Hillborough Junior School Primary (2HKY)

Qualified teacher status (QTS)

• Accredited body: Chiltern Training Group
• Financial support: Salary
• Qualification:
  QTS

  Qualified teacher status (QTS) allows you to teach in state schools in England and may also allow you to teach in other parts of the UK.

  It may also allow you to teach overseas, though you should always check what qualifications are needed in the country you’d like to teach in.

• Age range: 3 to 11
• Course length: 1 year - full time
• Date you can apply from: 11 October 2022
• Date course starts: September 2023
• Website: https://www.theshirefoundationscitt.org/

Contents

Course summary

The Shire Foundation is working in partnership with our accredited provider of initial teacher training, Chiltern Training Group and Bedfordshire Schools’ Training Partnership to offer high quality training across Luton, Bedfordshire and the neighbouring counties.

This is a one-year School Direct (salaried) route. You will be employed as an unqualified teacher for the duration of the training year and as such will complete most of your training within your employing school, following a personalised training plan.

Trainees following this route may also opt to complete a PGCE qualification alongside QTS. 60 credits at masters level, accredited by the University of Buckingham, will be awarded on the successful completion of 3 academic assignments. Please note that there is an additional fee of £1,250 for this option.

Key features of the course

• The Shire Foundation has been a primary school-centred provider since 1994, with training provided by outstanding current primary practitioners. This ensures that training is up-to-date and is relevant to current practice within schools.

• Trainees choose to train within one of 2 age ranges: 3-7 (EYFS/KS1) or 5-11 (KS1 and KS2).

• Build-up of whole class teaching responsibility from up to 10 hours a week in the autumn term and leading up to a maximum of 16 hours in the summer term.

• 6-week teaching practice in a second school, within a consecutive age phase.

• Highly regarded centre-based sessions, run jointly by Chiltern Training Group and the Shire Foundation, take place at the outstanding Hillborough Junior School, based in Luton. This allows trainees opportunities to work with teachers and pupils as an integral part of their centre-based education.

• Additional inspiring education sessions take place in outstanding partnership schools, a local special school and Whipsnade zoo.

• Strong focus on engagement with current research and reading

• Bespoke course elements designed to meet your individual needs.

• Excellent support and well-being structures, with all trainees allocated an expert quality assurance tutor. They are on-hand to offer guidance and support.

• Workload is managed well through the provision of well designed online tools and careful course structure.

• Consistently very high employment rates following the award of QTS, with former trainees progressing quickly into leadership roles.

School placements

The Shire Foundation works with nursery, primary, middle and special schools.On an annual basis, our School Direct (salaried) partnership consists of a range of local schools. The vast majority of these schools are within the Luton area, but we are also willing to work with any suitable schools within a 30-mile radius of Luton. In recent years, we have worked with schools in Harpenden, Hemel Hempstead, Leighton Buzzard, Letchworth and Ampthill.

As there is no longer any government funding for this route, candidates are required to already have a potential employing school in place, prior to application

We endeavour to organise second school placements within our partnership of schools, but this cannot be guaranteed.

Entry requirements

Qualifications needed

An undergraduate degree at class 2:2 or above, or equivalent.

Grade 4 (C) or above in English, maths and science, or equivalent qualification.

We’ll consider candidates with pending GCSEs.

We’ll consider candidates who need to take a GCSE equivalency test in English, maths or science.

Candidates should use a third party for this. We are able to signpost suitable organisations for this.

Personal qualities

• A strong desire to impact positively on the learning of pupils within a nursery or primary school setting.
• Confidence
• Patience
• Compassion and understanding
• Enthusiasm
• A sense of humour
• Dedication to excellence
• Command of the English language
• An ability to communicate clearly and grammatically in spoken and written English.

Other requirements

Assessments of fundamental English and mathematics will be undertaken at interview. Prior to the award of QTS, shortfalls must be addressed by the trainee.

Prior experience in school is not required. However, where candidates have been able to gain experience in schools, Shire might find references from these schools a helpful part of our R&S process.

Disclosure and Barring Service/Medical We are committed to safeguarding the welfare of children. All applicants who are offered a training place will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Check and a medical check prior to the start of their employment in school.

Salary

For the duration of the training year, trainees are employed as an unqualified teacher within their employing school. The salary is at least point one on the unqualified teacher scale (or equivalent) and the full cost of this should be met by the employing school.

The tuition fee for this course is £7,250. There is no longer any government funding for this route, so the school and/or trainee is responsible for its payment. Please note that as you will be employed, you will not be eligible for a student loan.

For trainees undertaking the optional PGCE qualification, there will be an additional course fee of £1,250.

Fees and financial support

About the training provider

Hillborough Junior School has been judged to be Outstanding by Ofsted. The School Direct (Salaried) training is accredited by the Shire Foundation which is a well-established (since 1994) school-centred teacher training provider working with schools (nursery, primary and special), within a 30 mile radius of Luton.

This partnership has built up an excellent reputation in teacher training in the local area, and trainees consistently rate the quality of the course and support as very high. We have a consistently excellent NQT employment rate (95- 100% in recent years), with a high percentage of trainees securing a teaching job within their placement school.

You will be employed in a school which is approved for training by the Hillborough Junior School/ Shire Foundation Alliance and your school will work in partnership with us to provide your training and support your professional development.

Interview process

Our interview process is designed to ensure you have the qualities to successfully train to teach. It will also allow you to meet our wonderful training team.

Before the interview

Literacy and Numeracy activity task online

Plan a 5 minute lesson

At the interview - online

Teach your 5 minute lesson to the interviewer

Short written task, reflecting on your lesson

interview questions

You may be offered Stage 2

teaching a group of pupils

subject knowledge discussion

International candidates

You’ll need the right to work in the UK. You already have this if, for example, you:

• are an Irish citizen
• have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (you may still be able to apply)
• have indefinite leave to remain in the UK

If you do not already have the right to work in the UK, you may need to apply for a visa. The main visa for salaried courses is the Skilled Worker visa.

To apply for a Skilled Worker visa you need to be sponsored by your employer.

Sponsorship is not available for this course.

If you need a visa, filter your course search to find courses with visa sponsorship.

Alternatively, check if you’re eligible for a different type of visa, such as a Graduate or Family visa, that allows you to train to be a teacher without being sponsored.

Find out more about training to teach in England.

International qualifications

If your qualifications come from a non-UK institution, we may want to see a ‘statement of comparability’ from UK ENIC. This will show us how they compare to UK qualifications.

You can call Get Into Teaching on 0800 389 2500 for:

• guidance on the UK equivalents of your qualifications
• a free statement of comparability once you’ve submitted your application (if we ask you for this)

Training with disabilities and other needs

Accommodation at the Hillborough Junior School base and the partner schools has appropriate disability access.

Each year we work successfully with trainees with disabilities and other needs. Our personalised approach to training ensures that support and provision is tailored to each trainee’s particular needs, in order to facilitate success during all aspects of the training year.

Contact this training provider

• Email: tmurphy@shirefoundation.co.uk
• Telephone: 01582 522121
• Website: https://www.theshirefoundationscitt.org/
• Address: The Shire Foundation, Hillborough Junior School, Hillborough Road; Luton; Bedfordshire; LU1 5EZ

Support and advice

You can speak to a teacher training adviser for free, dedicated advice. They are all experienced teachers who can give you one-to-one support with your application. They can also help you get school experience, and find events where you can speak to training providers and teachers.

Call Get Into Teaching free of charge on 0800 389 2500, or chat online Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm (except public holidays).

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