West London Teaching School Alliance (Primary) SCHOOL DIRECT TEACHER TRAINING 2017-18 UCAS Provider Code 1EL
in partnership with
UCAS Programme information for Course Code Salaried Primary QTS 2PY5 Key Stage 1/Key Stage 2
This programme is available at Barnes Primary School Colville Primary School Park Community School Park Walk Primary School Pield Heath House School (SEN) Queensmill School (SEN) St John XXIII Catholic Primary School Important Note: This is one of four WLTSA salaried primary programmes. We are aiming to recruit up to 14 trainees on this particular programme (2PY5) but WLTSA as a whole is permitted to recruit 13 salaried primary trainees across all four programmes. As soon as 13 offers have been made we will need to close recruitment for salaried primary whether or not this particular programme is full. At that time we will request more places from government but these are not guaranteed. Early application is therefore advised. Updates on our website will show the tally of offers at any one time. School Direct Training Programme - Salaried
Contents Page 1 Why Train with Us? 2 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 The West London Teaching School Alliance (WLTSA) 2 1.3 WLTSA School Direct Partner Schools & Vacancy Updates 3 1.4 Your Host School 4 1.5 Our University Partner – St Mary’s University, Twickenham 8 2 About this training programme 9 2.1 Introduction 9 2.2 Number of Places Available 9 2.3 Qualification Outcome –QTS Explained 10 2.4 Training 11 2.5 Salary 12 3 Entry Requirements 12 3.1 Academic Requirements 12 3.2 Work Experience 12 3.3 School Experience 13 3.4 Professional Skills Tests 13 3.5 Medical Fitness 13 3.6 DBS/Prohibition Checks 13 4 What we are looking for 13 4.1 Personal Requirements 13 5 How we select our trainees 15 5.1 Selection 15 5.2 Interviews 15 5.3 Rejections following interview 15 5.4 Offers 16
APPENDIX 1: ABOUT THE WLTSA This includes general information including our UCAS provider code; information about our partner universities and partner schools; childcare facilities; accommodation, disability access and where to find us.
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1 Why Train with Us?
1.1 Introduction
In considering why to train with us, it is important to understand the strengths of: The West London Teaching School Alliance; the host school where you would be located for the majority of your training; and our university partner for this programme. 1.2 The West London Teaching School Alliance (WLTSA)
The West London Teaching School Alliance (WLTSA) is coordinated through Sacred Heart High School in Hammersmith, which is designated as a National Teaching School. The WLTSA covers both the primary and secondary sectors with a wide variety of partner schools including those in the mainstream across the 5-19 age range, as well as Faith Schools, Free Schools and Special Schools. We are an innovative and growing partnership, now expanding beyond our original focussed area of central West London, with member schools in the London Boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster; Richmond; Ealing, Hillingdon and Merton. For 2017-8, we are seeking to fill 89 School Direct places across 45 of our schools and we are working with three different university providers to achieve this (St Mary’s University, Twickenham; University of Roehampton; and UCL (Institute of Education). Training with WLTSA schools gives you the unique opportunity to experience a broad range of teaching environments, with all our schools aiming to provide the highest quality teaching and learning for their pupils and the trainees they are developing. Our partnered schools all offer you the opportunity to train to teach with excellent, experienced teachers in dynamic learning environments that foster talent. Within WLTSA there are extensive opportunities for future professional leadership development including an excellent Masters Programme with St Mary’s.
WLTSA has a commitment to achieving excellence in learning, teaching and school leadership. We aim to appoint the highest calibre of teachers in our schools:
who are innovative in the teaching practices they adopt; seek to collaborate and support each other through strong partnerships; and engage in the intelligent use of research and development of pedagogy.
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We continue to stay abreast of national and international educational research to inform our approach. We aim to inspire our teachers to be advocates of life- long learning who become outstanding practitioners, colleagues, managers and leaders in our schools, equipped to adapt to the needs of learners and schools of the future.
We aim to provide a clear framework for career development to ensure high quality, relevant training to meet the needs of teaching staff at different stages of their careers, from career entry to headship in its increasingly various forms
OUR VISION: A bright future for all learners through innovation, collaboration, engagement and success.
