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Teacher Training

INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING (ITT) AND EARLY CAREER FRAMEWORK (ECF) AT CHARTERS SCHOOL

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Bracknell forest

At Charters School we are proud to support Initial Teacher Training (ITT) through the PGCE route in partnership with the University of Reading, University of Roehampton, UCL and St Mary’s Univesity, as well as the School Direct path in collaboration with the Bracknell Forest Partnership and Teach South East. In both cases the school has a long-standing commitment of working with our partners to deliver high quality training, led by a dedicated Coaching and Mentoring team who are passionate about developing the outstanding teachers of tomorrow.

High-quality training enables all trainees to develop into confident and competent professionals.

Through the PGCE route Trainee Teachers will gain substantial practical experience, developing their evaluative and practical teaching skills alongside their University course leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) following the successful completion of the course. In-school, expert mentors and the Coaching & Mentoring Lead for Trainee Teachers have consistently high expectations and work collaboratively to ensure training is coherent and highly relevant to the needs of trainees. This includes regular Professional Development Sessions led by members of the staffing body and external trainers.

The School Direct training programme is intended for high quality career changers. Working in collaboration with the Bracknell Forest Partnership and Teach South East, the School Direct route either enables trainees to gain school-led training within a one-year full-time programme leading to QTS, or a PGCE route, which is the additional academic qualification and includes QTS as well as sixty credits towards a Masters in some cases. School Direct Trainees receive high quality support through subject mentors and a package of Professional Development Sessions run throughout the year, led by the C&M Lead for Trainee Teachers. School Direct places are limited, so early application through UCAS is recommended. Applications will be accepted through the UCAS Teacher Training site from the end of October.

EARLY CAREER TEACHERS (ECTs)

The Early Career Framework is a two-year government funded programme, offering a framework and resources to better support newly qualified teachers. The programme was announced as a key element of the Department for Education (DfE) plans to increase retention of early career teachers in the teaching profession. This exciting new initiative has allowed us to broaden our support programme at Charters school, partnering with TSH Berkshire based at Langley Grammar School and UCL Institute of Education, to provide flexible and social learning environments that support early career teacher’s development. All ECTs will be supported by a trained mentor overseen by the C&M Lead for Trainee Teachers acting as the Designated Induction Lead. The programme is built on the belief that teachers are skilled professionals who have:

Student learning at the centre of all that they do
A rich, complex, knowledge base which continues to grow throughout their career
A deep understanding of the context in which they work and the implications of this for their practice
Practical fluency in a range of evidence-based classroom strategies that support pupils to learn well
Academic tools needed to engage independently with evidence around effective teaching
The reflective capacity to evaluate teaching and continue to improve across their career
The ability to use their knowledge, skills and experience to ensure excellent learning for all students.
Working alongside TSH Berkshire and UCL IoE we are excited to deliver this new programme of support for Early Career Teachers.

COACHING AND MENTORING AND CPD AT CHARTERS

Charters School have a dedicated Coaching and Mentoring (C&M) team responsible for supporting Learning and Teaching across the school including Pedagogical Training. New starters to the school will be assigned a C&M Lead to support them in their first year of teaching at the school ensuring they have a smooth transition into Charters and inducting staff into our pedagogical approach based around the ‘Charters 7’. The C&M team also has a dedicated lead for Middle Leaders, providing support for staff who are new to leadership, as well as supporting experienced colleagues with improvement plans.

As part of the teacher commitment to Continuing Professional Development, Charters also offers an extensive programme of training based around six ‘CPD Pathways’. Each pathway provides twilight sessions across the academic year designed to support staff in terms of their current teaching practice and future career aspirations.

WELLINGTON COLLEGE LEARNING ALLIANCE

The Wellington College Learning Alliance consists of 19 schools who work closely together to support bespoke School-to-School Support (StSS) and the development of relevant Continued Professional Development (CPD) courses both in Leadership and Curriculum development. Through our involvement in the Alliance, teachers are able to continue their professional development through a variety of Leadership, Coaching and Teaching courses run throughout the year.