Part time PGCE at IOE

[iheartshoes]

Hi hoping there is someone here who can help. I hope to start my PGCE next year and the part time course at the IOE in London looks ideal as I think I would struggle to find childvare whilst doing a full time PGCE. Just wondering if anyone here has done this course (or any part time pgce) and what your contact hours were? I realise the school placements are block placements of 4 and 8 weeks but not sure how many days I would be expected to be in Uni? Would be very grateful for any replies!

[saadia]

Hello OP, I did the part-time PGCE a few years ago. You are right, there are full-time block placements but the first one is part-time.

We had to be at the IOE for lectures and workshops on average two or three days a week in term-time, usually until 5.00pm and these were not fixed.

My dcs were both school age (years 1 and 3) when i started so they went to CM after school and I would email her the days they would come to her in advance. We had one instance where there was a mix up and she didn't collect but other than that it was fine and luckily the CM was very flexible.

I was lucky that DP was able to drop dcs to a school in the morning but if he couldn't then the CM would. HTH and do ask if you have any mr questions.

[iheartshoes]

Hi saadia thank you so much for getting back to me and taking the time to reply. Would you say the PGCE was fairly manageable with two young children? I get put off doing a full time PGCE as am worried about the impact it may have on our family life. _ how much time did you have to devote to it outside of Uni hours? And my DD will be 2.5.. Would you recommend waiting until she is older and at school if the Uni contact days change from week to week? We would have to rely on a private nursery for childcare. And the last question (sorry) how did you get on in terms of placements - did IOE take into consideration your home address? We are kent so if I was given a placement in north London or somewhere I think I would really struggle.
Thank you again

[saadia]

iheartshoes, it was manageable with my two as they were older. I know I would have struggled if they had been younger as I could not have coped with sleepless nights etc. and also mine had been at home with me pretty much until they started school and were only used to being with me so it was a big step for them to go to CMs but they were happy there.

If you are relying on nursery for your dd it really depends on her personality and how happy she would be to spend a long day at nursery - she may well love it depending on the nursery. You will find out the days in advance so if the Nursery was flexible it should be ok.

When I was there, there were sometimes problems with placements. My first placement school was great - halfway between home and dc's school. The second was about a 45 min drive, but school and CM was on the way. They did say that it shouldn't be more than 1.5hrs each way and there was the option to find your own placement if you could.

Looking back, it was actually fine, the part- time is do-able and I really enjoyed it. There are also essays and assignments but part-timers had ample time to do them. My tutor often used to comment that it was actually the busiest students (mums and dads) who were the most efficient and who handed in work on time.

[mousetours]

I did a part time PGCE at Brighton when my DD was 2. Our nursery was quite flexible and I gave them the days I was going to be in uni as soon as I could. I had to do 2 weeks full time at uni to start then a placement 3 days a week. My final placement was full time.
When they are at nursery you have a lot more flexibility as they open earlier and close later than schools. If I did it again I would have done a full time course as my first placement was quite difficult as I missed days and mussed some of the induction that other students did.
I also found my first job hard as it was my DD first year at school and I missed a lot. I did take a break from teaching after 2 years and returned when my DD was 10 and my DS was 5. I am finding it much easier now.
To sum up! It is possible and easier logistically when they as smaller. Good luck!

[iheartshoes]

Th

[iheartshoes]

This is good to know thank you both for your help