1.3 WLTSA School Direct Partner Schools & Vacancy Updates
A full list of all our 45 School Direct Partner schools (with web-links and postcodes) is set out in Appendix 1. Each of our School Direct partner schools has requested to run a specific programme (or programmes) and you can see a full list of the programmes available at each of the 45 schools in the initial teacher training tab on our website wltsa.org.uk. These lists are regularly updated to show recruitment progress. Sometimes several of our schools wish to run the same programme and when you apply you will be able to select which specific school you wish to be considered by. Programmes remain ‘open’ on UCAS until places have been accepted by trainees. Sometimes we receive applications: when shortlisting at a specific school has already taken place; when interviews at a specific school are already underway; or when offers have already been made but not yet accepted. It is therefore advisable to check the latest status on our website but rest assured that if you apply for one of our programmes at a school that then becomes full we will email you and can transfer your application to another school of your choosing without the need for you to make any further UCAS application. Similarly, if you are interviewed by one of our schools with limited places and they cannot take you on but they consider you to be a worthy candidate, then we have flexibility to transfer your application to another school with the same programme or even to a different programme, subject to your agreement. You can also use our website to compare entry requirements of different programmes partnered with different universities. By clicking on the programme information button in our vacancies tables, you will be able to view the programme document (like this one). The structure of all the programme documents is identical to assist comparison.
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If you have queries, please email us centrally at [email protected] rather than contacting our partner schools. The school (or schools) hosting this particular programme are described below. 1.4 Your Host School
When you apply, you will be able select which school you want to be your host (employing) school where the majority of your training will take place. Each of our programmes also includes a much shorter second placement at another WLTSA school which we select during the training, to ensure that it provides a sufficiently contrasting experience. We have six WLTSA schools wishing to employ trainees on this particular salaried programme: Barnes Primary School, SW13 0QQ Old Oak Primary School, W12 0AS Park Community School, SW19 3EF Park Walk Primary School, SW10 0AY Pield Heath House School, UB8 3NW Queensmill School (SEN), W12 0NY See further details on each school below, including web-links to their school websites. Barnes Primary School SW13 OQQ Peter Mortimore, a distinguished academic and grandparent of a child at Barnes Primary School, captured the school’s ethos well in his book ‘Schools Under Siege’ (Policy Press, 2013) when he wrote: My grandson’s primary school has the motto ‘Learning, Love and Laughter’. This cleverly links the school’s main task – promoting learning – with affection and fun. What better combination could there be. Parents speak very highly of the school as the following selection of comments (2016 parent questionnaire) demonstrates: - we feel nothing but joy, when we see how happy they have been, day in and day out - … so much more than we had expected - . . . eight years of brilliance and wonder - …our children are in the best possible place they could be - . . . the best possible start in life - …there is not a day that goes by when I am not grateful that both of my girls are a part of BPS - the positive impact Barnes Primary has on its pupils is impossible to quantify.
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Our school has the very highest of expectations of and for everyone involved in the school community - children, their teachers, their parents and senior leaders are asked to continually expect more. Core values that underpin Barnes Primary School are reflected in the seven personal qualities that their curriculum seeks to develop: Integrity, Self-sufficiency Creativity, Personal Responsibility, Empathy, Self-belief and Positivity. Barnes Primary School is a community of learners (including teacher trainees) where everyone can be successful and strive to continually improve on their personal best. Mark Hartley has been the Headteacher of Barnes for eleven years. Previous to that he worked as a School Improvement Advisor in Kensington and Chelsea. Before that he was a Headteacher at Ashburnham Primary School for five years, at a time when the school was judged by Ofsted to be outstanding and achieved ‘beacon school’ status. As well as working at Barnes, Mark delivers professional development and offers educational consultancy in schools across London.
Colville Primary School W11 2DF Colville Primary School is a safe, stimulating, inclusive and friendly school dedicated to the success of its children. Pupils at Colville make outstanding progress and achieve outstanding outcomes across a wide range of subjects.
Over the last five years we have a proven track record of training high quality staff for a number of roles including teaching. Situated in the heart of Portobello Road it is used by many community groups and its diverse pupil population make it a vibrant school. The families’ contribution to the school is essential and by working with families the school has enabled pupils in the school to develop their skills and knowledge at a greater pace than could otherwise be expected. Colville Primary School provides excellent and experienced mentors for its trainees and anticipates hosting seven School Direct trainees for 2017-18.
