Design Strategy - PGCE

• I have decided that a university based teaching route is best for me. Carrying out a PGCE means that I get university tutor contact as well as at least 120 days hands on, school based learning. Also I will have tutor and university support even after my studies. 
• Chester university is well known for their Riverside Campus and teacher training and it has an Outstanding Ofsted report. 
• It's also closer to home and means I can commute, geographically and financially it is the most suitable decisions. 

Design Strategy - PPP3 - Future Vision

9^th September 2023

It is September 2023 and I am starting a new school year with my new Year 3 class, I am still loving and enjoying teaching and at this moment in time couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I am working in a lovely school with a friendly community of staff and students, I have great friends here as well as colleagues. All the children in my class look up to me and love learning and it’s still amazing to be able to make a difference in their lives. I involve myself in every aspect of school life, running art clubs, school plays etc.

After teaching  in and around Europe, the likes of Amsterdam and Italy for a year or so, it is good to be back and begin to settle and make a life and living here.

I am still in touch and frequently visit my closest friends from college and university as well as constantly meeting new people and making new friends. We frequently take it turns to visit each other, host games nights, movie nights and dinner parties. I also visit my parents often and visit my sister whenever she is in the country.

I’m living in a spacious apartment in the rural suburbs of a city with my partner of a year or so, we have plans to begin to look for a bigger house or to buy land to build our own.

I am earning above of 35,000 which means I can live comfortably, with money to spend on holidays, meals out, clothes etc. With also money left over to save for our future house or new build and a family and /marriage wedding within the next 10 years.

I love my job, I have people who love me around me, I’m very sociable and always see friends and family and I am at my happiest. I still keep a bucket list of things and places I want to do and visit but ticking these off one by one. I make the most of out of life and the time I have, going away for short breaks at weekends, exploring new places in this country and outside of it.

Design Strategy - Published Work

6D2 - How my work is communicated to a relevant audience through being published. 


As well as going to visit the banners and the school, my work has since been published across a number of social media platforms by the University. Including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the University Website. 

Design Strategy - Whitecote Banners

6D2, 6D2 - How my work is communicated to a relevant audience through being published. 

A brief I carried out last year was to design a series of banners, representing Whitecote Primary School's ASPIRE awards. My designs were chosen as the winning banners and were finally professionally printed and hung up in the entrance of their school. The other week I went to visit the school and was able to see my designs in real life. 

 Whilst I was at the school, I was able to have a meeting with the head of their work experience and discuss volunteering as an option next year, a mixture of in the classroom and design work.

 A possibility of further work also came about, to design a new school logo, as well as banners and signage for the outside of their school. The headteacher said she would discuss this further with the school council and get them to write a brief for me.

PPP3 - First Session

6B2, 6C2

In this first session we looked at our issues/problems/anxieties within our careers, in our final year and also beyond graduation.

I looked at the issue of interviews, as this is important right now, due to upcoming Postgraduate interviews for teacher training. Within the issues of interviewing theres is;

- Confidence

- Personality

- Standing out/Making an impression

- Answering Questions

- Interview Preparation

Others wrote in response to the issue;

- Personality is important and to just be yourself.

- Everyone is in the same boat

- Getting help from University

- Getting the questions to suit you

What I took away from this activity was that to help overcome the issues surrounding interviews was to;

- Be Prepared

- Be Yourself

- Practice

We chose the most pressing issue to be fear of rejection, looking at the issue from all different angles. Our solution we came up with was to create a trending hashtag, encouraging young creatives to share their stories of rejection, showing how they got to where they are now. 

Design Strategy - PGCE Courses

6A2, 6B2 - Demonstrating an understanding on the different possible courses.

Chester 

• Critical understanding of pedagogy, assessment and curriculum
• Critical knowledge, understanding and skills in primary age phases and subjects
• Critical knowledge and understanding of wider professional issues, e.g. behaviour management and inclusive practice
• Enrichment opportunities
• At least 120 days of school-based learning.
• Ofsted Outstanding

Wolverhampton

• Our Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Primary Education provides a high standard of training for those preparing to take up a teaching post in the primary school sector. The course complies with the statutory guidance from the Department for Education for Initial Teacher Training courses.
• The PGCE in Primary Education is specifically designed to ensure that those who are successful will be recommended for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) - the professional award required by all those who wish to teach in a maintained school.
• You will focus on the teaching of the National Curriculum for primary schools and specialise in teaching Key Stages 1 and 2 whilst also having valuable opportunities to experience alternative educational settings such as Early Years, Secondary, SEND and transition.
• Successful completion of the course will lead to recommendation for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), along with 60 credits at Master’s level.

