George Spencer becomes hub for new teacher development programme

Children and teachers across Nottinghamshire are set to benefit from a brand-new free-of-charge teacher development programme centred around George Spencer Academy in Nottingham which will act as a ‘hub’ school or training base for participating teachers across the county. Schools in Nottingham and Broxtowe are being targeted in particular.

Run by educational charity, Education Development Trust in partnership with the Chartered College of Teaching, the Accelerate programme will provide free training and support to teachers in their first five years of teaching as part of a Government drive to improve pupil attainment and keep talented teachers within the profession.

Several areas including Nottingham and Broxtowe have been designated as priority areas by the Department for Education which means that they are able to access funding which aims to boost pupil attainment. Accelerate aims to help tackle this by providing new teachers with specialist support to rapidly improve their teaching skills, help them face common challenges such as managing workload, dealing with challenging classroom behaviour, and supporting students with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and provides a strong network of peers across the region, supported by a coach.

Matt Davis, Regional Director UK, Education Development Trust said: “Education Development Trust is delighted to be delivering Accelerate across Nottinghamshire. Informed by our extensive programme of educational research, the scheme will help support and motivate teachers at the start of their careers, helping to deliver improvements for schools, and most importantly, children across the country. I call on more schools in the county to sign up to this exciting initiative”.

The scheme will begin in the early part of the spring term 2019 and more teachers and heads across Nottinghamshire are being encouraged to sign up now as places are limited. The four-term programme includes a residential training event, workshops, expert coaching and online training materials, tailored to different subject areas and phases.