Teacher Training - Patcham High School

Are you interested in training to become a secondary school teacher?

At Patcham High we value the opportunities, energy and enthusiasm that trainee teachers give to the school. We work very closely with 3 local Universities to ensure you receive the best training possible. Committed to high-quality teaching, Patcham High is fully dedicated to the collaborative partnerships (between the school and universities) and provides trainees a vibrant and dynamic school experience.

Our Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme is fully comprehensive and offers trainee teachers a holistic training package to support the learning from the Universities. We aim to support your ITE journey by contributing to the pedagogy, theory and practice you need and encourage you to become creative and reflective, independent and resilient, whilst ensuring you have the very latest information and skills it takes to become an outstanding teacher.

The ITE pathways at Patcham High School:

PGCE (KS2-3)
PGCE (KS3-4)
BEd.
Schools Direct

As a trainee at Patcham High (regardless of route or pathway) you will experience:

Full one-week Induction to the school, policies and practices
Placement appropriate timetable
1:1 mentor meetings each week with highly experienced mentors
Weekly Professional Studies sessions on topics such as Analysing data, Special Educational Needs, Behaviour Management, English as an additional language, and Pupil Premium
A chance to attend weekly ‘15 Minute Forums’
Supportive lesson observations and feedback
To observe outstanding teaching, learning from the very best
Opportunities to work with staff engaged in School Based Action Research
Learn from highly trained staff, many of whom have an MA in Education
Benefit from a collaborative attitude to working with your University, ensuring excellent communication with tutors
Full support, encouragement and supervision from the Professional Tutor
Clear, and high, expectations to enable you to become a future inspirational teacher

Our standards are high, but we offer a symbiotic relationship. The harder we work to offer you a valued and enjoyable experience, the better your teaching will become. We expect our trainee teachers to make a meaningful and tangible difference and provide our pupils with excellent teaching, ensuring the achievement of all the students in their classes is good or better.

We hope you will empower our young people to thrive as life-long learners, contributing beyond the classroom. We will also give you the chance to work with our many community projects and school trips, and experience in teaching PSHE (Life Skills) a widely recognised curriculum that’s one of the very best.

We’d love for you to come in and have a chat with us about the exciting teacher training opportunities available.

For more information on different routes into teacher training view the government pages http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching

We look forward to hearing from you.

Nancy Meaker

Professional Tutor

Email: nmeaker@patchamhigh.org.uk

Tel: 01273 503908 ext. 258

Feedback from previous Trainee Teachers

Every trainee completes an evaluation on the placement with us. The answers assist us in presenting the best possible training package as we listen carefully to your opinion and evaluation. Trainees comment on questions on the school, Professional Studies Programme, the Induction Week etc.

Here is what they said about their mentors:

My experience with my mentor is fantastic. She is a great role model and I feel I am consistently learning. She has allowed me to improve and explore teaching the way I want and think is best.
Makes time for me and brilliant to watch teaching.
Thorough meetings, lots of help and advice with planning and observations.
All of them [mentors] have been different and I have learnt from them all.

What they said they had learnt and will take with them to their new school:

I have learnt the value of lesson planning.
I have learnt not to compromise expectations from day 1. Enforce your expectations and back them up.
Find ways of using my voice.
Stock up on vitamin D.
Treat every day like it’s a new one, especially with vulnerable kids.
How important DEAR time is.
I’ve learnt how to give clear instructions.
Behaviour management techniques.
Time management.
At Patcham High school I have learnt the skills I need to be employed.

How they felt about the school:

Very friendly and supportive.
I loved everything about it.
Nice atmosphere, friendly staff, good facilities.
Staff have been welcoming and supportive.
Very supportive and friendly.
My experience of Patcham High School (PHS) was very positive: the staff at PHS were welcoming and helpful with any questions or queries that I had. For example, the IT department was always quick and helpful with any IT problem I had. Sarah Davies gave me some pointers on how to improving my voice projection and checked on me whenever she saw me. Those are just a few examples but there are many more.
I have always felt the trainees are welcomed and valued at Patcham.
Loved everything.
The atmosphere [at Patcham] is very supportive and I have learnt a lot about being in the classroom. I will be going to my next placement with much better skills.

Feedback on Professional Tutor:

Nancy is an amazing Professional Tutor: her door was always open and she was always there for me; Nancy did not only make sure we learn about PHS or about how to become better teacher, Nancy made sure we are OK and greeted us every morning and evening;
Nancy made sure we are on track with regards to University and School expectations; Nancy shared her experiences and tips on how to create a good lesson and organise or folders. Nancy made me feel better when things got tough and I am grateful for having her as my Professional Tutor.
Very efficient, helpful and interesting.
Nancy has been exceptionally supportive and a fountain of knowledge.
Excellent support and advice with a fair approach.
Helpful, supportive and very giving of time.
Couldn’t have been better!

Schools Direct

School Based Initial Teacher Education – Schools Direct

Our school is part of a growing number of schools that is leading the way for more school-led teacher training. This is really important to us because it means we can choose the very best talent and develop them into teachers. Being able to choose who we train as teachers helps us in delivering the best outcomes for the students at Patcham High School and schools across the City and surrounding area.

We have vacancies now to start training in our partnership of schools and we would be very interested to hear from you if you are thinking of becoming a teacher, or know someone who is. We’re looking for people who have (or will have) a degree, have a passion for teaching and want to inspire young people to fulfil their potential.

For any further information on what becoming a teacher might involve more generally, you can also visit http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching.

Brighton Hove and Sussex Partnership Alliance (BHSSA) / Hove Park School

Brighton University

Information pages

Brighton & Hove Partnership

The Brighton & Hove School Direct Partnership is a large alliance of schools from Brighton & Hove and the surrounding area. As a partnership Hove Park School is the Lead School in an alliance of 27 different schools from across the City and beyond, and we are committed to initial teacher training, we feel that training with us is a highly rewarding and innovative experience that will provide you with an excellent training ground in your first steps to becoming an outstanding practitioner.

The Primary, secondary schools and Sixth form Colleges in our alliance have had consistently good and outstanding OFSTED grading for their teaching and learning in recent years.
Our schools are very experienced in both university and school based teacher training routes, and mentors and coaches are well trained to support you through your training year. We also have a network of very supportive and experienced professional tutors and in-school mentors that will stretch and challenge you, so that you become the best practitioner that you can over the year. All our mentors are themselves outstanding practitioners.
Schools in the partnership include primary, maintained secondary schools and academies as well as Sixth Form Colleges. There are also a number of faith schools, special schools and a bilingual Spanish school which provide our trainees with a diverse range of schools in which to train and undertake their first or second placement. The diversity within the partnership enables you as a trainee to engage with a wide variety of teaching methods and styles of learning.
Each year we have a large selection of trainees in our schools, including PGCE, so you will not be alone but will benefit from the peer to peer support that is so important when learning new skills.

Our training is supported by both the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex which have a long and successful tradition in teacher education. The universities work with us to provide quality inputs on how to teach and assess in different secondary subjects or across the curriculum in primary schools.

The Universities also provide a comprehensive programme of professional studies which complements the sessions offered across our partnership. Sussex University sessions take place every Friday on the University campus and include a mix of lectures, workshops and tutorials led by faculty, excellent teachers from partnership schools and other educational experts. Brighton run blocks of days on campus. These sessions also allow you to share your experiences with other trainee teachers and reflect upon the learning and teaching you do in schools. Additionally both Universities give you the option of gaining either QTS or PGCE, whichever you feel is more advantageous for your future career.