Program Overview

The Bachelor of Primary Education (Health and Physical Education) is an exciting four-year degree which enables you to achieve a qualification in primary teaching while gaining a specialisation in health and physical education (PE). You’ll become fluent in the national literacy and numeracy curriculum for children from Kindergarten to Year 6, gaining a special understanding of the primary health, personal development and physical education program.

From your second year of study onwards, you’ll be based on-site in primary schools experiencing subjects such as English, science, maths, technologies, humanities and social sciences and, of course, health and PE first-hand as part of a selection of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) units. At the completion of your degree, you’ll have developed a thorough understanding of how children aged from five to 12 learn and will be ready to put your theories into practice in your first year as either a primary school classroom teacher or dedicated PE educator.

Study a Bachelor of Primary Education (Health and Physical Education) at UC and you will:

• Gain appropriate scientific, literacy and numeracy knowledge
• Learn the theories and principles that are the foundation for educational practice in primary settings
• Demonstrate an understanding of student needs and differences, and the relevance of these to learning in inclusive, indigenous, English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD) and mainstream settings
• Plan and develop appropriate teaching activities for students from a diverse range of backgrounds
• Develop and implement effective assessment strategies and carry out evaluation of teaching programs, resources and your own teaching
• Apply the required content knowledge for all primary school curriculum areas to teaching, assessment and reporting methods, alternate/enhanced literacy and numeracy strategies, and the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning
• Reflect on your practice and experiences, and engage in a process of continual improvement.

Work Integrated Learning

A teaching degree, by its very nature, is the embodiment of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), with its focus on compulsory professional teaching practice. During this course, you’ll undertake a minimum of 80 days of practical placement across a range of different primary school levels and settings, including health and physical education-specific positions, culminating in a 30-day teaching placement in your final year.

In addition to this, the course content is developed by primary education professionals, and kept relevant and up-to-date through consistent monitoring of, and engagement with, the industry. You’ll undertake authentic assessment tasks which are highly relevant to the day-to-day practice of teaching, and will take part in regular professional development activities, field trips to educational sites, lectures hosted by guest speakers from a range of education and teaching backgrounds, and more.

Major: Pedagogy and Practice

The Major in Pedagogy and Practice provides the Graduate Primary Teacher with both insight into, and experience in, the practical skills of planning and conducting lessons, implementing curriculum, giving feedback, managing classrooms and gaining a full understanding of the concept of pedagogical content knowledge - the crucial interplay between knowing discipline content, knowing the teaching methodologies to use and knowing all there is required to be known about the students within those classes.