Training with us will lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) as a secondary school teacher in one of the following subjects:

Art & Design
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Design Technology
English
Geography
History
Mathematics
Modern Foreign Language (MFL)
Physical Education (including PE with EBacc)
Physics
RE

You will also be able to get a PGCE accredited by our partner, the University of Leicester.

Entry Requirements

  • A GCSE (or standard equivalent) at grade C/level 4 in English Language or English, and Mathematics.
  • A UK first degree or equivalent qualification
  • Enhanced Disclosure from Disclosure and Barring Service
  • Satisfactory medical report

We have a strong history of supporting applications from a range of educational and career backgrounds. Get in touch if you are unsure if you could apply, as we will be happy to advise.

We are also looking for:

  • Strong subject knowledge: Subject knowledge is crucial. It can come from a range of experiences; A-levels, degrees, industry experience. You do not need a degree that is necessarily connected, but you do need the subject knowledge to inspire and lead a class. We can support with Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses. Use the link to find out more and get in touch to find out how we can help with these.
  • Resilience and determination: training to be a teacher is a great experience, and one that requires an openness to learning. We want individuals who are ready for that challenge and want to help make a difference for young people
  • A passion to improve lives: Most importantly we want individuals who want to get into teaching to make lives better for young people.

Fundamental mathematics and English skills

In order to recommend you for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) you must be able to demonstrate competence in maths and English. This will be discussed at interview, and if required we can support you in meeting this standard.

Course Length and Structure

Our course starts in late August and runs to early July. View our current course structure  to see how the programme is structured.

Classroom Experience

You train with us full-time and may be eligible to apply for a student loan to cover your course fees, as well as tax-free bursaries  for some subjects. You will complete two extended secondary placements in contrasting schools. You will build up your teaching over the year and you will work with teachers in class to develop your practice and be attached to a form group.

In addition you will experience days in a primary school, SEND school and Sixth Form to give you a full knowledge and understanding of your pupils and their educational journey.

Professional Learning Sessions

Across the year you will complete a curriculum of professional learning facilitated by expert colleagues who are education leaders in schools, national leads and international experts on teaching and learning.

These sessions will introduce you to the best evidence-informed practice, linking theory and research to classroom practice. In mixed-subject groups you will use deliberate practice and critical reflection to develop this knowledge into the understanding and behaviours you need for your classrooms and pupils.

Professional learning sessions offer the opportunity to learn with others, in a supportive environment that promotes your wellbeing and inducts you into the professional life of being a teacher, as well as preparing you for interview.

Lead Subject Mentors

One of the key elements of our programme is learning to teach a subject. On our programme you will work with a subject expert, who will deliver a bespoke programme of 18 sessions across the year to develop you as a subject specialist.

Lead Mentors (LMs) bring together practical skills sessions, subject theory, expert colleague visits and keynotes, subject-focused trips and research to develop your knowledge of your subject and the curriculum. LM’s work with placement mentors to tailor the generic learning from professional learning sessions into the meaningful practice of the classroom. They visit you in school placements and support you to complete subject focused assignments.

School Placements

The SCITT works in partnership with over 50 schools  in our area. This includes secondary, primary, sixth form and alternative provision to ensure that we can draw on a wide range of knowledge and expertise from expert colleagues.

We have long-established relationships with partner schools, and work with them to offer you high-quality in-school placements where mentors will work with you to take what you learn from professional learning and LM sessions, and develop this into the professional wisdom to be a skilled teacher in the classroom.

Our Lead Professional Mentor works across our schools with our teams of mentors to ensure you are developed through a carefully constructed curriculum, that compliments your professional learning sessions through an instructional coaching approach.

School placements will:

  • ensure you gain quality experience in the classroom with support from expert colleagues to practise and refine your knowledge, skills and behaviours
  • mirror professional learning and LM sessions to allow you to practice and rehearse this learning in the classroom
  • give you granular action steps for improvement that will allow you to develop your teaching in a supportive way and without cognitive overload
  • provide you with weekly observations and mentor meetings to discuss your progress and agree action steps for improvement
  • involve you in school-based professional learning and CPD led by a dedicated Initial Teacher Training Coordinator
  • give you opportunities to engage in the wider life of schools, including pastoral roles, department meetings, extra-curricular clubs, school trips and parents’ evenings.

