All posts by Doncaster ITT

We are a genuine Partnership run BY and FOR schools who passionately believe that teacher training can and should be delivered with the student at the very heart of why and how we deliver training.

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How do we compare?

July 26, 2019 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

The Department for Education’s (DfE) performance data for ITT Providers (July 2019) shows that the Doncaster ITT Partnership is:

In the Top 10 Providers in the Yorkshire & Humber Region;
Ranked higher than all but one University!;
3rd (by just 2%!) for trainee attainment in South Yorkshire overall;
2nd for Primary attainment in South Yorkshire;
2nd (by just 1%*) for Secondary attainment in South Yorkshire.

NB* – That’s just 1% behind a Russell Group University!

We’re proud to be doing so well, but we’re not complacent and we’re aiming to be No. 1 in South Yorkshire and to be in the Top 5 in Y&H

Watch this space!

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Sorry, but we’ve closed for the Summer!

July 10, 2019 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

We’ve closed all of our courses for this year, so we won’t now be looking for applications until October to start training in September 2020.

If you really do still want to start your training from this September, some other providers might still be recruiting, so please check on the DfE’s ‘Find‘ website or go to Teach Yorkshire to search for local schools-based providers.

Good luck if you do apply for late places, otherwise we’d love to discuss your application to us for next year.

Either way, have a great Summer!

If you really do still want to start training from this September, other providers might stil be recruiting so please check on UCAS or go to Teach Yorshire

Information

* PGCE with the University of Hull *

June 8, 2019 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate of Education)

From September 2019, the Doncaster ITT Partnership will once again be working with the University of Hull to enable SCITT & School Direct trainee teachers to progress through a programme of part-time study to level 7 and to the award of PGCE, in addition to achieving Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

We are delighted to be able to offer this additional optional, internationally recognised, postgraduate qualification for trainees who may wish to achieve the PGCE in its own right or perhaps as the first step towards a Masters in Education.

Trainees do not have to complete the PGCE in addition to their QTS training, but most do and we would urge all applicants to seriously consider completing this programme, as it will enhance their teacher training and is an internationally recognised teaching qualification when achieved with QTS.

All PGCE training is delivered in Doncaster by specialist tutors from Partnership schools & academies, the Local Authority and by the University of Hull.

Further details are available on request or see links on this website.

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Hints & Tips, Information, Support

Skills Tests – How NOT to fail them!

March 15, 2019 Doncaster ITT 7 Comments

First the good news – the DfE announced in July 2019, that applicants for teacher training starting in Sep 2020 will no longer have to complete the Skills Tests in Numeracy & Literacy. But the bad news is that trainees looking to start in Sep 2019, DO STILL HAVE TO pass them both. Sorry!

However, last year’s changes to Skills Tests was excellent news, so although you do still have to pass them for this year, you do now get 3 FREE attempts and no ‘lock-out’ for 2-years if you do fail the 3rd test any more.

Also since the 2018 changes, if you had failed a 3rd test sometime over the past few years and were ‘locked-out’, you no longer have to wait for 2-years and so can reapply and start taking tests again now. If this is YOU, we’d love to hear from you ASAP about reapplying for next year.

So clearly we’d like you all to pass the Skills Tests as soon as possible and preferably not have to pay for a test, so we’d rather you were properly prepared to take and pass them , hopefully first time, so please read this carefully:

Firstly it’s important that you take the right documents when attending the Skills Test centers. Anyone that doesn’t follow the process (below) might be turned away, and may lose their first free attempt at taking the Skills Tests.

Booking the skills tests:

You can book your Skills Tests once you have submitted your application. You can book in advance of this, as long as your application is submitted before you attend the test centre.

You can complete a fully interactive online test before you attend – simply follow the instructions on the page and use this activation key: jhULiqgX

What you need to bring:

- Two forms of identification – a primary ID such as a passport, and a secondary ID (e.g. a debit card). More information can be found on the STA Website
- You also need to bring proof of your teacher training application – e.g.:

- a welcome email from UCAS Teacher Training;

- correspondence from your school or university provider;

- a copy of your completed UCAS Teacher Training application form;

confirmation of, or an invitation to, an interview from your school or university.

For more information please visit: www.sta.education.gov.uk

We run coaching sessions for applicants who have been offered a place to train with us, but other organisations also offer helpful advice or on-line guidance, such as TES – Get help preparing for the Professional Skills Tests – Register for FREE on-line sessions.

So, once you know what you’re taking with you, please consider that:

In our experience, many applicants take the first one without any real preparation thinking “how hard can it be?” and are then surprised by the test and fail it. Then they do some practice tests, but think we need them to pass the tests ASAP, so re-book without really taking the time they need to be ready to pass and so fail again, perhaps just by an odd mark.

So, be one of those who doesn’t take it lightly, be very well prepared for your first attempts and you’ll more than likely pass them both first time. But if not, make sure that you are totally ready for the 2nd attempt and then you’ll not be putting yourself under the pressure of having to take it for a 3rd time, even if you can now go back for a 4th or 5th etc. as after the 3rd test you will have to pay.

