A blog for students on the FDLT at the University of Northampton

at Leicester and UN

Blog Archives

August 12, 2019
by Jean
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Some reading before you start the course

Here are some suggestions for pre-course reading:

Bates, B. (2016). Learning theories simplified : … and how to apply them to teaching. London: Sage.

Have a look in particular at the sections on Vygotsky, Bruner, Dewey, Piaget and Skinner.  This book is easy to read and each section is relatively short. You will find it useful in a number of the modules that you study.

Also familiarise yourselves with the findings and recommendations of these two research projects:

Blatchford, P., Bassett, P., Brown, P., Martin, C., Russell, and Webster, R. (2009) Deployment and Impact of Support Staff Project, Research Brief. [online] Available from: http://maximisingtas.co.uk/assets/content/dissressum.pdf [Accessed: 06/08/2019]

Sharples, J., Webster, and Blatchford, P. (2015) Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants Guidance Report. [online] Available from: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/sites/ioe/files/TA_Guidance_Report_MakingBestUseOfTeachingAssisstants.pdf [Accessed: 06/08/2019]

You can click on the links in the references above to access these reports. We will be discussing these in one of the first modules that you will study.

 

August 5, 2019
by Jean
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Curriculum documents

Throughout the FDLT and BALT courses you will often need to read and refer to curriculum documents. 

These are some of the key documents:

For Early Years:

This is a link to the page where you can access and download the Statutory framework for the early years.

This is the reference that you will use in assignments:

DfE (2019) Statutory framework for the early years. [online] Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework–2 [Accessed 31/07/2019].

For primary and secondary:

This is the link to the full national curriculum for all key stages and subjects. It is this document that you should use in assignments.

This is the reference that you will use in assignments:

DfE (2014) National Curriculum in England: framework for key stages 1 to 4. [online[ Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-framework-for-key-stages-1-to-4 [Accessed: 31/07/2019].

It would be useful for you to save the relevant links, download the documents and read through the pages relevant to your age group.

You should also all read pages 1 to 13 of the national curriculum as this underlies the subject programmes of study. 

July 30, 2019
by Jean
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Changes to QTS tests

You might have seen in the media recently that the one of the parts of the teacher training application has changed: the QTS skills tests in English and mathematics. 

The government statement says:

“To support this, the government today announced that it is introducing a new approach to assessing the numeracy and literacy of prospective teachers, which will replace the existing skills tests.

The current skills tests will be replaced with a new system where trainees will be assured against a set of fundamental maths and English skills by the end of their initial teacher training.” (DfE, 2019, lines 4 – 9).

You can read more about this change here.

Reference:

DfE (2019) Changes to the professional skills test for teachers. [online] Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-the-professional-skills-test-for-teachers [Accessed: 30/07/2019].

July 29, 2019
by Jean
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Padlet

For new students to the FDLT and BALT courses:

Padlet is a digital tool that we often use for teaching. You do not need an account of your own to use it. When you are sent a link to a Padlet just click on it and you will be taken to a Padlet board with posts and links to useful information. 

Sometimes we will ask you to post on a Padlet. To do this you click on the pink plus sign at the bottom left hand corner of the screen. A box will open for you to type into. You can also upload a photo and add a link by using the icons at the bottom of the box.

 

July 22, 2019
by Jean
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The Educators

As students about to start studying in Higher Education it is useful for you to know about people who work in the field of education. A useful way of beginning this is to listen to radio programmes such as The Educators. This is available on Radio 4 at here.

 

You might listen to the episode about mathematics educator, Jo Baoler and then try the episode about educational researcher, John Hattie and then just browse to listen to what takes your interest.

As you listen consider how what you are hearing relates to your own educational experience both as a pupil and as a student, and your professional experience in schools.

July 15, 2019
by Jean
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Study support on the FDLT course

As you begin to study in Higher Education you’ll find that there are lots of sources of support. The Skills Hub at the University of Northampton is one of these. When you have enrolled as a student you will be able to access all of the resources but until then you can access the content under Academic Skills, How to Study and How to Research. You can find the Skills Hub here.

You might also wish to buy a study skills book such as The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell. This is a useful book in your first year, but also has useful sections to use in the second and third years. There is a supporting website here.

As you begin in the course you will find plenty of study skills support available to you through your tutors in taught sessions and resources and people available to you through the university face to face and online. 

 

 

June 25, 2019
by Jean
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FDLT and BALT venue details September 2019

The FDLT Year 1 and BALT groups start in week beginning 9th September, on your venue day. For each group (both UN and Leic) day 1 will take place at Waterside.

FDLT Year 1

Monday: Devonshire Place, Leicester

Wednesday: Waterside Campus, Northampton

BALT

Monday: Waterside Campus Northampton.

Wednesday: Devonshire Place, Leicester

Venue details:

LEICESTER

Devonshire Place, 78 London Road, LEICESTER, LE2 0RA

Parking: the car park is accessed via Prebend Street.

NORTHAMPTON

Waterside Campus, University Drive, NORTHAMPTON, NN15PH.

Parking: Sixfields Park and Ride

Open: All year round.

Location: Claret Car Park and the Saints Car Park, Edgar Mobbs Way, Sixfields, NN5 5JR.

Number of parking spaces: approximately 1500.

Open to: University staff, students and visitors. (Also open to NCC staff, different charges may apply).

Cost: park for free and ride the bus for £1 return.

Payment: pay on bus, contactless, Uno app or buy a monthly pass.

Frequency (peak time): every 10 minutes Monday – Friday, every 15 minutes on Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday.

Route: west – east shuttle service including the rail station, town centre and Waterside. There is a route to link to St George’s Avenue that requires a change at Marefair (Sol Central pick up on the new 20 service (free intercampus bus) Monday – Friday).

​Opening hours: 6.00am – 10:30pm, Monday – Friday (no overnight stays).​

Full security: on-site security and CCTV system.

Ultramodern buses: luxurious interiors, free Wi-Fi, USB charging at every seat and low emissions.

Real time information: see when your next bus is going to arrive.

June 3, 2019
by Jean
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June is 30 days wild month!

Each June The Wildlife Trusts runs #30dayswild.

This is what The Wildlife Trusts say:

“This June, we challenge you to do something wild every day. That’s 30 simple, fun and exciting Random Acts of Wildness.

We’re giving you a free pack of goodies to help you plan your wild month, plus lots of ideas from your Wildlife Trust to inspire you to stay wild all throughout June (and beyond!). You’ll also get inspiring emails from your Wildlife Trust, invites to exclusive events and a chance to join in on social media.

To get your free 30 Days Wild pack, which includes a wallchart, a poster, an interactive booklet and some stickers to help you go wild, just select who is taking part and take the next step!” (The Wildlife Trusts, 2019).

You can participate as a family, a school, a care home or a workplace and post what you do each day on social media using #30dayswild. As people working in education one of the best things about this initiative is that you can pick up lots of great ideas to use to inspire and support learning.

The Wildlife Trusts (2019) 30 Days Wild. [online] Available from: https://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/40705/petition/1#sign-up [Accessed: 30/05/19].

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