Postgraduate Student Teacher teaching Chemistry and Biology at GCSE, National 4/5, A Level and Higher

I am one of Jonathan's Biology tutors in the Initial Teacher Education programme. Jonathan works hard to develop positive relationships based on mutual trust and young people find him approachable and supportive. He is confident in his subject knowledge of Science at BGE level & Biology and Chemistry at National level. He employs a range of teaching strategies to meet the needs of his learners

I currently know Jonathan Wilson as his tutor for Biology Curriculum and Pedagogy PGDE. He is also studying chemistry as dual subjects.

Jonathan performed very well in his first placement, gaining the respect of his mentor teacher and others in the school community, not least his pupils. He has a calm but enthusiastic presence and is able to communicate scientific concepts in clear and approachable ways.

Jonathan is very familiar with important pedagogical principles, both theoretically and in practice. He is a reflective practitioner and comes across as very respectful.

I am Jonathan's PGDE tutor (Chemistry) at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. I have known him since September 2020. He is making great progress as a teacher. Jonathan is very confident in his subject knowledge. He has been able to plan coherent sequences of lessons that are appropriate for the National levels in the class. He has tried to provide breadth, depth and challenge in his lessons. He has been able to create homework activities that have supported learning in class. He has experience of preparing classes for summative assessments and of marking these assessments. Jonathan is showing a developing understanding of pedagogy and has demonstrated this by employing a wide variety of techniques.

He has a confident grasp of how to structure lessons and learning activities within lessons. He has shown an awareness of the importance of starters, plenaries, learning intentions and success criteria and has made effective use of these at times.

During his school placements, he has been able to employ a range of teaching strategies including direct instruction, practical demonstrations, active listening, peer to peer learning, self-evaluation and enquiry. His resources are always well chosen and inclusive and he is beginning to adapt his instructions to take account of different learning needs. There is typically a high level of engagement from learners during his lessons.