In addition we provide you with experience in a SEND school organised through our partner, Ash Field Academy. Professional learning sessions, led by expert colleagues from Ash Field Academy, will prepare you for working with SEND pupils prior to the visit. Following this there are opportunities for trainees to extend their visit to spend more time in the SEND context.

On our programme, we also provide you with experience in a sixth form. As many of Leicester and Leicestershire schools only offer Key Stage 3 and 4, we want to ensure that you have experience of working with Key Stage 5 pupils.

We also provide you enhancement days in a primary school, to develop your knowledge and understanding of the high expectations secondary school teachers should have for Year 7 pupils – and a deeper knowledge of the primary context.

Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

Through your time with the SCITT, you will work towards a PGCE in secondary education accredited by the University of Leicester. This is designed by the UoL with SCITT, and delivered by PGCE tutors who are both education academics and teaching experts.

The PGCE sits at the heart of the SCITT curriculum. It supports you to use theory to transform and improve learning in your classroom, through a deep understanding of how pupils learn.

Assessment

Over the programme the SCITT team work with Subject Facilitators, ITT Coordinators, school mentors and PGCE tutors to build up a holistic and in-depth understanding of the knowledge, skills and understanding you are developing.

By the end of the programme we are looking for evidence that you are meeting the requirements to be recommended for the Teachers Standards . Evidence for this will be drawn from assessment of your teaching practice by Subject Facilitators and mentors, your TEAMS folder, assignments completed on the programme and monitoring of your progress by the SCITT Team. This is an on-going process. You will not be required to sit a final exam or complete any end of course tasks. By being on and engaging with our programme, you will be working towards the requirements you need to meet for Qualified Teacher Status.

Your PGCE is assessed through your two written assignments, and is dependent on you gaining QTS. We have structured all assignments to build cumulatively through the tasks you complete as part of our curriculum. This integrated approach means that PGCE assignments will support you in developing your theoretical knowledge into your classroom practice.

Subjects

Curriculum Information – Website

English

You will need to use your enthusiasm and knowledge for English language and English literature to take a critical and imaginative approach to the teaching of English in today’s secondary schools. The Course will enable you to become a teacher who can make a real difference to the lives of pupils from every background, ensuring they have a meaningful and engaging experience of English during their time at school. We will support you in developing your own philosophy of teaching English based on innovative and evidenced based practice.

What you will cover:

The English-specific elements of the course will explore the requirements of the English curriculum and the needs of learners through

  • Working with Subject Specialist in the explicit teaching of reading
  • Develop your GCSE subject and curriculum knowledge
  • Work with historians and a Holocaust specialist to understand the cross-curricular nature of English
  • Understanding the Curriculum as a progression model and using this to plan a sequence of lessons.

Explore English teaching perspectives on:

  • lesson planning and evaluation
  • Utilising Cognitive Science
  • Direct Instruction ad modelling
  • Assessment and Feedback
  • Adaptive Teaching
  • Promoting Disciplinary Fluency in English (explicit teaching or reading, writing and oral language skills).
  • Making English Learning Stick

 

Maths

Since 2013 many maths teachers have been trained by the Leicestershire Secondary SCITT. You will no doubt follow in their footsteps and make a positive difference to the lives of countless young people.  It is a refreshing time to join the teaching profession; a time when we are rightly expected to be research-informed subject-specialists.  Mathematics equips pupils with uniquely powerful ways to describe, analyse and change the world. It can stimulate moments of pleasure and wonder for all pupils when they solve a problem for the first time, discover a more elegant solution, or notice hidden connections. Pupils who are functional in mathematics and financially capable are able to think independently in applied and abstract ways, and can reason, solve problems and assess risk.

In all areas of the curriculum subject knowledge is important but in mathematics it is a particularly complex area, being an excellent mathematician, yourself does not necessarily mean you have excellent subject knowledge for teaching (SKfT) – that is what you need to know and understand beyond the content to enable you to be able to teach the content successfully.

