School of Education
BA (Hons) Primary Education
Outline of tasks for induction week &
pre-course preparation material
2015 – 2016
Welcome to the BA (Hons) Primary Education course
To help you prepare for the start of your first year, we recommend that you complete these pre-course
tasks to establish yourself as a trainee teacher.
These tasks include a variety of items:
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Purchasing & reading specific books
Watching short videos on the web
Accessing articles on the web
Purchasing a tool kit
Preparing a short presentation
It might seem demanding of us to ask you to complete these tasks before you start at University, but
it helps to ensure all students have the same understanding of some issues and that all are prepared
to embark upon this rewarding & motivating course.
We hope you enjoy your first engagement with the pre-course tasks and look forward to meeting you
in September.
Fiona Hunter
Year 1 Leader, BA(Hons) Primary Education
English
‘Hello’ from the English team!
You will embark upon an exciting journey of learning within the English modules and will
(hopefully) become as enthused and motivated by children’s literature as we are! There are a
number of tasks we would like you to engage with…
Task 1
Complete the Pre-Course task sheets (next two pages) and bring it to the first English
session.
Task 2
These books are strongly recommended for the English strand across the whole course. You
may want to purchase one.
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Johnston. R. & Watson, J. (2007) Teaching Synthetic Phonics Exeter: Learning
Matters
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Joliffe, W. Waugh, D. Carss, A. (2012) Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics in
Primary Schools London: Learning Matters
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Lewis, M Ellis S (ed) (2006) Phonics, Practice, Research & Policy. UKLA
Task 3
Please look at the link below and note the lesson structure and things you would like to
discuss. Bring your notes to the first session.
http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/KS1-Literacy-Phonics-without-Tears-6044429
Best wishes Elaine Haywood & Eleanor Power
English Subject Knowledge for Teaching
After you have started to read about primary English, please complete the ‘thought bubbles’ below:
NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
Pre-Course task: ENGLISH
Constructing a Personal Reading History.
Please spend some time thinking about your earliest memories of reading, both being read
to and reading for yourself. Then read the questions and write a short response in the box
provided.
What are your earliest memories of reading?
Do you remember being read to at home and/or at school?
Was reading a pleasurable activity for you?
Were there particular times or places when you read.
Was learning to read fairly easy for you?
Were there differences between reading at home and reading at school?
Can you remember some favourite books (or authors) from different stages of your
childhood?
Did you prefer stories, non fiction, comics, magazines….?
What is your pattern of reading now, as an adult?
PLEASE BRING THIS SHEET TO THE FIRST ENGLISH SESSION
ALSO BRING ALONG ONE OF YOUR FAVOURITE BOOKS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD!
Mathematics
‘Hello’ from the Maths team!
During your first year with us at NTU, you will gain first-hand experience of supporting young children
in their learning of mathematics. Activities such as counting and adding ten, which may seem ‘simple’
from an adult’s perspective, can be surprisingly complex and challenging for young learners to master.
For beginning teachers, the challenges often lie in understanding and supporting small, specific steps in
learning.
In order to prepare for the challenges in prospect, there are a number of tasks we would like you to
engage with.
Task 1: Young children counting
Spend time with young children within your group of family and friends. Pay attention to their interest
in counting, and the challenges they face as they learn to count.
Engage them in counting groups of objects, in playing counting games or in sharing books with a
counting theme.
Watch and listen attentively. What do you notice? Make some notes to record very specific
observations. Be prepared to share and discuss your observations in our session on learning to count.
You might find it helpful to read this short article:
California Mathematics Council, 2013. Counting and Young Children Early Learning, Math at Home
[online]. Available at: http://www.merga.net.au/documents/RR_gervason.pdf [Accessed 8 July 2015].
(For an example of a counting book you might like to share with a child, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j7twTgHLLo )
Task 2: Counting in steps of one and ten
Watch a short video of this lesson: Counting in steps of one and ten
Available at: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/40534
Think about these questions:
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How is Kate supporting the development of children’s flexibility and fluency in counting on from
any number?
Notice how Kate doesn’t just count up and down the counting stick but introduces the language
of more and less. How might this connect counting to addition and subtraction?
How do you think the resources support the teacher / the learners?
How does Kate explore and develop the children’s thinking?
Make notes to record very specific observations. Be prepared to share and discuss your observations in
our session on Counting On.
Task 3: Reflecting on your own learning of mathematics
Please spend some time thinking about and reflecting on your own experiences of learning
mathematics. (You might like to do this by sharing your thoughts in conversation with a
friend). Then read the questions and write a short response in the box provided.
What are your two best memories of learning mathematics? What influences made those experiences
positive ones for you?
Can you remember times when you had to grapple with a mathematical problem or idea for some
time? Have you had experiences of gaining sudden insights, or seeing connections? Have you had
experiences of following ‘rules’ but not really understanding them? How did you feel about these
experiences?
How would you describe your relationship with mathematics?
