Initial Teacher Training accreditation process and collaborative working

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Regional mentor training proposal

In the Saffron Teaching School Hub region, we have had mixed success with accreditation bids, with some ITT providers getting through in round 1 and others with feedback to resubmit in round 2. We are working closely with the East of England Regional ITT Network to ensure support for all our ITT providers, offering bespoke training sessions on sections of the accreditation bid and working collaboratively on a regional mentor training proposal that providers can add to their mentoring section.

We are encouraged by the collaborative approach to mentor training going forward and strongly believe this will make mentor development across our region more coherent across providers, manageable for schools, responsive to mentor prior learning, yet still offering high-quality training. For more information on this regional mentor programme, please contact your ITT provider. 

Collaborative working - Teaching School Hub events

Six Teaching School Hubs in the East of England region have worked collaboratively to plan, support and deliver a number of events this year. Our recent successful events have included:

• Our Mentor Conference in March, with a keynote from Ofsted and a focus on reading
• Our Connecting & Supporting Future ECTs and Mentors event in May

Subject Forums

Another way in which our regional collaboration has been going from strength to strength this year is evidenced by our Subject Forums, designed for teachers at all stages of their careers. These online sessions offer a focus on the evidence base for each subject at both primary and secondary phases and are facilitated by subject experts from our region. Being well-versed in the subject evidence base is clearly an essential for all our mentors. For more information on how to sign up your school for our Subject Forums, click here: 2022-23 Subject Forums

Engaging with ITT - partnership schools

Headteachers play a key role in the capacity, choice and training of mentors and as such, Teaching School Hubs have collated some suggestions on ways in which school leadership teams can select, prioritise, support and develop their ITT mentors for the future. Saffron Teaching School Hub has been working hard on building capacity for mentoring going forward, writing to schools who are currently not engaging in Initial Teacher Training and offering advice and support. We will continue to work with our ITT providers and schools to think of creative and practical solutions to ensure a high-quality mentor pipeline.

For schools wishing to take a more active role in Initial Teacher Training, our ITT Provider Directory for Headteachers, which features ITT providers in our area and what they can offer local partnership schools, might be a good starting place. If you would like more information and support about this, please contact us.

Saffron Teaching School Hub is proud of the high-quality Initial Teacher Training in our area and the commitment of our local schools to training the next generation of teachers.