Old Oak Primary School W12 0AS Old Oak Primary School is a friendly, successful large community school based in East Acton.
Our vision is for the community to see Old Oak as their school; a happy school where everyone is valued and respected. To enable each child to achieve their full potential and make the most of the opportunities and choices offered to them, we aim to provide a secure and stimulating environment that promotes independence, self- esteem, health and well-being. We offer a very broad and balanced curriculum where creativity is at the heart of everything we do. We are lucky enough to have an art room and a music room. All children in KS2 learn an instrument, currently, drumming, ukuleles and recorders. We believe in the importance of extracurricular
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activities and offer a range of clubs including canoeing, ballet and martial arts. We use the International Primary Curriculum and the IPC values underpin our school vision and ethos. They also encourage positive learning behaviours and develop children’s PSHE education. We aim to develop each child’s: Cooperation, communication, resilience, sense of morality, enquiry skills, respect, thoughtfulness and we teach the children the importance of adaptability in an ever changing world. Children and staff work hard to enable everyone to make progress, in core subjects as well as the broader curriculum and the children’s personal development. Ofsted agree and said in their last report: Pupils achieve well from below average starting points and many make more than expected progress in reading and maths…Pupils are polite and courteous and are happy in school…They are keen to learn and enjoy taking responsibility. Old Oak has a number of experienced staff, who have all previously worked with student teachers. Relationships between staff are supportive and collaborative and professional dialogue about teaching is a feature of school life. We are currently working with our second school direct student. Park Community School, SW19 3EF A new state-funded Primary School in Wimbledon, we are a Free School and part of the growing Chapel St family of schools. By 2017-18 we will have children in Reception to Year 3. We believe that a school provides a heartbeat for its community. Park Community School is committed to transforming the lives of children, enhancing family life and serving the whole community. The curriculum is tailored to the needs and aspirations of each child. Teachers not only pass on information to children, but encourage them to delight in knowledge: to move from, ‘Whatever!’ and ‘So what?’ to wonder and wellbeing. Lessons come with a license for adventure and learning and are integrated across subjects and disciplines. The Chapel St ethos is founded on the virtues of Grace, Love and Fellowship, ensuring that all of our projects are child-centred, family-focused and community-oriented. Our school provides a state-of-the-art environment for teaching and learning We remove barriers to learning and deliver effective education for all children regardless of language, culture, gender, physical, intellectual, emotional or socioeconomic status.
Park Walk Primary School SW10 0AY Situated in Chelsea, just off the King’s Road, we are a popular one form entry Primary school with a nursery. Our team of dedicated and friendly staff are very proud of the children who attend Park Walk, recognising all of their achievements in the classroom and beyond.
We celebrate every child’s successes and through a stimulating and exciting curriculum develop a thirst for knowledge and learning. The children at Park Walk are happy learners, who are inquisitive and work hard to reach the challenges set by the staff.
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At Park Walk we provide a safe and happy learning environment in which each child feels appreciated and respected. Through our core values, we encourage every child to use his or her own creativity in collaboration with peers and to work independently and confidently ensuring that everyone enjoys and achieves in all aspects of school life.
Our Headteacher and Deputy both have much experience of mentoring teachers, teaching assistants and also GTP students and teachers on the Return to Teaching programme. We also have a number of other experienced teachers who are mentoring NQT’s this year. Pield Heath House School, UB8 3NW Pield Heath House is a Catholic Non-Maintained School for children and young people between the ages of 7-19 years. We offer day, residential and respite provision to children and young people with moderate to severe complex learning needs and associated speech, language and communication difficulties including Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The school has successfully achieved 'Outstanding' in both whole school and Social Care Ofsted inspections since 2009, the most recent being February 2014. Most of our students come from the West London Boroughs.
Queensmill School W12 0NY Mission statement, written by all staff: ‘A caring environment where we respect and value children for who they are, help them to understand the world around them and teach them the skills to manage their autistic behaviours’ Queensmill School is an outstanding special school for children from 2+ to 19 years of age who have moderate and severe autism. It provides a highly differentiated package for each child according to their needs, using a very effective and structured programme of intensive intervention which is based on functional behavioural analysis and supported by TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and other Communication Handicapped Children), SIA (Sensory Integration Approaches) and PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). Preparation for life underpins the work of the school. The school is accredited by the National Autistic Society (NAS). The NAS will only give this award to schools that are very good or outstanding in meeting the needs of children with autism. The school was also inspected by OfSTED in 2014 and was judged to be outstanding. Queensmill represents an amazing example of the “best practice” in care and development for our Autistic children, as well as being a beacon for the development of the understanding of Autism in the wider community, through our outreach program to both primary and secondary schools in this and other boroughs, as well as our continuing education for teachers and other professionals.
