Train to Teach

Initial Teacher Training – School Direct

School Direct is a national teacher training initiative which offers an exciting
opportunity to train alongside outstanding practitioners in local schools.
Shropshire Primary Partnership (part of Empower Trust) offers a School Direct teacher training programme for primary specialism validated by the University of Chester. This is a one year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) teacher training programme run entirely within Shropshire and is ideal for students currently at university, experienced teaching assistants who want to become teachers and anyone wishing to start a new career as a teacher.

We work with a range of schools across Shropshire to provide our trainees with a locally based, high quality course which has an excellent reputation and prepares them well for their career. Our course is well established and we have many teachers now working within our Trust, across Shropshire and further afield who have trained with us and are successfully pursuing a career in teaching.
Our School Direct programme is based around school embedded learning with trainees spending a minimum of two days per week in classrooms from the very start of the programme, resulting in confident, independent  and effective teachers.

A typical School Direct week is made up as follows:

• one day of university led facilitated training, delivered at University Centre Shrewsbury,
• two days of practitioner led facilitator training, mainly delivered at St Peter’s CE Primary and Nursery School, Wem and University Centre, Shrewsbury. These days are delivered by current outstanding practitioners and cover subject knowledge, the Early Years and National Curriculum and effective teaching and learning across the curriculum from EYFS to Year 6 and beyond.
• two days per week based in a good or outstanding Shropshire school.

This structure enables immediate application of theory into practice, resulting in a particularly effective teacher training experience.

Throughout the year, there are three placements across which students will experience outstanding teaching in two different key stages; Early Years and KS1 for trainees on our Early Primary pathway and KS1 and KS2 for trainees who have chosen to follow our General Primary pathway.

We are incredibly proud of the course that we have developed. Many of the schools who have offered placements to our trainees have been so impressed with them that they have employed them at the end of the course.
If you think this is the opportunity for you, or you have a member of staff at your school who is thinking of becoming a teacher, please get in touch with us. If you would like your school to become involved with the delivery of our programme or would be interested in offering placements to any of our students, please do not hesitate to contact us; we are very happy to welcome new partners to our programme and would be pleased to give you more details.

For further information please contact Lucy Copson at Empower Trust:

Tel: 01939 211140 or or email
admin@shropshireprimarypartnership.co.uk