Guidance

National Teaching Service: for schools

Support for your school from a high-performing teacher or middle leader.

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For the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) training and development opportunities, please take a look at the NCTL homepage.

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The application round is closed.

Overview

The National Teaching Service will recruit and match high-performing teachers and middle leaders to schools that are struggling to attract, recruit and retain high quality teachers.

Schools or groups of schools in Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and parts of Cheshire may be able to appoint a teacher or middle leader as part of this programme. We’re looking to match 100 teachers and middle leaders from across the country to schools that are facing some of the toughest challenges, predominantly those in rural and coastal areas, to start from September 2016.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) is looking for schools in Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Halton, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lancashire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Sefton, St Helens, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Warrington, Wigan and Wirral.

The National Teaching Service will work with Teaching School Alliances drawing on their local intelligence to broker support for eligible schools.

This information is for schools in the target areas with at least 1 vacancy who’d like to recruit a National Teaching Service teacher and/or middle leader. If you’re a teacher or middle leader interested in the National Teaching Service, please read the National Teaching Service: for teachers and middle leaders information.

What’s involved

If your school’s application is successful, you’ll:

  • be matched with a National Teaching Service teacher or middle leader
  • permanently employ the teacher or middle leader
  • support them through induction into your school
  • provide them with the support of a coach or mentor (this must be a member of your senior leadership team)
  • provide them with dedicated non-teaching time, in addition to planning, preparation and assessment time, to concentrate on their development and contribute to the leadership of your school (this could be through leading an impact or research project)
  • work with them on succession planning for the school if they decide to move on after 3 years, for example, to gain a promotion

Benefits

The teacher and/or middle leader you’re matched with will work with you to:

  • help improve the quality of teaching and leadership within your school
  • mentor and coach other teachers in your school
  • support raising attainment within your school

Funding

You’ll have unfilled vacancies and therefore have the budget to support these posts. You’ll be responsible for agreeing and paying the salary of the teacher or middle leader.

We’ll pay towards relocation costs of the teacher and will contribute to some professional leadership development costs. You’ll be expected to contribute towards some of the costs, for example, up to £2,000 towards the costs of National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership (NPQML) or other programmes.

Eligibility criteria

The National Teaching Service is available for primary and secondary schools.

To benefit from the support of the National Teaching Service your school will need to:

  • have advertised a vacancy, at least twice, for a teacher or middle leader and not yet recruited to it permanently
  • be graded at either 3 or 4 overall at your last Ofsted inspection or be below floor target or at risk of dropping below floor targets

Dates

Activity Date
Application round closed Monday 23 May 2016 at 9am
Application assessment by an NLE or LLE by 27 May 2016
Interview (headteacher and/or chair of governors) 30 May to 24 June 2016
Match your school to a teacher June/July 2016
Meet with/interview your teacher July/August 2016
Job offer no later than mid August 2016
Job offer accepted no later than last week of August for resignation of current post by 31 August 2016
Teacher starts at your school January 2017

Application assessments

We’ll adhere to an open and fair assessment process.

An assessment panel consisting of national leaders of education (NLEs) and local leaders of education (LLEs) will be responsible for assessing school applications. This includes interviewing the headteacher and/or chair of governors.

Matching

During the application process you’ll be asked about your school’s recruitment challenges and specific needs. We’ll use this information to match you with a teacher or middle leader with the most relevant skills and experience.

You’ll have the opportunity to interview the teacher or middle leader before making a decision.

Updates to this page

Published 29 January 2016
Last updated 13 May 2016 + show all updates
  1. The closing date has been extended by 1 week.

  2. New link to videos about the National Teaching Service.

  3. Further information about the National Teaching Service and application round now open.

  4. Further information about the National Teaching Service and application round now open.

  5. First published.

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