Teaching schools get £10 million to boost quality of teacher training
Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced an extra £10 million for Teaching Schools so they can lead the way in training the next generation of brilliant teachers.
The funding will further the Government’s ambition to drive up the number of high-quality teachers entering the profession. It will also help ensure there is a wider spread of School Direct schools across England - particularly in the North and North West.
At a conference of 700 outstanding headteachers, Education Secretary Michael Gove outlined his vision for a school-led system. He said the funding would enable Teaching Schools to:
- Take a greater responsibility for school improvement.
- Empower the best schools to lead the system.
- Ensure the most talented school leaders are spotted and supported to become successful headteachers.
The first teaching schools were set up in 2011. There are now 363 Teaching Schools in England. All Teaching School alliances (of which there are 304) receive £60,000 in their first year of operation - and will today receive an additional grant of £33,000 for the next financial year (2013/14).
Education Secretary Michael Gove said:
Teaching Schools are leading the teaching profession. They are at the forefront of driving and delivering change. They are recruiting and training new entrants to the profession, identifying leadership potential and providing support for other schools.
The best people to teach teachers are teachers. School-led systems put schools, school leaders and teachers firmly in the driving seat.
Charlie Taylor, Chief Executive of the Teaching Agency and National College said:
The people who know how best to raise standards in our schools are outstanding leaders and teachers - not officials in Whitehall.
Our best schools are already well on their way to leading the system. Many of our teachers are making the most of their freedoms and are revolutionising the way they deliver initial teacher training, leadership development and school improvement.
Teaching Schools are already making a strong contribution to teaching supply. The first 100 Teaching Schools delivered more than 10,000 initial teacher training places last year - and well over a third of all School Direct places will be delivered by Teaching School partnerships next year.
The extra funding will help teaching schools build capacity for Initial Teacher Training. This could include conducting recruitment on behalf of their partnerships, or it could be used to cover the cost of senior staff involved in setting up as a School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) school.
Teaching Schools are all rated by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ and have a strong track record of working with other schools to drive up improvement. They work with partner schools to:
- Ensure high-quality school-led Initial Teacher Training (ITT).
- Offer professional development opportunities for teachers and leaders.
- Identify and develop future head teachers.
- Lead school to school improvement.
Notes to editors:
- There are already more than 360 designated teaching schools and more than a quarter of academies are part of chains.
- There are more than 800 National Leaders of Education (NLE) and close to 2,000 Local Leaders of Education (LLE), with a third of secondary heads and 17 per cent of primary heads either an NLE, LLE or member of a teaching school alliance.
- Schools receiving NLE/LLE support are achieving improvement well above the national average.
- Next year nearly a third of ITT will be delivered via School Direct. More than 800 schools have been allocated School Direct places for 2013/14 and around 6,500 schools are already in School Direct partnerships.
- Most leadership development, including the new National Professional Qualification for Headship, is now delivered by schools licensed by the National College, with more than 4,000 participants already enrolled.
Number of Teaching Schools in each region in England
| Regions | No. of cohort 3 Teaching Schools | No. of C1 & C2 Teaching Schools | Total No. of Teaching Schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 10 | 14 | 24 |
| East of England | 20 | 26 | 46 |
| London | 30 | 32 | 62 |
| North East | 8 | 13 | 21 |
| North West | 23 | 29 | 52 |
| South East | 20 | 31 | 51 |
| South West | 11 | 20 | 31 |
| West Midlands | 17 | 25 | 42 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 14 | 20 | 34 |
| Total number of schools | 153 | 210 | 363 |
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