Why school experience matters
School experience is a great way to gain an understanding into the world of teaching.
Due to the COVID pandemic you might find that a visit could be arranged virtually with a Department or alternatively find out when open days are happening at a school in your area. It gives you an opportunity to see how a school operates, how a computer science department fits into the school structure and, it gives you a chance to see if teaching is the right path for you.
We encourage all applicants to get some school experience as early on as possible, why?
- It allows you to observe, gain knowledge of and ask questions about current educational practices
- It gives you the opportunity to see a modern, working learning environment; something you may not have been involved in since leaving school
- It provides you with a very real teaching experience- showing you all the highs and lows that teaching brings
- Providing you with a chance to familiarise yourself with the standards expected at different key stages and for different abilities
- Getting experience early gives you more time to visit different types of schools (selective/non-selective, faith/non-faith, single/mixed gender, middle school etc.) and get a better understanding of how different schools work
- The background knowledge you’ll gain by being immersed in a school environment will me a big help when it comes to applying; you will be able to draw on your school experience in your UCAS and scholarship application as well as at any interviews.
Whilst undertaking school experience you should investigate the computing curriculum introduced in English schools in 2014:
- Key Stage 3 provision (Years 7-9) and see how it matches to the mandatory National Curriculum
- Key Stage 4 provision (Years 10 and 11) and gain an understanding of the GCSE programmes schools may provide e.g. OCR GCSE Computer Science or AQA GCSE Computer Science and IT
- Key Stage 5 (where available) to appreciate the higher levels that you may be expected to deliver e.g. AQA A-Level Computer Science and IT or through vocational qualifications
Ready to get started?
You can get some school experience in a variety of ways:
- Register for the Getintoteaching school experience programme
- Arrange school experience independently
- There are many excellent courses online MOOC courses such as the Futurelearn, train to teach course to support you in your understanding and preparations