North Shropshire Teaching Alliance

• The North Shropshire Teaching School Alliance is a successful partnership of local schools that collaborate and support each other to aim to provide an effective education for every child within the Alliance.   The core membership is currently made up of 19 schools across North Shropshire.

• Teaching Schools are centres of excellence for the training and development of the team around the child: governors, school leaders, teachers, teaching assistants, administrative staff, and maintenance staff - anybody who works in an education environment.

• The Teaching School promotes, enables and facilitates partnership working across the Alliance to support each school in meeting the needs of its own children; thus aiming to improve outcomes for every child within the Alliance.  

• St. Peter's CE Primary and Nursery School is proud to be recognised as a National Teaching School and lead school for the North Shropshire Teaching School Alliance.

Design Strategy - Teaching Routes

6A2, 6B2 - Undertaking research into the different available routes into teaching, seeing which would be best for me.

There are two routes into teaching. One is based at a university; the other is to train on the job. The first route means you get a qualification and then get a job. The second route means you get a job and then get a qualification. Independent schools are interested in academically strong undergraduates and graduates with a good degree relevant to the subject they will teach. 

If you want to work in the independent sector you can apply for a teaching job without teaching qualifications and, having got the job, then get trained in your school. Most graduate trainees want to gain a teaching qualification that has currency across sectors and countries. Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) gained while working in the independent or state maintained sector is transferable between sectors. 

There are a number of recognised routes to gain Qualified Teacher Status, amongst them the most common are:

• School Direct training on the job
• higher education institution based or distance learning courses
• Most Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) will also give QTS but not all, so do check
• QTS allows you to teach in schools across the sectors. If you want to do this and take a PGCE course, the course must also give you QTS.

Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) Year

Once you have gained Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), you become a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT). You will continue your training as an NQT for a year. Most schools in the independent sector and all schools in the state sector expect you to pass this NQT Induction year to be a fully qualified teacher.

PPP: End of Module Evaluation

First of all, looking at the Creative Report, this was an extremley useful brief and exercise to carry out as I learnt a lot from it. It allowed me to explore and gain a further insight into both the creative  industry and the education system, allowing me to bring my two interests together. I have also gained more contacts and got better at emailing and networking through this. As well as this I have also managed to get work experience as a result of contacting the interviewees, in both a primary school and secondary school. Parts of the creative report, as well as it being successful, there were also areas which were unsuccessful such as not receiving responses or people being too busy, however this was all a learning curve and allowed me to practice my communication skills. 

Secondly, looking at the pitch, the presentation of it, working as a team and the actual designing The pitch and presentation itself was professional and successful in terms of how we shared our ideas, however the success of the design idea itself didn’t reach it’s potential and I feel with more time we could have developed it further. It was also interesting to take on such an open and large brief, which impacted us and our fellow peers and students. It was exciting to have no boundaries, however this did make it hard as there was infinite possibilities and it was difficult to hone in on the most important aspects. Pitching and presenting wise, it definitely was an experience to reflect on as it was the first chance we had been given to pitch. It was great to have an opportunity to have an insight into what being a part of a studio and creative team and also see what it could be like to pitch to real clients and companies. It definitely increased my confidence with presenting to large numbers of people and I feel every time I do it, I get better and it gets easier.  Overall it was a great exercise to learn from, as it was our first time and I’m excited to practice and get more confident at sharing and pitching ideas, whilst also  being better at thinking bigger with no limitations. 

The PPP presentation, i feel went well and again allowed me to practice and develop my presenting skills and confidence in talking about myself and my ideas. It also allowed me to look at the things I have achieved this year, some things which I had forgotten about. Some of the main things being, working with young creatives, entering and winning competitions and communicating and networking with people. 