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St John XXIII Catholic Primary School, W12 7QR
Message from the Headteacher, Mrs Karen Cunningham A very warm welcome to our school. Our small, one form entry school, serves the parishes of Our Lady of Fatima, White City and St Aidan, East Acton. It is a vibrant community which is very welcoming; we have a warm family feeling as you enter our school. We have a dedicated team of staff who work hard to make our school a very special place where we have high expectations of our pupils. Our mission statement is "we aim for excellence, with God, at the centre of all that we think, do and say". Our pupils enjoy learning and working together. They are provided with many experiences which really enhance their life. Our aim is to provide an environment where each child has the opportunity to grow in confidence and self-esteem. Our Children St John XXIII nurtures children so that they develop a spiritual relationship with God, recognising that we are made in the image and likeness of God. Our children leave St John XXIII as confident articulate young people, able to listen to others, and give their own point of view and justify their reasoning. Our children leave St John XXIII having achieved their full potential. Our children are well-mannered and show respect for all adults, children and all those who help them. Our children know their strengths and the areas where they need to develop. Most importantly they are able to seek guidance as to how to develop further. Our children leave Pope John with a genuine love and care for everyone. Our children have relationships built on the Gospel of love respect, hope and joy. They recognise that anyone can make a mistake but that forgiveness means that we can always start again.
1.5 Our University Partner – St Mary’s University, Twickenham
St Mary's University is situated in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham in South West London. Founded in 1850, it is generally acknowledged to be the oldest Roman Catholic college in the UK. In 2000, St Mary’s celebrated 150 years in Education. With just under 4,000 students training to teach on primary and secondary, they are now London’s second largest teacher training course provider and in 2011, St Mary’s was deemed to be ‘outstanding’ by OfSTED during inspection. Course tutors at St Mary’s are all skilful teachers themselves, with many years of experience in schools and higher education. Schools in the Alliance have established excellent relationships with them, having worked in partnership for many years. Click here to view the School Direct page on their website.
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2 About this training programme
2.1 Introduction
The WLTSA is responsible for the coordination of this professional training programme. Recruitment is coordinated centrally from Sacred Heart High School and all correspondence should be directed to Pippa Currey at [email protected] During the training year, the programme is coordinated by our WLTSA strategic lead for all primary programmes partnered with St Mary’s University (Grace Anderson, at St Vincent’s Primary School in Acton). St Vincent’s have very high academic records from Nursery to Year 6 and their Headteacher is a Lead Inspector for the Diocese of Westminster and an Assessor for Quality Mark. St Vincent’s has significant experience of working with universities to train potential candidates into the teaching profession. They maintain a close working relationship with St Mary’s and provide support to our partner schools as required, including the organising of primary seminars and second placements. At the start of the training year (September 2017) you would enrol as a student at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and would be employed by your host school (see section 1.4 above). Further information about the structure of this programme is set out below. 2.2 Number of Places Available
This is one of four WLTSA salaried primary programmes. We are aiming to recruit up to 12 trainees on this particular programme (2PY5) but WLTSA as a whole is permitted to recruit 13 salaried primary trainees across all four programmes. As soon as 13 offers have been made we will need to close recruitment for salaried primary whether or not this particular programme is full. At that time we will request more places from government but these are not guaranteed. Early application is therefore advised. Updates on our website will show the tally of offers at any one time. If following interview, you were considered to be a strong candidate, but your chosen host school did not have the capacity to offer you a place, the school can mark you as such on their interview form. The WLTSA then has flexibility to pass your application on to other WLTSA schools running the same (or another) programme without the need for you to make a fresh UCAS application. This would only be done with your consent. You can see which other Alliance schools and partner universities are running similar programmes by looking at the primary vacancies list on our WLTSA website (www.wltsa.org.uk). This potentially gives you access to 12 other salaried primary places and also to our 27 unsalaried primary places some of which come with (as a unique WLTSA feature) bursaries from the school, some as high as £11,000.
