All Primary / Secondary Masters Courses - Post Q's Here Please

mtoutlemonde · 12-01-2021 10:25pm

Kirby Puckett wrote: »

I applied to a non-PAC university and they "assessed" my qualifications. In other words, they dismissed 10 ECTS of legitimate literature and told me I had to take three literature courses with them. They never mentioned anything about changes in the Subject Declaration form. The website states that all applicants entering a PME in 2021 must meet these new requirements.

However, if you go on the PAC website, the 2016 Subject Declaration form is still the one you have to fill out. I called both PAC and the Teaching Council. The advice is to fill out the 2016 form and, when your qualifications are being assessed, they will use the 2021 form.

It's possible but the Teaching Council had a different view of it today. They claimed that the new form "isn't more stringent" than the previous one. There is a shortage of teachers in my subject and while it might be great fun to reject applicants and force them to take courses in things they've already studied, it's probably not the best way to solve the issues with shortages.

I thought they were meant to make registering easier! As you mention shortages in subjects and literature - you probably have MFL like myself. I had an awful amount of hassle getting my qualifications accepted. Those fools in the Teaching Council will lead the country into shortages in every subject in a few years as their rules are too stringent, the duration and cost of a PME will turn people away from what is a great career.

I'll reread your message and bring it to the attention of union rep - I havnt got my head around it yet!

Kirby Puckett · 13-01-2021 12:09am

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

I thought they were meant to make registering easier! As you mention shortages in subjects and literature - you probably have MFL like myself. I had an awful amount of hassle getting my qualifications accepted. Those fools in the Teaching Council will lead the country into shortages in every subject in a few years as their rules are too stringent, the duration and cost of a PME will turn people away from what is a great career.

I'll reread your message and bring it to the attention of union rep - I havnt got my head around it yet!

Please do!

My experience with a non-PAC PME application was extremely unsatisfactory. The PME provider rejected my course and tried to pin it on the Teaching Council ("they won't accept it"). The Teaching Council absolutely refused to even comment on this rejection-by-proxy ("we only assess your qualifications after you've been rejected, re-applied and been accepted"). All the while, I've been sitting on the sideline feeling that this would have been avoided if someone had taken the initiative and actually assessed my course properly.

Regardless of whether the university is in the PAC system or not, surely the most logical thing would be to assess all qualifications centrally before offering people places on PMEs. Yeah, it would mean a few very busy months between January and April but it would cut out a lot of the nonsense.

lmartmom · 18-01-2021 11:34pm

Does anyone have any experience with doing the primary PME in Hibernia with young children? I would have the evenings free to attend webinars and would also be free at the weekends for in person lectures or study and assignments. I think I could also arrange childcare for one day during the week. Does that sound do-able?

starstothesun · 18-01-2021 11:48pm

lmartmom wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with doing the primary PME in Hibernia with young children? I would have the evenings free to attend webinars and would also be free at the weekends for in person lectures or study and assignments. I think I could also arrange childcare for one day during the week. Does that sound do-able?

My sister in law is currently in her second year studying for the primary PME with Hibernia. when she began the course in April 2019 her two kids were ages 1 and 3. She has the kids in a good bed time routine that gives her the chance to grab a few hours at night. She says it is managable & a good family support behind you, will enable you to succeed if its just the kids minded for a few hours by a mam or sister she reckons has given her great flexibility too. They’re plenty of hours subbing prior to schools closing with covid & i have heard of loads of people managing the course with full time employments & or combing study with working subbing hours. This year due to covid the saturday face to face lectures have moved online which saves her the hassle of travelling to the regional centre.