Within the SCITT’s Professional Learning Programme there are 18 subject specific (Lead Subject Tutor) sessions which will be attended only by those trainees training to teach mathematics.

During these sessions you will:

  • Develop a firm understanding of the English Mathematics National Curriculum and a deep appreciation of the key mathematical concepts and processes that underpin it.
  • Explore how cognitive science principles can be used in the mathematics classroom.
  • Develop the skills of lesson planning, assessment and feedback to meet the needs of all learners.
  • Examine common mathematical misconceptions, how they develop, and how to plan your teaching to be able to minimise their occurrence.
  • Connect with subject experts and networks in the local area including the local hub of the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM)

The Lead Subject Tutor for Mathematics is:  Sharon Malley

Sharon trained at the University of Manchester gaining her PGCE in 2001, she taught at a variety of schools across Nottingham and Leicestershire before gaining a post at Crown Hills Community College in 2004.  During this time Sharon has worked as both a science and a mathematics teacher including 8 years as Head of Mathematics, a Lead teacher for Teaching and Learning and had responsibility for Numeracy and ICT across the curriculum. She is well respected in the field of mathematics educators; she has contributed to the Royal Society Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education, been awarded a Rothschild fellowship to work with the NRich project at the University of Cambridge and has been invited to speak at national and local conferences. She is also an experienced examiner for AQA. She took up the post of Curriculum Leader at Castle Mead Academy in 2019.

She is an accredited professional development lead for the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and is experienced at delivering CPD sessions on many aspects of mathematical education to teachers at all stages of their careers.

Sharon has worked with many groups of mathematics teachers through the Leicester Hub and Spoke based at Soar Valley College and the NCETM East Midlands South Hub based at Beauchamp College. She is an avid user of social media to develop teaching and learning and has hosted twitter chats on behalf of the NCETM on subjects such as homework and problem solving.

 

Science

Are you passionate about Science and want to pass on that enthusiasm to young people? Do you have what it takes to become an inspiring Science teacher? If the answer is yes to both, then why not train to be a Science teacher with the Leicestershire Secondary SCITT. Our course will enable you to become a teacher who can make a real difference to the lives of pupils from every background, ensuring they have a meaningful and engaging experience of Science during their time at school.

You will be supported closely by mentors at our partner schools during your teaching practices. You will also be supported by the Lead

Subject Tutor (LST) for Science (Simon Mellor). Simon will deliver subject specific training to all Science trainees throughout the course. As LST for Science, Simon has drawn on his considerable experience as a Science teacher to develop a research-informed SCITT Science Curriculum for the Science trainees. The aims of which are to equip our trainees with the skills and knowledge needed to be successful Science teachers. Many trainees have successfully gained employment in local schools.

The Science Curriculum  – (18 subject specific training sessions delivered by the Science LST)

On the course you will:

  • Develop your understanding of the key components of the Science National Curriculum.
  • Develop your subject knowledge in areas outside of your Science specialism.
  • Develop your practical skills. Practicals are a fundamental component of the Science curriculum. You will be given plenty of practise on how to plan and teach a practical. This is a hands on course!
  • Practise teaching parts of lessons in a safe and supportive environment.
  • Explore a range of different approaches and activities used in Science classrooms.
  • Work closely with outside agencies such as the Institute of Physics.
  • Understand how local resources such as the National Space Centre can be used to enhance the teaching of the Science curriculum.

Modern Foreign Languages

The Department for Education in England clearly sets out the benefits and hence the purpose of Modern Foreign Languages its framework document, The National Curriculum in England;

Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.

 

The most effective way to dispel myths and reverse downward trends in the uptake of languages is to promote a love of learning of a foreign language.  The teaching of MFL must be engaging yet purposeful in order to foster a will to learn in students. At the Leicestershire Secondary SCITT sessions are designed to identify the specific barriers to learning a language and explore strategies to challenge and overcome them. Trainees are equipped to teach MFL with a wealth of practical strategies and stimulating ideas that are at the forefront of education aiming to ultimately engage the reluctant learner. What could be a more compelling prospect than being the teacher who is the catalyst in broadening the horizons and developing the curiosity in foreign cultures of the future generation?

