Train To Teach
What is Train to Teach?
Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is a strand of the Department for Education’s ‘Golden
Thread’ of professional development.
School Direct teacher training routes provide more ‘on the job ‘training, with more hours of experience immersed in the classroom environment. From day one, you will be part of a team, fully supported by experienced teachers and mentors. Although ITT routes differ from provider to provider, most will offer 120 days of practical classroom experience in two schools.
Our aim is to ‘grow our own’ teachers to work within our local alliance and the region as a whole. Academic rigour is provided through Invictus Education Trust’s collaboration with Haybridge SCITT. Academic study, gives prospective trainees the knowledge and understanding to teach successfully. Trainees will experience skilled professional mentoring and tutoring in classroom management, with ongoing assessment of teaching skills towards a final assessment against a set of teacher standards, which will lead to QTS. The knowledge and skills developed during the training year is consolidated and further developed through the Early Career Framework.
Invictus Education Trust works in collaboration with Primary and Secondary schools not only in our own trust, but across Sandwell and Dudley too. We can offer impartial guidance and support to explore the teacher training options within our schools. Our primary objective is to ensure our trainees are given quality training and support to make them into the best teachers they can be for our local schools.
How to Apply
In the first instance, please contact us for an informal discussion about your plans to train to teach. We can then offer you a half-day tailored to your requirements:
• To discuss what we can offer during your training year
• To spend time in the school environment observing teachers and students
• To help set up a ‘school experience’ week
• To ask all those questions that may influence your decision
If you are lacking in school experience, you should consider a place on the School Experience Programme run by the Department for Education.
Applications are checked by Invictus Education Trust to make sure that necessary selection criteria are met before shortlisting is undertaken. We request two references – one of which must be an academic reference from your university. We are interested in references from your university, employers, and teaching staff from the school where you completed your ‘school experience’.
We will then organise interviews as necessary with the final decision on offers being made by the school.
Funding Your Training
You may be eligible for a teaching bursary or scholarship when training to teach. These are tax-free amounts of money you receive to train in certain subjects. You do not need to pay them back. You’ll need a first, 2:1, 2:2 degree or a PhD or master’s degree to be eligible for a bursary, as well as meeting the bursary scheme’s individual terms and conditions.
For 2023 to 2024, the Department for Education are offering bursaries of:
- Biology: £20,000
- Chemistry: £27,000
- Computing: £27,000
- Design & Technology: £20,000
- English: £15,000
- Geography: £25,000
- Languages: £25,000
- Maths: £27,000
- Physics: £27,000
When you choose to become a teacher, you’ll be joining a profession that offers a competitive starting salary with plenty of opportunity for career progression. This means you’ll not only be making a difference, but you’ll be rewarded for your contribution with excellent opportunities to climb the career ladder and receive pay rises.
Teachers' Pension Scheme
The teachers’ pension scheme is one of the most generous in the country. It is a ‘defined benefit’ pension and is:
• based on your teaching salary rather than the amount of money you pay in
• registered with HM Revenue and Customs - so your contributions are tax-free
• flexible and allows you to take some of it as a tax-free lump sum