Teacher Training

Do you enjoy working with young people?

Could you help them to fulfil their ambitions?

Are you passionate about your subject?

There are many routes into teaching for suitably qualified, enthusiastic and committed individuals. The School Direct route is increasing in popularity as people choose to be based in schools to do their teacher training. As a school direct trainee you are immersed in the school environment from the first day of term but your teaching load starts very gently and you are supported and coached by experienced colleagues around you.

Recruitment for the 2020-2021 School Direct teacher training programme will open through UCAS in the autumn term.

Salaried and unsalaried placements will be available at The Chalfonts Community College, as well as other secondary and primary schools, including a special school in the Herts & Bucks Teaching School Alliance.

Places will be offered in a range of subjects including: Art & Design, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Classics, Computer Science, Design & Technology, Economics, English, Geography, History, Mathematics, Modern Foreign Languages, Music, Physical Education, Psychology, Religious Studies, Physics and Primary General (which is available both in a mainstream and special school setting).

The Herts & Bucks Teaching School Alliance is a collaboration of schools and learning trusts working in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire to provide high quality training placements. During the training year, all trainees will have the opportunity to spend time in at least one of the other partnership schools to ensure a contrasting and comprehensive experience.

The Alliance has considerable experience of training teachers and recognises and values the enthusiastic contribution that they make to our school communities. Staff at the training schools will share their knowledge and good practice to ensure that trainees are well supported to develop into good and outstanding teachers.

The programme is structured to allow trainees to develop the skills required to teach the subject that they are training in and to develop specific expertise for making a distinctive contribution to practice in their setting.

An early expression of interest can be registered with schooldirect@parmiters.herts.sch.uk.

Further information regarding School Direct can be found at https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/explore-my-options/school-led-training/school-direct and about the Herts & Bucks Teaching School Alliance at http://www.hertsandbuckstsa.co.uk/

School Direct programmes:

The Salaried route

You will be interviewed and employed by the school and receive a salary from them. For some shortage subjects there is the possibility of a £6000 uplift, in accordance with Government guidelines.
You may start with a small teaching timetable, for example 6 lessons per week and you will be independently responsible for these classes but you will be supported in this.
You will attend university for one day per week
You need to have 3 years of post graduate work experience before you can apply for this route.

If you are successful in securing a Salaried training place your training will lead to the award of Qualified Teacher Status. Further study could enable you to add a PGCE to this at a later date. For more information please see here http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/funding/employment-based-training

The Unsalaried route

You will be interviewed by the school but not employed by them.
You will have to pay tuition fees to the university (currently £9000).
The tuition fees would become payable once you are in full time employment and earning above £21,000. There are bursaries available to help meet these costs for some trainees dependant on subject and degree classification. The level of bursary varies according to the subject of the degree and classification. For more information about how to fund your training please see https://www.gov.uk/funding-initial-teacher-training-itt-academic-year-2015-to-16
You will not start with a timetable but will pick up your teaching more gradually.
You will attend university for one day per week for the duration of the training year.
There will be additional university input in the earlier part of the training year.

The unsalaried route leads to the award of QTS with a PGCE by the University of Herts. This includes 60 credits at Masters level for successful trainees.

Our Partners

The Chalfonts Community College is a Lead School working with a number of partner schools. Applications must come through The Herts & Bucks Teaching School Alliance.

Our partners are:

St Clement Danes School, an 11-18 Comprehensive School, also a Teaching School
The Beaconsfield school, an 11-18 mixed school
Dr Challoner’s High School, an 11-18 girls grammar school
Parmiters School, an 11-18 Comprehensive School, also a Teaching School (the hub school for the Herts & Bucks TSA)

All of our schools have a successful history of teacher training and provide excellent mentor support. They are all familiar with the School Direct training programmes. All of the schools also run well established NQT programmes which take you through the first year of your teaching.

We have a very strong extended partnership through the Herts & Bucks Teaching Schools Alliance which means that we have links with a much wider network of schools reaching into Hertfordshire. These links mean that we can provide a contrasting placement as your second school experience and we also are able to inform you of job opportunities when that time comes. There is additional information on their website www.hertsandbuckstsa.co.uk

Our university partner is Hertfordshire University which is based in Hatfield. Although a little distance away, access is easy due to the motorway network in this area. Trainees attend the university for one day each week. The day of the week depends on the type of School Direct programme you are recruited to. There is additional information on the website www.herts.ac.uk