On the course you will cover;

  • The importance and benefits of learning languages
  • How to use a large variety of games to engage and motivate learners
  • How to maintain the use of the Target Language to ultimately equip learners to speak with spontaneity
  • The importance of separating passive and active language
  • The explicit skills required for success in reading and listening in a MFL

History

Your history teaching subject curriculum is led by an expert practising teacher and leader, Ashley Bartlett. As your Lead Subject Tutor, Ashley has devised a subject curriculum based on research-informed classroom practice, subject specialist input from the Historical Association and nationally respected expert colleagues such as Ben Walsh and Kate Jones. Ashley has extensive experience in leading professional learning and supporting others to grow from novice to expert. Working with you, our partner schools and school mentors your subject curriculum sets out to ensure you have a substantive understanding of history based on extensive subject knowledge and a developing understanding of best practice pedagogy within a history classroom.

Our partnership schools are diverse and represent the full breadth of communities in our region.  We are keen to educate history teachers who will seek to ensure all children see themselves represented in the history curriculum and are supported to understand how they too can become not only teachers but leaders of history education in the future.

What you will cover:

Your subject curriculum has been carefully designed to complement the SCITT’s Professional Learning journey, allowing you to consider the component parts of great teaching at a subject level, to ensure you become a fantastic History teacher:

  • History’s Place in the Secondary Curriculum – The make-up of the most recent National Curriculum, its expectations, and opportunities.
  • Planning a History Lesson – Employing best practice in Lesson planning to a History classroom setting.
  • How to utilise Cognitive Science in History Classrooms – Applying best practice around educational research from Willingham, Rosenshine et al to promote quality-first teaching in our History classrooms.
  • Harnessing Direct Instruction and Modelling in History – Taking account of how we learn to provide a direct-instructional approach, incorporating modelling, so that our students have secure subject knowledge.
  • History Subject Development Opportunity: Subject Knowledge Development: Teaching Disciplinary Knowledge in History with Ben Walsh – Working with expert colleague Ben Walsh, author, examiner and Associate VP of the Historical Association, to consider the disciplinary demands of History lessons.
  • History Subject Development Opportunity: Teaching diverse and under-represented stories with Alf Wilkinson – Working with expert colleague Alf Wilkinson, former CPD lead at the Historical Association, to consider how we ensure of history curriculum is representative and exposes students to ‘under-told’ narratives.
  • Adaptive Teaching in History: (Removing Barriers to Learning) – Considering how we can ensure History lessons are accessible to ALL students we teach.
  • History Subject Knowledge Audit Review – An opportunity to develop as subject specialists.
  • Assessment and Feedback in History – Understanding what progress in history means and how we can assess it, providing feedback that is both timely and manageable to move students forward.
  • Adaptive Teaching: (Stretching and Challenging in History) – How to ensure we continue to stretch all our students to develop as historians.
  • Diminishing the Difference within History – Appreciating that disadvantaged students may perform less well in history, understanding and addressing this gap by teaching in a way that accounts for and closes it.
  • Scrutinising Students’ Work and providing Feedback in History – Having established what progress is, understanding what it looks like, with a return to feedback and strategies to facilitate this.
  • Promoting Disciplinary Fluency in History – Incorporating strategies to write like historians.
  • Subject Development Opportunity, Holocaust Education – Facilitated by expert colleague Dr Tom Harward, Holocaust Education Centre, Institute of Education, UCL.
  • Developing the Curriculum in History – Facilitated by expert colleague Ismail Dale of Historic England using local maps and resources. A local History walk will take place, weather permitting!
  • Subject Development Opportunity (Distinct Planning in Your Subject) – Facilitated by expert colleague Andrew Wrenn, Teacher Fellow of the Historical Association
  • Making the History Stick – Promoting Good Progress – An opportunity with expert input from Kate Jones to revisit lesson planning with a focus on how pupils learn.

Geography

The study of geography stimulates an interest in and a sense of wonder about places. It helps young people make sense of a complex and dynamically changing world. It explains where places are, how places and landscapes are formed, how people and their environment interact, and how a diverse range of economies, societies and environments are interconnected. It builds on pupils’ own experiences to investigate places at all scales, from the personal to the global.