Almost everyone passes by the 3rd attempt, very few fail and most pass 1st or 2nd time.

Take and pass the ‘easier’ of the two first. If Maths is your ‘thing’ do that one and then take the literacy later on. If English is your strength, do that one first then take the numeracy later.

Don’t book to take them both on the same day just to save travel time and costs – it could put you under too much pressure and end up costing you far more in the long run!

For applicants offered places with us, we run coaching & support events in the Spring & Summer Term, so there’s no mad rush having to take them just yet.

And . . . you might want to go to one or more the following – other websites & services can be found from a simple Google search (other search engines are also available!), but these have been recommended by some of our former trainees:

Numeracy Ready & How to pass the Numeracy test (Quote ‘NST20’ for a Discount)

FREE online sessions (TES)

How to pass the Literacy test

Literacy Skills Test (spellings)

Creative Openings (Numeracy & Literacy support)

QTS Skills Tests

Good luck with your Skills Tests this summer!

We’re really looking forward to deleting this post and never having to mention Skills Tests ever again after September 2019!!

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Applications, Events, Hints & Tips, Information, Support

Need help with your application?

January 17, 2019 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

Are YOU ready to apply, but are struggling a bit with your personal statement?

Maybe YOU just need some final guidance around the interview process?

You’ve still plenty of time to submit your UCAS application to start your Teacher Training this September and we’re keen to make sure that YOU have the resources YOU need to apply this year. However, as the year progresses some subjects will fill their places and we’ll have to close for any more applications.

The Department for Education (DfE) Get into Teaching Events team is planning to host some FREE application workshops, where YOU will:

have access to one to one advice from experts who will show YOU ways to maximise the impact of your application;
be able to get feedback on your personal statement and advice around the application process.

So go to the Get into Teaching website and register for your nearest Application Workshop in Yorkshire.

2nd Apr – 5.30pm – 8pm, Hull, Holiday Inn Hull Marina
1st May – 5.30pm – 8pm, York, Park Inn by Radisson York City Centre
18th May – 10am – 12.30pm, Leeds, Park Plaza Leeds City Centre

Or if you’re a career changer looking to get into teaching then perhaps go to the Transition to Teach website and apply for additional support with your application.

Then when you’re ready to apply, go to the DfE’s ‘Find a Postgraduate Teacher Training Course’, choose the Doncaster ITT Partnership and two others from Teach Yorkshire , then link through to UCAS to apply.

Make your application STAND OUT!

Good luck with your applications!

Applications, Hints & Tips, Information, Support

GCSEs – ‘Equivalency Tests’ and Level 2 Qualifications

October 9, 2018 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

GCSEs:

You’ll need your GCSEs (Grade C or above/equivalent* – New GCSE Grade 4 or above) in Maths & English [and a Science if you want to teach Primary], but make sure that you have them BEFORE you apply.

If you don’t have them yet, you can consider doing an ‘Equivalency Test’ before you apply for teacher training. A simple internet search will bring up a number of organisations who deliver Equivalency Tests.

Level 2 Qualifications:
Please note that Level 2 Qualifications (e.g. GNVQs etc.) are NOT equivalent, as they do not have the ‘breadth or depth’ of a GCSE or a recognised equivalent.

If you do apply and only have Level 2 qualifications, your application will not be progressed further, so please look to take a GCSE resit, alternative qualification or an Equivalence Test before applying for a place on one of our ITT programmes.

Equivalency Tests:

Please enter an internet search for ‘Equivalency Testing‘ and select which organisation’s course you wish to apply to.

Once you have passed the test, we would accept this as an equivalence to the GCSE.

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Applications, Information

* Financial support while you Train *

October 1, 2018 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

Find out about the ITT Bursaries, Scholarships and School Direct (Salaried) grants for the academic year 2019 to 2020 at the Department for Education (DfE): Get Into Teaching website.

Get up to £28,000 (TAX FREE) to train to teach!

And you may also be entitled to Additional Financial Support while you train.

The DfE provided bursary awards for 2019-20 are as follows:

Graduates with top degrees training to teach in ‘priority‘ Secondary subjects may be eligible for a Bursary Grant or a Scholarship of up to:

Mathematics* -£32,000 Scholarship or £30,000 Bursary
- This is made up of either a £22k Scholarship or £20k Bursary with two additional payments each of £5k after the 3rd & 5th year in teaching (*see below as ‘Doncaster’ gives you even more!).

£28,000 Scholarship or £26,000 Bursary in other high-priority subjects for Trainees with a 1st, 2:1, 2:2, PhD or Master’s for:
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Computing
- Languages (Scholarships for French, Spanish & German ONLY)
- Geography

And other subjects have Bursaries of:

£26,000 (1st, 2:1, 2:2, PhD or Master’s)
- Biology
£15,000 (1st, 2:1, 2:2, PhD or Master’s)
- English
£12,000 (1st, 2:1, 2:2, PhD or Master’s) for:
- Design & Technology (D&T)
- History
£9,000 (1st, 2:1, 2:2, PhD or Master’s) for:
- Music
- RE

*Mathematics: The new bursaries for Maths teachers (unveiled by the then Secretary of State, Justine Greening, in early October 2017) gives Maths graduates up to £32,000 on top of their teaching salaries in exchange for joining and remaining in the teaching profession.