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Application transfers would only be done with your consent and the full shortlisting/interview process would still need to be undertaken at another school and if necessary, university. *figures reflect availability at the start of the recruitment year.
2.3 Qualification Outcome –QTS Explained
You may be aware of different teaching qualifications. All our unsalaried programmes lead to PGCE (M) + QTS. This salaried programme leads to QTS (i.e. Qualified Teacher Status). What’s the difference and does it matter? A PGCE is an academic qualification (Post Graduate Certificate of Education) awarded by a university and the (M) refers to additional Masters level credits. As an academic qualification, it is recognised abroad. QTS is a professional qualification awarded by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) which is the teachers’ professional body. You are required to have QTS to be employed as a teacher in any state funded school in England and Wales but there is no requirement for you to have a PGCE. QTS is similar to many other professional qualifications in that it is not transferable abroad…so if you hold QTS only, to be qualified to teach abroad you may need to do some sort of conversion course. This would be the same for most professions. To achieve QTS you would be judged over the duration of the course against the national ‘Teachers’ Standards’. When it is considered that you have met these standards, a recommendation is made that you be awarded QTS. A PGCE(M)+QTS programme costs more than a QTS programme and requires many more university study days. A QTS programme can be run entirely in a school because it is experience in the classroom and in a school environment that is needed to help you to meet the Teachers’ Standards. Having said that, we still value university input and this QTS programme includes 13 days at the university spread across the course. Most salaried programmes tend not to include the PGCE for several reasons: The school is paying the tuition fee and the QTS route is cheaper for them; The school would be paying you a salary and therefore they want you in school for as much time as possible, rather than being out at the university; The school values school experience and wants you have as much as possible; The school does not need you to have a PGCE to employ you later as a teacher. This is a common comment from schools. For those who are unlikely to want to teach abroad, a salaried QTS programme is a good option.
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We do also separately deliver some salaried primary PGCE programmes through our partnership with Roehampton university but these are more expensive for schools, they include more time out of school and the candidates have about 12-15 training sessions after the school day ends. We value all of these options. The advantage of this QTS programme (leaving aside the obvious issue of the salary) is the greater amount of time gaining experience in school and you get the qualification you need to be employed as a newly qualified teacher. The programme is designed to support you in developing a range of skills that are required to become a successful teacher at the 5-11 age ranges.
2.4 Training
Your training will be predominantly based in your host (employing) school other than 13 days at the university across the year; and your second placement at another school for approx. 6 weeks post February half term up to the Easter holidays Through an initial programme of observations and research you will become familiar with the organisation and working of your host school at KS1 and KS2 (pupil groups and pastoral systems, staffing, curriculum, resources, facilities, methods of teaching, lesson planning, Assessment for Learning). From the beginning, you will be treated like a member of the teaching staff by fellow professionals. With your class teacher mentor and Professional Mentor you will feel supported as you progress and become ready to teach as the placement progresses. Our mentors are experienced teachers and undertake rigorous training to develop their mentoring skills to support your development as a teacher. Your time in school provides you with the opportunity to develop your teaching expertise and relationships with children and young people in a familiar environment. As a primary trainee you will have the opportunity to teach a range of year groups between the ages of five and eleven. You will have experience of the new curriculum and assessment procedures. Your second teaching placement is intended for you to apply and develop your teaching skills at a different Key Stage whilst also widening your experience of the school system in a new context. This is to ensure that you have opportunity to teach at both Key Stages. The quality of the training at the second school will be quality assured both by the WLTSA and St Mary’s. While in your main host school and during your second placement, your tutor from St Mary’s will visit to monitor your progress and discuss your development with you and your mentors. You will maintain close links with your host school throughout the programme.
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The university programme at St Mary’s University will cover teaching and assessing; classroom management; child protection; and core subjects: English, maths and Science. Your university tutor will support your development through these tutorials, visits in your placement schools and guidance with your assignments.
2.5 Salary
The successful candidate will be paid a salary by the employing host school commensurate with the ‘non-qualified teacher pay range 2017-18’, at a level depending on your qualifications and experience. The tuition fee for this course will be covered by the employing school. Trainees on salaried programmes are not eligible for bursaries.
