government is now insisting institutions prepare their students better?

University of Cambridge  ‘Two half-day visits’

PE is different from other foundations subjects due to its practical nature; so in my next blog, I will explore these differences.  The blog will cover ways in which new teachers can prepare themselves to overcome these obstacles to delivering PE.

If your school needs planning for both new and experienced staff, take a look at what we do at The PE Hub our lesson plans and schemes of work offer support across a wide range of PE activities.

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