All Maths graduates will get an upfront payment of £20,000 (£22K for Scholars) when they become Secondary school teachers, with those who stay on in the profession then receiving two subsequent payments of £5,000 in each of their 3rd & 5th years of their teaching career.

However, an increased incremental amount of £7,500 will be available “to encourage the best maths teachers to teach in more challenging schools”. Teaching in Doncaster will entitle you to this increased amount.

Other subjects which are not otherwise listed above (e.g. Primary or PE etc.) do not have a bursary, so if you’re not sure if you’ll be eligible, please contact us to discuss your application, at:

ittpartnership@doncaster.gov.uk

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Applications, Information

Is all Schools-led ITT the same?

May 18, 2018 Doncaster ITT 1 Comment

NO!

We’re all the same in many respects, but very different in others. We all have to meet the same ITT Entry Criteria, but we go about it in very different ways and it’s the same with how you’ll be trained.

Even the 2nd ‘S‘ in ‘schools‘ is a key difference – will you get a chance to train in a range of contrasting schools [plr] or mainly be based in just one school (sgl), with just a short placement in a quite similar school?

See what one of our Trainees thought about his training with us.

So what should you be looking for?

Training with an Accredited ITT Provider at the very heart of the programme, not just a distant university linked to a group of schools;
Alliances with a broad range of contrasting schools, not just a few similar schools who’ve set-up to do Schools Direct;
Having a choice about doing a PGCE or not and making sure it’s a full PGCE with 60 Masters Credits all at Level 7, not just a ‘PG Cert’ or with credits only at Level 6;
Training provision with a history of delivering high-quality Trainee Attainment, not just a small group of schools who don’t have any real experience of delivering their own ITT;
A Provider with a range of significant partner organisations (e.g. Local Authorities, Teaching School Alliances, Universities etc.);
Not having to pay £9,250 if you don’t have to!
Schools benefiting from being in a Social Mobility Opportunity Area (SMOA);
A collaborative approach to professional development through the ‘Partners in Learning‘ Teaching School Alliance (TSA);
A real focus on research in teaching through the recently established ‘Research School‘ as part of the Research Schools Network
Government supported recruitment and retention initiatives

Teach Doncaster!

The Doncaster ITT Partnership is an Accredited School Centred ITT Provider with nearly 15 years experience of delivering ‘Outstanding Trainee Attainment’ (Ofsted 2012); working with a wide range of Schools, Academies, Special Schools and PRUs, the Local Authority, Teaching School Alliance and the University of Hull (to deliver an optional PGCE) and all for far less than most ITT courses.

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Information

Why do schools-based training?

May 17, 2018 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

Our last cohort of SCITT & School Direct students are now nearing the end of their Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) ‘Induction year’ and our current cohort are fast approaching their Final Assessments for QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) , so sadly we’re no longer looking to recruit applicants wanting to start teacher training in September 2018 (UCAS opened in October 2017), but we will be recruiting again in the Autumn for places to start in September 2019 .

So why did our trainees chose schools-based training and why should you?

Do you want to:

go back to university and sit in a lecture theatre for days on end?
complete assignments to prove that you know how to teach?
only see children when you are sent to a school miles from home?
have no real choice about where you’ll train?
increase your student loan debt by as much as it’s possible to borrow (£9,250)?
have to do (and pay for) a PGCE, when you know that you don’t really need one to become a qualified teacher?

No? – Neither did our trainees!

Or would you rather:

train to teach in a school environment?
have a choice about where you train in local schools?
be trained by specialist teachers who really know and understand teaching?
be supported to learn by experts with the most up to date teaching techniques?
really feel part of a school, not just a ‘visitor’ on a placement for a few weeks?
save over £1,800 against the cost of some courses?
have the choice about whether you want to do a PGCE or not, in addition to your teacher training?

Yes? – That’s why our trainees chose us and why you should too!

Please look through this website to find out more about why you should consider school-based training in a Doncaster ITT Partnership school and see how to apply for one of our programmes.

Good luck with your application!

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Information

Teach in Doncaster and get your student loan repaid!

April 26, 2018 Doncaster ITT Leave a comment

All Languages, Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Computer Science teachers who start a teacher training course (or are in years 1 to 5 of their careers) from/after September 2018, will be eligible for the Teachers’ Student Loan Reimbursement scheme announced by the Secretary of State in October 2017, provided they are teaching in a state-funded school in a designated Local Authority (LA).

Doncaster is one of those Local Authorities!

This will therefore NOT apply if you teach in a neighboring LA that is not on the list. The only other local LAs are: Barnsley, Bradford, North East Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire.

The full list of participating Local Authorities can be found here.

This is a massive opportunity to both train in and then stay on and teach in Doncaster, so let us help you to take the first step.