Position/Status

Teaching associate and co-course manager on the Primary PGCE

E-mail Address

rcp56@cam.ac.uk

Qualifications

• BA Hons Geography (University of Leeds)
• PGCE Primary, Faculty of Education, Cambridge University

Profile

I am co-course manager and a teaching associate on the Primary PGCE at The Faculty of Education. My role as co-course manager focuses on Quality Assurance. As a teaching associate, I teach on the Professional Studies programme, a key element of the PGCE. I am also a personal and placement tutor to trainees, supporting them as they develop their teaching practice during professional placements, helping them to make the links between the theoretical elements of the course, their academic readings and the practical components in Partnership schools.

I have worked in education since completing my PGCE in 2001. I have undertaken a wide range of roles within schools giving me significant experience of all aspects of school life. Roles include class teacher, key stage lead, subject lead, SENDCO, Deputy head and Headteacher. Within my school roles I have been involved in a number of research projects, taking an interest in maximising the impact of what we do for children has always been a priority for me. From 2018 - 2020, I worked as a Research School lead for the EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) supporting schools in East Cambs and Fenland to use research to improve outcomes for all with a particular focus on disadvantaged pupils. During this term I took a particular interest in cognitive science and worked with the EEF team to develop the guidance report ‘Metacognition and Self-regulated learning’. My most recent 'in school' role was as a co-headteacher at a south Cambridgeshire primary school. My prior experiences in education allow me to support the future of our profession using my experiences of the realities of primary school life alongside a research informed approach to my work.