School Direct Meeting

University of Bristol23.04.13

School Direct Context and Background

• 2010: White Paper “The Importance of Teaching”

• 2011: “The Implementation Plan: Training Our Next Generation of Outstanding Teachers”– Minimum 2:2 rule– Bursaries to attract ‘outstanding potential’– More rigorous screening of candidates– Single system of applications– School Direct – as a route into teaching

School Direct Overview

• The principle is that ITE (ITT?) should be school-led

• The National College for Teaching and Leadership (merger of TA and NCSL) is promoting School Direct strongly – Chief Executive Charlie Taylor

• Schools working in groups will have capacity and flexibility to run training programmes

• Much debate around the initiative

Allocation of ITE places

• 33,000 trained on average annually• For 2013-14, 10,000 allocated to School Direct

places requested by schools/groups of schools• ‘Outstanding’ providers kept allocations• ‘Good’ or ‘Requires Improvement’ providers

allocated what was left (high impact across the country on training providers)

• Expectation that School Direct will expand

School Direct Overview

• There are two types of School Direct routes into teaching:

School Direct Training ProgrammeSchool Direct (salaried)

http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/teacher-training-options/school-based-training/school-direct?&gclid=CMuq0q2v3rYCFa7MtAod3hcAVA

School Direct Training Programme

• Similar to a PGCE/QTS programme at university or SCITT:– Tuition fees – Bursaries– 120 days in school, 60 days training– University/SCITT administers and accredits outcomes

– university must be involved if PGCE is part of qualification since universities are the only bodies who accredit post-graduate qualifications

School Direct (salaried)

• Replacing the Graduate Training Pogramme (GTP) employment-based route

• Might or might not offer a PGCE• Trainee paid as unqualified teacher by school• Does not have to be supernumerary • Has to have 60 days’ training paid

for/provided by the school

Features of School Direct routes (1)

• Recruitment is led by the school, though training partner (HEI or SCITT) has to agree and recruits must meet training partner’s current criteria

• Training Programme should be negotiated between school and training partner

• School expected to employ the student teacher on completion of the training programme (though in practice…)

Features of School Direct routes (2)

• ITT Training Criteria apply• Training partner is responsible for

administration of finances• Training partner held accountable by Ofsted

for quality training • Training partner accredits the work and

awards the qualifications

Bids for School Direct places 2014-15

• Expressions of interest from February to Junehttp://images.ta-recruit.education.gov.uk/feedback/SchoolDirect_FutureIntentions.asp

Register and request School Direct places between June and September

October – places allocated

November – applications open – single application process (new for all of us)

Links to useful documents (1)

• Getting involved in School Directhttp://www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/initial/b00205704/school-direct/register

• Quick start for 2014-15https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/School%20Direct%20Quick%20Start%20Guide.pdf

Links to useful documents (2)

• A Guide to School Direct (Oct 2012)http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/15665/1/a%20guide%20to

%20school%20direct%202013%202014%20v041012.pdfA guide to School Direct 2013-14

• ITT Criteria and Supporting Advicehttp://www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/initial/b00205422/itt

School Direct PilotUoB and North Somerset Teaching Alliance

• Recruitment• Selection• Finance• Partnership Agreement• Programme Design and EPS (professional

studies)• Placements

School Direct and the University of Bristol ITE Partnerships – ways forward

• We are interested in working with a range of school groups to develop School Direct partnerships

• We already work in close collaboration with our PGCE partnership schools and expect to continue doing so, and with others, either with our university-based PGCE route, or School Direct, or most likely both

Our Offer – phase and subjects• Our partnerships offer secondary, full time one year programmes in

the following subjects– Citizenship– English– Geography– History– Mathematics– Modern Foreign Languages– Music– RE– Science

• Biology• Chemistry• Physics

Our Offer

• The current UoB School Direct offer is very similar to our established PGCE partnership, particularly while numbers are small (remember what Carol, Sheila and Jayne spoke about)

• We will be monitoring and reviewing the pilot this year and next

• If numbers increase considerably, we anticipate being able to have more flexibility while maintaining the quality assurance required by the university and the ITT criteria

• Funding is similar to the PGCE partnership, with the potential for ‘buy-in’ of school staff

Our Offer

• School staff already play a significant role in the PGCE Partnership, both in teaching placements and in university/school training sessions – we expect this to increase further

• The Partnership Committee is made up of equal numbers of school and university members. The committee makes decisions about management, recruitment, delivery and assessment of the work of the partnership. Currently, covers the School Direct programme as well as the university’s PGCE programme

What the Partnership offers

• A teaching qualification and a PGCE awarded by the University of Bristol

• A partnership recognised as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted

• Established, stable, high-quality initial teacher education, valued across the region and beyond

• For student teachers, full student status at the University of Bristol, including all resources and facilities

School Direct Training Programmes 2014-15

• To be involved in SD, you will need to register as either a ‘lead school’ or a partner with a lead school, so getting together with others is important. You will need to be part of a ‘cluster’ of schools although not necessarily a Teaching School Alliance

• Before you register, you would also need a ‘training partner’ (HEI). If UoB is your preferred partner, contact Emma Lewis (emma.lewis@bristol.ac.uk)

• Also contact Emma if you are a ‘lone’ school and would like to find a lead school to work with

Our School Direct partnership – web link

• http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/students/ite/schooldirect.html