West London Teaching School Alliance (Secondary) SCHOOL DIRECT TEACHER TRAINING 2017-18 UCAS Provider Code 2BV in partnership with UCAS Programme information for Course Code Salaried Computing 2XWY with ICT QTS This programme is available at Queensmill School Learn more on the following pages about the WLTSA and our partner schools; key points about this programme including entry requirements and the selection process. School Direct Training Programme - Unsalaried Contents Page 1 Why Train with Us? 3 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 The West London Teaching School Alliance (WLTSA) 3 1.3 WLTSA School Direct Partner Schools & Vacancy Updates 4 1.4 Your Host School 5 1.5 Our University Partner – UCL (Institute of Education) 5 2 About this training programme 6 2.1 Introduction 6 2.2 Number of Places Available 6 2.3 Qualification Outcome –QTS Explained 7 2.4 Training 7 2.5 Costs and Finances 9 3 Entry Requirements 9 3.1 Academic Requirements 9 3.2 School Experience 10 3.3 Professional Skills Tests 10 3.4 Medical Fitness 11 3.5 DBS/Prohibition Checks 11 4 What we are looking for 11 4.1 Personal Requirements 11 5 How we select our trainees 12 5.1 Selection 12 5.2 Interviews 13 5.1 Rejections following interview 13 5.2 Offers 13 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. Page 2 West London Teaching School Alliance September 2016 School Direct Training Programme - Unsalaried 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 2017-18, we are seeking to fill 89 School Direct places across 45 of our schools and 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. Page 3 West London Teaching School Alliance September 2016 School Direct Training Programme - Unsalaried 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 40 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 all the places have been offered and accepted. 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. If you have queries, please email us centrally at [email protected] rather than contacting our partner schools. Page 4 West London Teaching School Alliance September 2016 School Direct Training Programme - Unsalaried The school (or schools) hosting this particular programme are described below. 1.4 Your Host School The employing host school for this salaried programme partnered with UCL (IOE) is at Queensmill School which is an outstanding special school for children from 2+ to 19 years of age who have moderate and severe autism. There is no teacher training qualification specifically relating to special educational needs teaching and so this teaching qualification will qualify you to teach in mainstream schools but you would get significant experience in a SEN school. Each of our programmes normally includes a second placement of approx. 6 weeks at another school which we select during the training, to ensure that it provides a sufficiently contrasting experience. For this particular programme the second placement will be slightly longer to ensure that you also get significant experience in a mainstream setting. See further details about Queensmill School below, including a web-link to the school website. 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. 1.5 Our University Partner – UCL (Institute of Education) For this programme we are working with UCL (Institute of Education) which has been providing first-class teacher training, in partnership with schools and colleges Page 5 West London Teaching School Alliance September 2016 School Direct Training Programme - Unsalaried for over 100 years. UCL (IOE) graduates are highly sought after in schools and colleges throughout London and the UK. Its central location in historic Bloomsbury means that you will be studying in the heart of London. 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. 2 About this training programme 2.1 Introduction The WLTSA is responsible for the coordination of this professional training programme.