Castle Consortium School Direct

Castle Consortium is a group of schools in South , close to the city of . We include in Thornbury, in Bristol, in and in Chipping Sodbury.

Castle Consortium is working with the in running a new model of Teacher Training: this will be delivered under the 'School Direct' programme. This programme blends the best of school-based teacher training with training support from the University of Bristol, long time 'Outstanding' (Ofsted) providers in the field of initial teacher training. Students on this programme will be awarded PGCE and QTS at the end of the training year, with the possibility of being employed by one of four schools (The Castle, Downend, Chipping Sodbury or Marlwood) the following year.

In particular, a placement with the Castle Consortium will involve you in

 guaranteed training at one of our highly successful and fully comprehensive schools, with immersion in classes aged 11 to 18  the second placement in a suburban/rural linked school  the opportunity of an arranged placement at a linked primary school  full student status at the University of Bristol which in turn gives access to facilities, full access to the 10 libraries including the Education library located in the Graduate School of Education and all the on-line services, University e-mail, access to on-Line Learning Environments, University Union, access to the University Centre for Sport, Exercise and Health, student Societies and many more.  a wide range of educational experiences: high academic success, expertise in SEND, a vast range of musical and sporting extra-curricular opportunities and more.  a guaranteed job interview, provided we have a vacancy within our consortium and you are on track to complete the programme successfully

We have unsalaried places for September 2016 in Maths, English, Chemistry, Physics, MFL (French) and History. You can find more information on our courses on the UCAS website. https://www.ucas.com/ucas/teacher-training

Information on our partner schools can be found on their own websites:

Downend School: http://www.downend.com/

Marlwood School: http://www.marlwood.com/

The Castle School: http://www.thecastleschool.org.uk/

Chipping Sodbury School is situated on the edge of the market town of Chipping Sodbury and serves both the immediate local community and the town of . There is a successful sixth form which runs a wide number of courses in partnership with and Yate International . The school was rated as ‘good’ in the most recent Ofsted inspection in all but one area.

The school has a strong tradition of developing the quality of teaching and learning which continues to have an impact on ensuring students’ progress is rapid. All members of staff at the school participate in a rigorous programme of professional development with a focus on teaching and learning. Groups of staff work together in ‘Learning Communities’ to develop knowledge and skills in developing teaching and learning strategies. Recent successes include the use of Kagan styles of learning across the school. All adults are well supported in their role at Chipping Sodbury School; there is a long and successful history of working with local Universities to train the next generation of teachers.

The students at Chipping Sodbury School behave well, show positive attitudes to their learning and are courteous. Student Support is very strong with highly skilled staff working to ensure students are well placed for learning. There is a ‘family’ feel to the school with every student known as an individual and their achievements celebrated. Student progress is carefully tracked with appropriate interventions to support the individual where appropriate.

Overall, the schools’ values of respect, integrity, responsibility and aspiration reflect all that we strive to achieve for our students and staff alike.