PLEASE BRING THIS SHEET TO THE FIRST MATHEMATICS SESSION
Task 4: Register (free) with NCETM
Access the website for the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics
https://www.ncetm.org.uk/
Register and browse the site. This site will be an important point of reference for you throughout your
time on the course, and beyond.
Best wishes,
Simon Brown & Deliah Pawluch
Science
‘Welcome to Nottingham Trent University’ from the Science team!
We are looking forward to working with you over the next few years & helping to develop you as an
enthusiastic & skilled teacher of science in the primary school.
Task 1
Please buy this essential text for the science course over the next three years:
Ward H, Roden J, Hewlett C & Foreman J (2008) 2nd edition. Teaching Science in the Primary
Classroom. A practical guide. London: Sage.
The first three chapters of this book outline why science is important and the ways in which we can
develop in children the process skills that underpin an ability to enquire and investigate. This will give
you a good starting point for thinking about teaching science in the primary school.
Task 2
On pages 13-16 you will find some starting points for ‘interesting & creative activities’. We would like
you to choose one of the ideas here and have a go at it at home over the summer. You may like to try
the activity out with a younger child/children if possible.
Task 3
Come prepared to share your practical activity with a short presentation for a group of your student
peers in our first science session. Your presentation could take the form of a poster, a short
powerpoint, a piece of video, digital photographs or a resource that you made. It needs only to be a
very short presentation of around 3 minutes, where you can simply explain what you did and what you
found out.
If you are not able to obtain Ward et al’s book, the following link from google books will take you to
page 12 from the first edition of the same book:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vmKEMi2ViXYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=teaching+science+in+th
e+primary+classroom#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Best wishes,
Alison Murphy & Belinda Brown
Wider Curriculum Studies
‘Welcome
Nottingham Trent University’ from the Wider Curriculum
Resources
toto
purchase
team
Humanities
Your Humanities sessions will begin in the Autumn Tern in preparation for our residential visit to Eyam
in October. Please bring a postcard of your home town/city which will form the basis of
discussion in your first Humanities session
Art
For Art you will need to purchase an A3 sketch book which you will work in during each of your
sessions.
Design Technology
So that you are prepared with a basic toolkit of resources which you will use during your course, please
try to gather together the following set of tools & materials to use during your practical sessions:
o A small tool box (B&Q or Wilkinsons approx £3 – the sort with compartments in the lid where
you can store paper fasteners, sequins etc)
o A small screwdriver (the sort children might use for school electrical work)
o A good pair of scissors
o A small craft knife (snap off blades)
o A junior hacksaw (B&Q)
o Bench hook (TTS-Group code 6TDDS)
o A single hole punch (WH Smith)
o A small stapler (WH Smith)
o A set of crayons, a pencil & ruler
You can add to this selection of tools as the need arises. Please label your tool-box and tools where
possible. You can obtain all of these items online from
http://www.tts-group.co.uk
Also access the National Galley website and find out about Take one Picture.
http://www.takeonepicture.org/ This will be a focus for some of your work in Year 1.
We look forward to meeting you in October.
Best wishes
Fiona Hunter
Education Development
‘Welcome to Nottingham Trent University’ from the PED team
Task 1
Think about yourself as a learner. How and when have you learned best? What enabled or supported
you to learn? Where were did changes in how you learn occur? When did you find out something about
how you learn?
On an A3 sheet of paper, make a road map of your learning from birth to now. You can use pictures,
symbols and words on your map. You might include junctions, roundabouts, hills, street lights,
bridges, etc. Try to include lots of detail. You need to bring your map to your first ED1 seminar where
we will consider the nature of reflection and focus upon a critical moment in your learning. This will
help you to develop an understanding about the nature and importance of being a reflective teacher
and also help you to look for critical or significant moments in a child’s learning.
Task 2
Read this chapter from Gray and MacBlain’s (2015) book ‘Learning Theories in Childhood’ which is
available online at:
http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/45879_Gray&Macblain.pdf
Draw a timeline and write on it the names of all the theorists mentioned in the chapter (you may need
to think creatively about how to include the first few as there will be a big gap between these names
and the others). Bring this to your first ED1 session.
Link to course:
This links to the ED1 strand of the Professional and Educational module. In this strand, you will address
broad themes around learners and their learning. You will begin the strand by reflecting on your own
learning experiences and how they have shaped your values and attitudes as you begin your training
to become a qualified teacher.
We look forward to working with you as you progress towards being a reflective practitioner.
Cath Gripton
Inclusion
‘Welcome to Nottingham Trent University’ from the PED team
Inclusion is a strand which permeates through the four years of the course; each year the focus builds
on previous years as we explore the complexity of inclusive practice. The focus of Inclusion in Year 1 is
‘Valuing Children’.
In preparation for our first session, you should read and make notes on the Save The Children report
‘ It Shouldn’t Happen Here’ which can be accessed at
http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/child-poverty-2012-it-shouldnt-happenhere
You might consider the following questions when making notes:
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What impact might poverty have on children’s physical, social and emotional development?
What impact might it have on their educational development?
We look forward to working with you
Alison Murphy