Welcome to Year 1 and the start of your Primary Education journey!
The information below is for student teachers who are joining the programme in September 2025
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Year 1
Hello! Welcome to York St John’s and to Year 1 of Primary Education. I’m Ruth Wanless and I am your lead for Year 1.
Over the first year of the course, you will develop both personally and academically and, as your Year 1 lead, I am here to support you through the exciting – and sometimes challenging – transition to university. At the start of the academic year, you will be allocated an Academic Tutor (AT). Your AT will remain with you throughout your time at university. We are both here to support you in any way we can and to direct you to the appropriate support networks we have across university if necessary.
Throughout the year you will gain valuable knowledge and skills through a range of modules. These modules will prepare you for your first teaching placement and beyond. Dr Richard Day is the director for School Experience 1 (SE1) and he will ensure you know the expectations for your placement. SE1 begins with a series of weeks from January, leading to a block of time in the summer term. During the placement, you will share responsibility for planning and teaching with a small group of other students and you will be supported by a trained mentor.
I look forward to meeting you all and supporting you through the first year of your journey to becoming a teacher.
Key Staff Contacts
Programme Lead: Dr Louise Whitfield (l.whitfield@yorksj.ac.uk)
Year 1 Lead: Ruth Wanless (r.wanless@yorksj.ac.uk)
School Experience 1 Director: Dr Richard Day (r.day@yorksj.ac.uk)
Academic Tutors:
Ann Jones (a.jones@yorksj.ac.uk)
Richard Skidmore (r.skidmore@yorksj.ac.uk)
Jo Wheldon (j.wheldon@yorksj.ac.uk)
Dr Richard Day/ Lucy Sors (r.day@yorksj.ac.uk l.sors@yorksj.ac.uk)
TBC
Module Information
In Year 1 you will study five modules (including school experience). Details of module titles, codes and Module Directors, and a brief summary of the module content are below.
| Module Code & Title | Module Summary | Module Director |
|
QTS4007M – Starting the Journey to QTS: Professional Studies 1 |
In this module you will begin to learn and build the core skills, knowledge and understanding needed to become an outstanding primary teacher. We will discuss safeguarding processes, professionalism in an educational setting and behaviour management in the classroom. You will also learn to plan for and assess pupil progress and be introduced to philosophies of education, and some of the important theories and research about how children learn which will underpin your professional practice. |
Dr Sarah Trussler |
|
QTS4008M – The Primary Core Curriculum 1 |
The core subjects for the primary National Curriculum are English, Mathematics and Science. This module will ensure you are equipped with specific knowledge and skills in these core areas. You will develop effective strategies for teaching and learning within these individual subjects. This is an opportunity to identify gaps in your own knowledge as well as developing the values and philosophies you bring with you to your teaching. |
Ian Wilson, Dr Katy Bloom & Jen Huntsley |
|
QTS4009M – The Primary Wider Curriculum 1 |
A primary teacher is required to have a strong subject knowledge and pedagogical understanding across a broad range of areas. Focusing on Key Stage 1, this module will give you the tools you need to plan, teach and assess across the wider curriculum, and respond to diverse learning needs. This includes art, computing, design and technology, geography, history, languages, music, PE, PSHE and RE. You will be introduced to and evaluate both subject-based and thematic ways of planning and organising the curriculum. |
Richard Crabtree |
|
QTS4011P – School Experience 1 |
This module will introduce you to the classroom environment and the role of the teacher. It is the first step towards a more responsible teaching role and eventually gaining ECT status. Your first placement will typically involve being in school with other students, with visits from January of your first year and a five week, full time placement in May and June. |
Dr Richard Day |
|
QTS4010M – Professional & Academic Skills |
This module supports you in your transition into Higher Education and the expectations of this in terms of academic skills and professional expectations of the programme. The module addresses student teachers’ agency and autonomy, academic skills and knowledge enhancement. These areas will support in terms of your preparedness for both the programme and the teaching profession. |
Dr Katy Bloom |
ITAPs
Designed to sit alongside student teachers’ first placement in school we also introduce two Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP) focuses: Routines and transitions (relating to managing behaviour/ high expectations), and Automaticity in the decoding process (relating to subject & curriculum knowledge in Early Reading/Phonics). These combine expert inputs, focused observations, critical analysis, deliberate practice and opportunities to receive feedback on these two important foundational aspects of teaching.
Developing your general knowledge
As a primary school teachers, you are required to teach the full range of National Curriculum subjects and areas of the EYFS Framework, and although we acknowledge that each teacher will have curriculum strengths, all teachers need to develop a secure grounding across all subjects. To support with your broader curriculum knowledge, we request that you spend some time reflecting on those areas where your general knowledge is weak and begin to gain experience.
To facilitate this, you should visit local museums, art galleries and places of worship as these are rich sources of curriculum knowledge.
The following is a useful website to locate museums and galleries in your area.
https://www.great-days-out.co.uk/museums-galleries/north-east-england