3 Entry Requirements
3.1 Academic Requirements
Most successful applicants will have a 2:1 degree classification or better although we are prepared to accept candidates with a 2:2 degree classification if he or she is able to demonstrate good potential. You will also need at least 5 GCSEs including a grade C or above in English Language, Mathematics and Science (or equivalent qualifications). There also needs to be evidence at application of your ability to demonstrate a high standard of written English. If you studied outside of the UK for your Maths, English and Science qualifications and/or your degree, it is imperative that you visit the National Academic Recognition centre (NARIC) website to find out whether your qualifications are of an equivalent level to UK GCSEs, and an undergraduate degree. Non UK qualifications can often cause an unnecessary delay in us being able to properly consider your application and the earlier we can overcome equivalency issues the better for you. Please note that frequently, English Language qualifications taken abroad are not equivalent to UK GCSEs (because it would have been taken as a second language.) Many of our universities offer specialist equivalency tests to address this, but their tests are not the same and so you need be aware which partner university is involved in the programme you are applying to, in order to then establish which equivalency test you may need to take. These issues always take longer to resolve than one expects.
3.2 Work Experience
As a candidate for the salaried programme, you will also need three years’ full time (or equivalent) work experience in any field.
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3.3 School Experience
Prior to the start of the course it is a requirement that you undertake at least 10 days’ school experience in the UK state primary sector. This should be in the age group that you hoping to train to teach in. Five of these days must be before you apply, to strengthen your application and to support your interview answers. The lack of any observational experience in a UK state primary classroom is a common reason for rejection. The UCAS application form requires you to stipulate the school experience you already have. These two weeks are an important and integral element of the course, providing you with the opportunity to observe a variety of teaching styles and to engage in some initial group and class teaching. It is advisable to gain experience in different schools to broaden your experience. Applicants with more extensive experience of working in schools would be particularly welcome. 3.4 Professional Skills Tests
You are required to have passed the Professional Skills Tests in numeracy and literacy before you start the course. These can be taken as soon as you apply for the course and we ask that you book them (through the DfE) promptly after application and take them as soon as possible. These tests are distinct from any WLTSA tests at interview.
3.5 Medical Fitness
As part of the entry requirements set down by the Department for Education, training providers must ensure that all entrants have met the Secretary of State’s requirements for physical and mental fitness to teach. On a salaried programme, the responsibility for this rests with the employing school. Candidates will be required to complete a health questionnaire for scrutiny by the school’s occupational health provider. 3.6 DBS/Prohibition Checks
We have a duty to protect children and vulnerable adults, and to ensure that they are not put at risk by student teachers whose previous conduct shows that they are unsuitable for access to these vulnerable groups. If you are offered a place on the QTS programme, you will be required to undertake a DBS check through the host school. You may also be required you to undergo a prohibition check.
4 What we are looking for
4.1 Personal Requirements
All the schools wishing to host candidates on this programme are looking for candidates with the attributes listed in bullet points below.
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An ability to communicate clearly and grammatically in written and spoken English;
Ability to show speaking, reading and listening skills and sufficient understanding of educational language and terminology to be able to respond appropriately at interview (and, later, in school);
Awareness of and sensitivity to children’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive needs and to the range of attitudes and behaviours displayed by children in school;
Good health, physical and mental, with ability and strategies to cope with stress often generated by the demands of the course and of the teaching profession. Teaching is incredibly rewarding, but it also requires an element of resilience. The training year is no different. We are looking for trainees who feel strong enough to cope with some pressure and who also feel they have the financial resiliency to complete the training.
Enthusiasm for your subject while recognising the range of ability and motivation of pupils you will encounter;
Knowledge of current educational issues, both general and subject-specific;
An openness to learning, including a willingness to unlearn rules and experiences in order to adapt to current and future good practice in teaching and learning;
At least basic Information and Communications Technology (i.e. computer) skills, with a commitment to developing these both for personal and pedagogical use;
Openness to advice, guidance and positive professional criticism as part of development;
Personal professionalism, including diligence, organisation, smartness of dress, punctuality and a commitment to full attendance;
Ability to shoulder individual responsibility but also to work collaboratively as a member of a team;
Commitment to equal opportunities and sensitivity to the variety of communities represented in our partner schools;
A sense of humour;
A vision of teaching that is more than just giving information, interpreting printed materials, textbook or crowd control; and
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A willingness to work with pupils beyond the school day.
