Overview

Make the health and wellbeing of children your primary purpose

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.

Career opportunities

• Primary school teacher
• HPE teacher (Health and PE teacher)
• Children’s sports coach
• Principal
• Deputy principal
• Executive teacher
• Special needs teacher
• Gifted and talented teacher
• Relief teacher
• Private tutor
• Schools policy adviser
• Children’s services manager
• OSHC coordinator (Out of School Hours Care)
• Schools engagement coordinator

Course-specific information

This course is registered by the ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI) and recognised as a teaching qualification throughout Australia.

On graduating, students must register with the appropriate state teaching body in order to teach.

Students must obtain a Working with Vulnerable People Check before their first placement.

Professional accreditation

This course is registered by the ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI) and recognised as a teaching qualification throughout Australia.