In terms of my PPP blog, I have drawn upon contemporary graphic design which has inspired and interested me throughout the year. I have also included talks which have inspired me and the people who carried those out. It also shows the process of designing the pitch, evaluating on the year and other modules, how to improve and evidence of networking and what I’ve gained from this module as a whole.

In conclusion, this year I have really developed my communication, networking and presenting skills. I also feel like I have thought a lot more about my rams for the future and become a lot more open minded about the possibilities. Which has allowed me to take interest in a range of subjects, such as education, teaching, marketing and designing, which this module has helped me to gain experience in, contacting people and as a result I have experience for over the Summer in a range of settings and I am excited for next year and what the future has to bring. 

Way-Finding: Final Pitch and Evaluation

Way-finding: Evaluation

Personal Involvement

My personal involvement within the process of ideation and putting the pitch together started with the beginning, brainstorming initial ideas and selecting the idea to move forward with. The next step was research, my role in this was to carry out surveys, which looked at people’s creativity, the existing way finding system and representations of their courses. This was an important part of the design journey as it made our team aware of the issues that existed with the current system and interior of the university, and what would make people thrive creatively in their environment.

 I also oversaw the design process, making sure that the designs and ideas related to our findings from the surveys. The next step where I played a large part was the production of the pitch itself, putting together the presentation. Making sure that it showed our journey and ideas in a simple yet engaging way. I also presented the pitch itself alongside another member of the group, making sure we got out ideas across and that people understood them. It was also important to make sure it showed the journey of our process. Overall my role was mainly in in research, overseeing ideas, art direction and culminating the pitch and presentation itself. 

What I took from the Exercise

From carrying out the brief and this project, firstly was teamwork and working in a creative team, sharing ideas, compromising and allocating different jobs. It was also interesting to take on such an open and large brief, which impacted us and our fellow peers and students. It was exciting to have no boundaries, however this did make it hard as there was infinite possibilities and it was difficult to hone in on the most important aspects. 

Pitching and presenting wise, it definitely was an experience to reflect on as it was the first chance we had been given to pitch. It was great to have an opportunity to have an insight into what being a part of a studio and creative team and also see what it could be like to pitch to real clients and companies. It definitely increased my confidence with presenting to large numbers of people and I feel every time I do it, I get better and it gets easier. 

Overall it was a great exercise to learn from, as it was our first time and I’m excited to practice and get more confident at sharing and pitching ideas, whilst also  being better at thinking bigger with no limitations. 

How we worked as a team

We worked well as a team, I felt as though we all had different interests in the brief which made it easy to allocate roles. We got on really well as a team and also as friends which always helps. We were able to bring together different ideas and also make compromises taking the best of everyone ideas. 

We were also all able to work from a distance using google drive, which worked well. It meant we were all able to work on the pitch together, everyone putting in their work, time and effort. We all had different strengths and this was shown through the different stages of the brief and what we all brought to the table.

In terms of presenting as a team, two of us who were the most confident chose to present, which again worked well and showed how we all used our strengths to come together. 

Was it successful and professional 

In terms of success, I feel as a team and as a design pitch as a whole, the idea wasn’t as innovative or out there as it could have been. We should have taken more consideration into technology and the future and the lasting effect of the interior and way finding. Looking at more positive aspects of the design, was how we focused on the history of the university as this was an aspect which management liked and already existed and therefore could be developed. 

Ways in which it was successful as the pitch itself, as we feel we got the idea across, showed the journey and got people on board with our ideas. Also the pitch was presented professionally and as a group were able to answer questions about our design idea. The design of our presentation itself was professional in terms of the layout, typefaces, images used and the continuity of pitch. 

The way in which we worked as a creative team was also professional, having regular meetings whilst also evaluating and sharing ideas. To improve, our ideas need to be developed and expanded on, looking at how they could be joined together with technology and consider the longevity of the ideas. 

Overall the pitch and presentation itself was professional and successful in sharing our ideas, however the success of the design idea itself didn’t reach it’s potential and I feel with more time we could have developed it further. 

Enrichment: The Curious Agency Internship

After sending many emails out, regarding experience and internships for over the Summer, I finally got a response from The Curious Agency, who selected me from a range of applicants for their internship role over the Summer. The next steps are to attend a talk with them and then hopefully I will be able to carry out up to 3 weeks experience with them, being a part of their team, helping them to design and coming up with ideas.