5 How we select our trainees 5.1 Selection
The host school considers applicants who have applied to a programme based at their school and returns a shortlisting sheet for each candidate back to WLTSA. Host schools are required to follow various QA procedures in this shortlisting process which is monitored by WLTSA through Sacred Heart High School. On receipt of the shortlisting sheets we either reject a candidate on UCAS or invite them for interview. If you are rejected, you are welcome to contact WLTSA for feedback. We do not automatically refer rejected candidates on to programmes at other schools. For all our primary programmes partnered with St Mary’s, there is a two stage interview process. All shortlisted candidates are required to attend an initial university interview first and if you pass this successfully (which is common) then you would proceed to a school interview (normally within a day or two). If shortlisted for interview, we will upload the first interview date to UCAS and shortly afterwards we will email you to confirm both interview dates and to provide further details regarding the school interview. The university would contact you separately about arrangements for the initial university interview. Please ensure that you regularly check changes on UCAS and that you keep an eye on your spam email folder as candidates sometimes miss interviews because the email was in a junk folder. The interview email will ask you to confirm your attendance at the interview and will supply the relevant email addresses for this reply. 5.2 Interviews
The university interview would include some time for the university registry team to verify various identification documents and qualification certificates. You may be required to undertake group tasks with other candidates. The university will confirm details of their process to you directly. The school interview is likely to include a tour of the school; literacy/numeracy tests; a classroom exercise and panel interview.
5.3 Rejections following interview
After the school interview (probably the next day) offers and or rejections are uploaded to UCAS. If you are rejected, we will email you and upload the rejection to UCAS including reasons for the rejection that you (alone) would be able to see.
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If the school thought you were good at interview but have selected another candidate to offer to, they will say this on the form that they return to WLTSA and we will contact you with a view to moving your application to another school or programme as referred to in section 2.2 above, rather than rejecting you.
5.4 Offers
If we make you an offer, we will email you to let you know but you would need to read the content of the offer on UCAS. This would normally be conditional upon various things such as DBS clearance; and possibly on you providing verification of your degree at a particular level or GCSE certificates if we have not yet seen the originals etc. Occasionally offers are made subject to a candidate gaining a little more school experience. You are entitled to wait for the outcome to all your applications before accepting an offer on UCAS and we fully endorse this. If you did however make up your mind to accept our offer before hearing back from other programmes, then you would have to withdraw from the others on UCAS in order to be able to upload your acceptance. No further formal paperwork regarding the programme would be issued from WLTSA or the university until the offer had been accepted on UCAS.
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Appendix 1 About the West London Teaching School Alliance Provider Code
For each of your course choices on UCAS, you first have to select the ‘training provider‘. The West London Teaching School Alliance is the ‘training provider’ but please note that we are split on UCAS into: West London Teaching School Alliance (Primary) which has the provider code 1EL; and West London Teaching School Alliance (Secondary) which has the provider code 2BV. Varied Programmes, You Choose the School
WLTSA provides salaried and unsalaried, primary and secondary teacher training programmes. Each of our programmes is based at one or more of our partner schools. Where the programme is run at more than one school, you can select the school you wish to be based in when you apply. Coordination from the central Teaching School
WLTSA is coordinated by Sacred Heart High School in Hammersmith which is designated as a National Teaching School. Communication through the selection process will come centrally from WLTSA at Sacred Heart High School, rather than from our partner schools. You can email us at [email protected]. Communication is only conducted and available during school term dates. In addition to university and partner school training, the WLTSA aims to add value to your training by providing seminars each term; coordinating the second placement arrangements and providing additional experience days, for example at a special school. We also host teachmeets and other CPD events which you can attend for free. Teachmeets are informal social gatherings where teachers share their experiences of things that have gone well (or badly) in class. Presentations are commonly limited to 1, 2 or 4 minutes and many trainees come to watch and learn in a fun environment. We train mentors in our partner schools and liaise with the universities in our partnership as necessary throughout the course.
