Training to be a teacher

Subject Knowledge Foundations for Teaching Physics

If you are starting science teacher training or starting as a first time science teacher in September, our subject knowledge foundation sessions will help you to deepen and secure your physics knowledge. This course provides the foundation knowledge you need for teaching physics at KS3 or even GCSE. If you have a physics education background, the sessions will refresh your learning and help you focus your thinking on the most important bits you might have to teach. If you don’t see yourself as a physicist, the course will provide the physics foundation subject knowledge you need for the classroom.

Our Subject Knowledge Foundation training is not an official Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course but it will complement an SKE and help you to build physics teaching confidence.

Booking for our subject knowledge foundations course is now open

Each week will cover a different physics topic, working through the conceptual ideas that students and teachers sometimes struggle with: Forces & Motion; Electricity & Magnetism; Energy; Waves; Earth & Space; Matter & Atomic Physics. The course will include:

• Six online one-hour sessions of synchronous learning.
• Each week will cover a core physics topic from KS3/GCSE content.
• Each session will be designed as a standalone and will not require preparation or homework.
• There will be opportunities to engage with activities during the sessions (optional) using easily available equipment. We will provide details of what will be needed in advance.

Students who take part in Subject Knowledge Foundations for Teaching Physics and then go into teaching, with some physics on their timetable, will be eligible to join our Teacher Network for ongoing career development and support.

If you are already teaching physics and would like to improve your confidence and knowledge, the Trust also provides early career teacher support and subject knowledge for physics teaching CPD. You can find out more by following the quick links below.