When you begin to take part in discussion about your setting and begin to write assignments you will need some basic information about your school to provide contextual background. It would be useful if you could collect this information and have it to hand over the opening weeks of the course.

This includes:

Type of School (LA / Academy etc)

Location of school (rural, suburban, urban)

Age of pupils

Number of pupils on roll

Number and type of staff

% of pupils with SEND

% of pupils learning EAL

% of pupils with Pupil Premium

Any unusual or distinctive features of the school

Details about your own role

You might wish to create a image of yourself that you can use instead of your photo in profile pictures on NILE and other tools that we use.

Here are many ways of doing this. Here are two suggestions:

Face.co

Scroll down to see the first choice screen and start making choices about your appearance.

You can construct a simple face and save it as a .PNG to upload as a profile picture. In this tool you cannot save and edit your image.

Bitmoji

Bitmoji is a more sophisticated tool that the one above. You will need to open an account and there are many choices that you can make when generating your image. Once you have decided on your design you can generate it as a face or full figure and choose it in many poses, with or without text. 

You will have seen Bitmoji images used widely on social media lately. 

Before you start the FDLT course we’d like you to introduce yourself to the group on these Padlets.

Leicester group Padlet

UoN group Padlet

There is no need to have a Padlet account of your own to post onto the Padlet. All you need to do is click on the link above to open the Padlet and click on the pink plus sign to open a box to type into.

You will be asked for a password and this was emailed to you earlier today.

You can also upload a photo by clicking on the upload arrow at the bottom left below the text box.

If you want to comment or ask a question you can do this below the posts.

Please make sure that you have done this by September 10th.

If you need any help with this you can email jean.edwards@northampton.ac.uk 

Below is a short video demonstration of how to make a post. You can use the controls to shrink me and maximise the screen so that you see what I’m doing more clearly.

As you begin university you will need to consider where you are going to study at home and begin to prepare this space so that you are ready to use it from the beginning of September.

There are some hints and tips here that you might find useful.

When you begin in year 1 you will be studying these modules:

PDT1065 Pupil Engagement and Assessment

PDT1066 Introduction to SEND, Diversity and Inclusion

PDT1068 English and Mathematics: Core Subjects

PDT1076 Using Digital Technology to Inspire and Support Learning

PDT1077 Work Based Reflection*

PDT1078 The Practitioner’s Role*

* (If you have chosen to take exemption from the work-based modules because you have HLTA you won’t study these modules)

If you are coming directly into year 2 you will be studying these modules:

PDT2016 Using experiences outside school to inspire and support learning

PDT2017 Planning and professional development

PDT2018 SEND, diversity and inclusion: school-based project

PDT2019 Work-based practice: reflective practices

PDT2020 English and mathematics: cross curricular approaches 

If you are starting in the BALT year you will be studying these modules:

PDT3001 Issues of equality in educational settings

PDT3002 Professional practice in education

PDT3003 Educational debates in learning and teaching

PDT3004 Research methods

PDT4001 Dissertation

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, Engelman, Bandura 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: 15/07/2020]

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: 15/07/2020]

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.

You will have read some information about parking at the Waterside Campus if you have chosen to be in the Northampton group.

You can read more about parking and travel to Waterside here

You may have found this page: student campus parking. On this page there is information about applying for a permit to park on campus. There are some criteria for you to read to find out if you can apply. The closing date for applications is August 30th 2020.

Student parking permit application, information and application here: Student parking permit application

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://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596629/EYFS_STATUTORY_FRAMEWORK_2017.pdf [Accessed 15/07/2019]. 

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://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/381344/Master_final_national_curriculum_28_Nov.pdf [Accessed: 15/07/2020].

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. 

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.

On this Padlet you below you can explore the links but you cannot add to the Padlet yourself. We will be asking you to add to a Padlet later in August. Click below to open this Padlet and then click on each post to go to some useful and interesting websites.