Our course will help you develop the skills and subject knowledge, needed to inspire and create future geographers, who are prepared to deal and thrive in our ever-changing world.

We work with you and our partner schools and school mentors to ensure you have a substantive understanding of geography based on extensive subject knowledge and continued engagement with geography scholarship. Our partnership schools are diverse and represent the full breadth of communities in city and county.

Within the Professional Learning Programme there are many subject specific sessions which will be attended only by trainees training to teach Geography, and led by an experienced lead subject tutor, who is teaching geography in a local school. The sessions have been written by the LST and often they will follow on from a session attended by all trainees on the Leicestershire Secondary SCITT Programme which has introduced a topic generically. The follow-on session will develop trainees’ understanding of the topic with specific relevance to their subject.

What you will cover

You will:

  • Take part in subject knowledge audits to develop a substantive understanding of geography based on extensive subject knowledge and a deep appreciation of geographical concepts, that need to be delivered from KS3-5.
  • understand how the geography curriculum is constructed and how different voices are represented within, or excluded from, the curriculum
  • explore a range of research led, different approaches and activities used in geography classrooms. From enquiry based learning and adaptive teaching techniques, to what assessment looks like in geography.
  • We work with specialists to deliver sessions on fieldwork and using GIS (Global information Systems), in and out of the classroom.
  • be introduced to the local, national and international geography community and the ongoing professional development conversations between geography teachers

This course should allow to build all the skills and knowledge required to instil your passion for geography, on to the students you teach and work with.

PE

Do you want to inspire all young people to become more physically active? Throughout this programme you will explore what it means to be a passionate PE teacher who inspires and develops all their students to grow a love for Physical Education. You will develop your pedagogical philosophy as you explore different teaching styles, as well as your subject knowledge. This will allow you confidently support your students as they ‘learn to move’ as well as ‘move to learn’

We work with our partner schools and mentors to ensure that you can develop your understanding of both practical and theoretical elements of the PE curriculum across Key Stages 3-5. We are keen to attract PE teachers who seek to ensure that all students can discover their place within the subject.

To develop PE teachers with a powerful, personal philosophy, which moves beyond a traditional multi-activity sport/technique focused PE curriculum, that values inclusion, meaningful participation, engagement for a healthy life, as well as a desire to compete and excel.

In order to achieve this we will:

  • Develop highly effective, reflective and reflexive practitioners who have deep subject and understanding of what PE is and the potential it presents
  • Develop research-informed teachers who have a strong knowledge of relevant pedagogy and knowledge of how students learn and
  • Develop a detailed knowledge of the National Curriculum and frameworks, current curriculum models and an awareness of how the discipline is developing
  • Be able to exercise appropriate judgment and professional practice appropriate to their experience
  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of your subject, various curricula approaches and the broader impact of PE teachers in the lives of students as well as in wider

You will be encouraged to use your passion for the subject to use innovative and impactful teaching and learning methods to engage your students in PE. You will work with pupils to develop their confidence to analyse and evaluate performance which leaves a lasting impression, to create habitual movers who are inspired to become fit and healthy adults.

For some, it may be enjoying learning about how the body works and understanding the changes that occur as they grow and develop, for others it may mean competing at international levels. Some students might love competing at every opportunity and learn every sport. To another it might simply mean learning how to move and in doing so, building a meaningful connection to PE and understand how it can truly enrich their lives, whatever their background, knowledge, experience or ability.

Design Technology

Our course will enable you to become a teacher who brings design and technology alive, sharing knowledge of food preparation and nutrition, creativity, problem solving and enabling students to excel regardless of background. Teaching Design, Food and technology is an inspiring, rigorous knowledge rich and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants, and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing, and art.

We work with you, our partner schools and school mentors to ensure you have a substantive understanding of DT/Food based on extensive subject knowledge, continued engagement with academic scholarship and a knowledge rich approach to skills development.

Our partnership schools are diverse and represent the full breadth of communities in our region.  We are keen to educate DT/Food teachers who will seek to ensure all children see themselves represented in the creative curriculum and are supported to understand how design influences our ever-changing society.

