Earlier this year, we were delighted to discover that we would become one of 87 new Teaching School Hubs, but what is a Teaching School Hub? And how might they help you?
I am going to answer these questions by describing the five core responsibilities of Teaching School Hubs.
1. Initial Teacher Training
We will continue to train people who want to become qualified teachers, building on our existing offer through Shotton Hall SCITT, which this year alone has trained almost 100 teachers. We will also collaborate with other regional ITT providers to ensure that we collectively meet the demand for new teachers in our region.
2. Early Career Support.
From September 2021, all teachers at the start of their career will be entitled to a two-year, fully-funded package of structured training and support linked to the best available research evidence. We will support the Early Career Framework (ECF) in two ways. First, we will schools navigate the range of ways that they can fulfil this entitlement. Second, we will directly support the delivery to around 100 Early Career Teachers (ECTs) each year.
We are excited about the potential of this opportunity, and we also recognise the tremendous responsibility. Teaching is a challenging career, especially in the first few years where we know that too many teachers leave within the first few years. A great induction experience – underpinned by excellent mentoring – can make a real difference to retention in the workforce. It can also help every teacher to realise their potential.
3. Appropriate Body
Schools employing Early Career Teachers are legally required to appoint an Appropriate Body. From September 2021, the number of Appropriate Bodies will be reduced, but they will retain a crucial role for Early Career Teachers. Appropriate Bodies have two distinct roles:
Monitoring of support: Appropriate Bodies check that each ECT is receiving their statutory entitlements, including that their programme of support is faithful to the Early Career Framework
Monitoring of assessment: Appropriate Bodies make the final decision as to whether an ECT has satisfactorily met the Teachers’ Standards, based on the headteacher’s recommendation.
Read more about our experience as an Appropriate Body and how we can support your work.
4. National Professional Qualifications
Teaching School Hubs will also support teachers as they develop through their careers by offering a reformed suite of National Professional Qualifications. There are three ‘specialist’ NPQs:
Leading Teacher Development: supporting the training and development of others
Leading Teaching: developing teachers who are subject leads or responsible for improving teaching practice in a subject or phase
Leading Behaviour and Culture: developing teachers who have responsibilities for leading behaviour and culture
And three leadership NPQs:
Senior Leadership: for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities.
Headship: for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school.
Executive Leadership: for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, an executive headteacher or have a school trust CEO role with responsibility for leading several schools.
Each of these NPQs is underpinned by a framework that sets out a range of ‘learn that…’ and ‘learn how to…’ statements. Read more about the NPQ frameworks.
5. Continuous professional development
Professional development is at the core of what Teaching School Hubs do – especially the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications. However, we will supplement these offers by developing bespoke programmes of professional development. These will be driven by local needs, informed by the best available evidence, and sustained to achieve meaningful improvements in practice.
So, those are the five core things that Teaching School Hubs do – please get in touch if you want to learn more.