teacher training | Schools Week

Ark drops plans to expand teacher training programme in north

Academy chain Ark has abandoned ambitious plans to scale-up a new teacher training partnership with two trusts in the north after losing out on government funding. Ark, which runs 35 schools, had partnered with both Dixons Academies Trust and Oasis Community Learning to run separate two-year initial teacher training programmes starting this September. Schools Week […]

Teach First criticised for PwC job deferral partnership

Ministers have been called on to allow school teacher training providers access to the same pool of graduates targeted by Teach First after a new row over the charity’s trainees leaving for the private sector. Teach First was criticised over the weekend after a job advert emerged showing accountancy giant PwC had started recruitment on […]

Replace bursaries with ‘forgivable fees’ to boost teacher numbers, report claims

Teacher training bursaries should be scrapped in place of “forgivable” tuition fees for teaching graduates who stick in the profession for about ten years, a new report has recommended. A report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) think tank, published today, has made a series of proposals to tackle a lack of teachers, EBacc […]

How schools can avoid social media teacher scandals

Regularly updated codes of conduct must guide staff on how to use social media, says James Lynas. Leaving it to common sense exposes the school and staff to disaster Career death awaits school staff who use social media carelessly. Be wary of sharing a “sexy selfie” with Facebook friends who then tell your head; never […]

What does high challenge teaching look like?

To define “high challenge” is almost impossible, says Heather Fearn. Teachers must use their expertise to ask themselves what actions will best move their class forward “further, faster” at any time What does high challenge teaching look like?” “Easy: make the work harder.” “OK, another question – what is harder work?” “Er . . . […]

Teacher trainers blast DfE for hiding allocation data

The government is under fire for its “unprecedented” refusal to reveal the full allocations for next year’s initial teacher training (ITT), even though officials have had the information for nearly six months. Teacher training providers including universities and schools were told last September how many students they could take onto their programmes for the academic […]

National College no longer approves teacher training providers

The government has stripped more powers from the National College for Teaching and Leadership, telling schools to submit requests to become a teacher training provider directly to the Department for Education. The move is a “significant” step towards the government’s absorption of the college, say experts. Originally opened to provide a standalone teacher training agency, […]

Just 54 citizenship teachers were trained this year

The number of new citizenship teachers in England has plummeted since 2010, prompting calls for a more “robust” approach to preparing pupils for the modern world. Figures released by the schools minister Nick Gibb show that just 54 citizenship teachers have been trained this academic year, compared with 112 in 2014-15 and 243 in 2010-11. […]

‘Great teaching is the opposite of what you learn in training’

The Department for Education’s former teacher in residence has claimed excellent teaching is the “direct opposite” of what he was taught during teacher training – criticising teachers who employ a “child-centred” approach. Robert Peal, a former Teach First trainee who now teaches history at West London Free School, called for an end to teaching that […]