starstothesun · 18-01-2021 11:55pm

Has anyone any experience of Hibernia’s PME Post primary course. Do the face to face lectures amount to the same as the amount the primary pme students attend? or are there less for Post primary to attend? I note that the primary courses tend to have face to face saturday lectures regionally ie limerick, cork, portlaoise etc. What is peoples experience of the Post Primary Face to face lectures with locations please? are these regionally too or tend to be just held in Dublin?
Also, with current covid restrictions etc has anyone any idea of when hibernia will go back to face to face lectures? I assume the saturday face to face will remain online for the remainder of this year at least? all info welcome/appreciated

jrmb · 19-01-2021 8:49am

I'm doing the post primary course. All of my "face-to-face" days have been online (the college had no choice). As I understand it, they arrange the face-to-face days at regional hubs. My subject area has a low uptake, so I don't know how regional meet-ups would work for some of my classmates.

Overall it's a good and enjoyable course, but a drawback would be that you don't get to meet people from other cohorts and programmes.

starstothesun · 19-01-2021 9:23am

Does anyone know when the PME post primary offers come out for DCU? Do they tend to be before or after NUI offers?

Kirby Puckett · 19-01-2021 2:28pm

Where does the interview fit into the procedure for PAC applications? Do PAC make a provisional offer that only becomes official after a satisfactory interview with the relevant university?

Polka_Dot · 19-01-2021 7:42pm

Kirby Puckett wrote: »

Where does the interview fit into the procedure for PAC applications? Do PAC make a provisional offer that only becomes official after a satisfactory interview with the relevant university?

,
There's no interview with PAC applications, it's all based on your score

Kirby Puckett · 19-01-2021 8:48pm

Polka_Dot wrote: »

,
There's no interview with PAC applications, it's all based on your score

It turns out the interview mentioned in one of the testimonies was in reference to an interview at a school ahead of Teaching Practice.

Wake up, Kirby.

Kirby Puckett · 23-01-2021 12:05am

Me again, sorry.

I logged into the PAC website again to find that my grade average had been changed without me being notified (how is that even possible?). I studied abroad so my grade average needs to be converted and using every grade scale I can find, my average would equate to about 65 in Ireland. They gave me 60. This mightn't sound like much of a difference, but with the PAC scoring system a difference in grade average can be the difference between an offer and another year on the sidelines.

Does anyone know what the hell is going on?

abdul98 · 27-01-2021 1:05pm

Hello I asked about the Professional Master in Limerick in the UL forum but nobody responds. Maybe somebody here can answer my questions?

pollymv1 · 28-01-2021 9:49pm

lmartmom wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with doing the primary PME in Hibernia with young children? I would have the evenings free to attend webinars and would also be free at the weekends for in person lectures or study and assignments. I think I could also arrange childcare for one day during the week. Does that sound do-able?

Steer clear of Hibernia. They are just in it for the money.

mtoutlemonde · 29-01-2021 12:02am

pollymv1 wrote: »

Steer clear of Hibernia. They are just in it for the money.

And one of the old stories that appear here from time to time. Hibernia suits people and is even more (or was) than the PME I did in an established university. Hibernia has found it's place and is an equal to any other.

98Wallor · 30-01-2021 1:05am

Does anybody know if with Hibernia I can delay my starting date until the next cohort? I applied for, and was thankfully successful in getting a spot for this Spring, but I wouldn’t mind staying in my current job for another couple of months and saving as much as possible, then starting in September. Any ideas?

jrmb · 30-01-2021 4:52am

98Wallor wrote: »

Does anybody know if with Hibernia I can delay my starting date until the next cohort? I applied for, and was thankfully successful in getting a spot for this Spring, but I wouldn’t mind staying in my current job for another couple of months and saving as much as possible, then starting in September. Any ideas?

They're usually accommodating about this kind of thing. Call the admissions team to check.

To be honest, most people advised me not to waste any time before the PME and I'm glad I followed their advice.

starstothesun · 30-01-2021 12:46pm

98Wallor wrote: »

Does anybody know if with Hibernia I can delay my starting date until the next cohort? I applied for, and was thankfully successful in getting a spot for this Spring, but I wouldn’t mind staying in my current job for another couple of months and saving as much as possible, then starting in September. Any ideas?