What will we cover?

You will:

  • Deepen understanding of the education system in England, as well as an understanding of how to teach DT in secondary schools. You will become familiar with the requirements of the National Curriculum, GCSE and 14-19 qualifications.
  • Become a competent professionals and effective practitioners in DT/Food, supported by role models in our local partnership schools, experts in the field and mentors.
  • Develop the ability to inspire, engage and motivate learners in your subject regardless of backgrounds.
  • Become a knowledgeable and resilient education professional who can build your own resources, techniques, and individual teaching styles, ensuring that you are able to elicit an enthusiasm for DT/Food in your students.
  • Challenge pupils and to meet their individual needs through personalisation.

You will be encouraged to utilise your passion for the subject to develop inventive ways to engage your pupils within each discipline. Learn how to inspire, engage, and motivate learners in Design and Technology/Food preparation and nutrition using teaching methods that enable pupils to become successful independent learners and problem solvers, excited and challenged by the possibilities that creative areas bring.

Art

Pablo Picasso famously said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

Your initial teaching training in Art & Design will explore why art education is important, how can children use art to express themselves and how can you make a difference to their lives?

You will be taught through highly practical learning experiences.

What will you cover?

  • develop your specialist subject knowledge across a range of art specialisms from drawing & painting to printmaking, ceramics to digital art, and art textiles to graphics.
  • understand how the art curriculum is constructed and different approaches to delivering it in the art classroom.
  • understand the role of the ‘Artist Teacher’. We recognise that you are practising artists who should have regular opportunities to develop your own practical skills during Lead Subject Tutor sessions and beyond.
  • Subject specific visits: There will be opportunities to visit local art galleries and meet their Education teams to learn about the programmes they offer teachers and schools. You will also be able to visit several different Leicestershire secondary school Art Departments to observe different structures and approaches.
  • You will be introduced to a range of local creative and cultural opportunities to expand your cultural capital, and that of your students, including working with local artists.
  • visiting specialists will provide you with opportunities to develop your knowledge of art qualifications. You will be introduced to the ARTiculate programme, exam board Art moderators and Arts Award advisers, who will all contribute to specialist Art subject sessions.
  • You will be given membership to the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) and explore the importance of your subject association to teaching art.

develop your own philosophy on art & design education.

Computer Science

Virtually every child in this country will at some point encounter technology at home, in school of in the workplace. The challenge is to inspire these “consumers” of technology to become the future developers. Computer science teachers are at the forefront of this challenge and that is why it is crucial that CS teachers are passionate about the subject with the deep subject knowledge to support it.

The teaching of computer science not only develops subject knowledge, but also develops student creativity, and problem-solving skills. Trial and error, and exploration of solutions, develops students’ resilience at a rapid pace. This resilience is transferable to the subjects which they are exposed to and ultimately support their time in the future workplace.

The computer science curriculum is ever evolving to keep place with the myriad of changes seen in the world outside of school. Teacher of computer science will see their creativity nurtured and stretched to support this development. Your passion for the subject you love will be forever fuelled and your own professional development will be continually enhanced. Use your skills to support the development of a future generation.

Subject specific curriculum content includes:

  • Learning the effective teaching of block based and text-based languages, including Scratch and Python.
  • Learning to teach binary maths and logic in a way which is not restricted by student stigmas of mathematics.
  • Using technology such as BBC MicroBits to teach hands on computer science.
  • Exploring how gamification can help the learning of programming languages.
  • Developing curriculum threads by linking the teaching of CS to other subjects such as History and Science.
  • Exploring the ethical considerations of computer science, including AI and how you can teach students to be considerate of it.

Teacher Training Events

Find out more about our programme and how to apply

https://www.leicestershiresecondaryscitt.org/about-us/online-events/

Overview

  • Two extended secondary school placements
  • Lead Subject Tutor sessions focused on subject expertise and pedagogy
  • Professional learning sessions by expert colleagues
  • Week long placement in SEND school
  • Two further placements in a primary and sixth form school to give you an full understanding of the educational landscape
  • A dedicated Lead Professional Mentor to oversee mentoring across the programme.