Partner Universities
All of our programmes are run in partnership with one of the following three universities:
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St Mary’s University, Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham TW1 4SX
http://www.smuc.ac.uk/contact/ UCL (Institute of Education) is located in the centre of London near Russell Square at 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H OAL. The London Underground station at Russell Square is minutes from the main building and King’s Cross, St Pancras and Euston stations are also close by. IOE location
Roehampton University, University of Roehampton, Erasmus House, Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5PU http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/Contact-Us/
Our Partner Schools
The majority of your training is delivered through experience at your host school and your second placement school, with additional university based learning. Postcodes and web-links to all our partner schools are set out below: WLTSA SECONDARY SCHOOLS Chelsea Academy SW10 0AB The Fulham Boys’ School W14 9LY Fulham College Boys' School SW6 6SN Fulham Cross Girls' School SW6 6BP Hammersmith Academy W12 9JD Lady Margaret School SW6 4UN Sacred Heart High School W6 7DG William Morris Sixth Form, W6 8RB
WLTSA SPECIAL SCHOOLS Queensmill School W12 0NY Pield Heath House School UB8 3NW Jack Tizard School W12 7PA
WLTSA PRIMARY SCHOOLS Ashburnham Community School SW10 0DT Avondale Park Primary School W11 4EE Barlby Primary School W10 6BH Barnes Primary School SW13 OQQ Bevington Primary School W10 5TW Bousfield Primary School SW5 0DJ
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Colville Primary School W11 2DF Earls Court Free School Primary W6 0LP Fox Primary School W8 7PP Hallfield Primary School W2 6JJ John Betts Primary School W6 0UA Kenmont Primary School NW10 6AL Larmenier & Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School W6 7BL Marlborough Primary School SW3 3AP Minerva Academy W2 2HR Melcombe Primary School W6 9ER Old Oak Primary School W12 0AS Park Community School, SW19 3EF Park Walk Primary School SW10 0AY Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, W12 7PH Sir John Lillie Primary School SW6 7LN St Charles Catholic Primary School W10 6EP St Clement and St James CE Primary School, W11 4PG St John XXIII Catholic Primary School W12 7QR St Mary's Catholic Primary School W14 0LT St Mary of the Angels Catholic Primary School, W2 5PR St Peters C.E. Primary School, W9 2AN St Vincent's Catholic Primary School W3 9JR The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School W12 9BY Thomas’ Academy SW6 4LY Vanessa Nursery School W12 9JA Wendell Park Primary School W12 9LB West London Free School Primary W6 0DT Wormholt Park Primary School W12 0SR
Childcare Facilities
There are no childcare facilities at any of our partner schools. Neither St Mary’s University, Twickenham nor University of Roehampton have childcare facilities and while UCL (Institute of Education) has a nursery available, both they and the WLTSA, recommend you look into childcare options near your place of residence or host school. For further information about childcare in your local area please go to http://www.childcare.co.uk/
Accommodation
You are welcome to apply for university accommodation on campus at the relevant university for your programme however, it is often more convenient to find accommodation closer to your host school to decrease travelling time.
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St Mary’s University Accommodation IOE Accommodation University of Roehampton Accommodation
Disability Access
WLTSA and all our partner universities are committed to supporting students with disabilities. The WLTSA invites you to contact us as early as possible in your application process so that your needs are met and support can be arranged – [email protected] St Mary’s University: St Mary’s offer advice and support to their students who have requirements as a result of a disability, specific learning difficulty (e.g. dyslexia), medical condition or temporary disability, such as injury. St Mary’s Dyslexia and Disability Co-ordinator (DDC) works closely with the other members of the Student Services team, supporting students in their time at university assisting them to be proactive in their studies as an independent learner. For more information please refer to http://www.smuc.ac.uk/student- support/dyslexia-and-disability/ University of Roehampton More information is available from Roehampton University – http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/Disabilities/Support/ UCL (Institute of Education) The Institute of Education has full disabled access and is committed to admitting and supporting students with disabilities. The Institute has a well-established Disability and Wellbeing team who provide support for students with a range of conditions. Every person is treated as an individual, and the Institute invite you to contact them as early as possible so that they consider your needs and tailor their support to meet them.
Where To Find Us
Postcodes and web-links to all our partner schools are set out above.
The WLTSA is coordinated from:
Sacred Heart High School, 212 Hammersmith Road, London W6 7DG
Telephone: 0208 748 7600
Email: [email protected] [email protected]
Website: West London Teaching School Alliance website
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