If it’s post primary i think there is no issue. If it’s primary if you don’t have the new grade requirement that’s kicking in, in september you won’t be able to defer. If you have the grades you should be fine to defer. Prob no harm giving them a call to clarify

snor · 30-01-2021 2:36pm

Hi. Niece has H4 in irish but didn’t get O4 in maths. She plans to do a BA in September. Can she repeat maths on its own to get the O4 to apply for the PME? Know you can for Irish but not sure about maths. Thank you.

jrmb · 30-01-2021 5:29pm

snor wrote: »

Hi. Niece has H4 in irish but didn’t get O4 in maths. She plans to do a BA in September. Can she repeat maths on its own to get the O4 to apply for the PME? Know you can for Irish but not sure about maths. Thank you.

Yes, anyone can repeat anything they want.

starstothesun · 30-01-2021 6:54pm

PAC NUI PME application submitted. Waiting game now!

Kirby Puckett · 31-01-2021 12:16am

starstothesun wrote: »

PAC NUI PME application submitted. Waiting game now!

Submitted mine a week or two ago. You wouldn't have applied to somewhat westerly institution, by any chance?

starstothesun · 31-01-2021 12:38am

Kirby Puckett wrote: »

Submitted mine a week or two ago. You wouldn't have applied to somewhat westerly institution, by any chance?

I put Galway as 3rd choice. Have you applied for UL too? Im thinking of applying there as well just in case & keep options open

Kirby Puckett · 31-01-2021 1:22pm

starstothesun wrote: »

I put Galway as 3rd choice. Have you applied for UL too? Im thinking of applying there as well just in case & keep options open

Yeah, I applied to UL. The fees are more manageable there. No idea about the quality of education versus that of NUI, though.

French Toast · 01-02-2021 3:32am

Completed the PME in NUIG a few years back. Will never forget the morning of getting the PAC offer :P best of luck to all applying.

stiofan85 · 08-02-2021 12:53pm

I've applied to the DCU PME, put in the application back in November. All documents submitted including placement form. Anyone know when offers come out?

abdul98 · 18-02-2021 1:20pm

Does anyone know when are the interviews of UL? If they have said nothing, maybe my application is not to late. Its so difficult to organize all the documents when you dont know the deadline.

starstothesun · 18-02-2021 2:39pm

abdul98 wrote: »

Does anyone know when are the interviews of UL? If they have said nothing, maybe my application is not to late. Its so difficult to organize all the documents when you dont know the deadline.

I think i read somewhere the closing date for applications is July. Also, the website states interviews begin in March. I must actually complete my own application i was too busy submitting the PAC applications

Kirby Puckett · 19-02-2021 8:31pm

When I log into PAC, it doesn't say anything under "status" or "action". Is this normal? My application is complete and I uploaded all the documentation before the original deadline. I was sort of expecting a final "your application is complete" email.

stiofan85 · 22-02-2021 1:16pm

Kirby Puckett wrote: »

When I log into PAC, it doesn't say anything under "status" or "action". Is this normal? My application is complete and I uploaded all the documentation before the original deadline. I was sort of expecting a final "your application is complete" email.

Mine is the same. I got an update on Friday asking for an extra document for past work experience so I guess they are going through it all at the moment. It's a pretty poor website tbh.

Kirby Puckett · 22-02-2021 6:42pm

stiofan85 wrote: »

Mine is the same. I got an update on Friday asking for an extra document for past work experience so I guess they are going through it all at the moment. It's a pretty poor website tbh.

That's good if there are various applications like that. All of my documents have been "accepted" apart from the most recently-uploaded work reference. I think I read somewhere that if there are issues with references they will just award you a 0 for what you've claimed and the rest of the application will continue irrespective.

All Primary / Secondary Masters Courses - Post Q's Here Please

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