I attended one of the virtual events at the University of Suffolk’s careers week (26th – 30th April) titled ‘Suffolk and Norfolk School Centred Initial Teacher Training – Routes in to teaching’. As I am currently interested in becoming a secondary school art teacher, this was a brilliant opportunity for me to learn more about one of the largest school centered initial teacher training programmes in the country.
What I leaned from this event
- A good rule of thumb is that your degree needs to relate to at least 50% of the subject you want to teach.
- When applying for courses make sure they are different teacher training programmes, because if all three are the same then you will either receive three acceptances or three rejections.
- It takes 40 days for them to respond to your application
- Bursaries can change every year (the amount of money and the subject area)
- SCITT programmes tend to have more in school experience than university courses
- This programme supports you with learning about classroom management and how to asses students abilities and needs
- They don’t place you in a school that is more than a 40 minute journey (this could be car, walk, public transport) they take you into consideration when they pair the trainee teachers with a partnering school.
Questions I asked:
What qualities do you look for in potential secondary trainee teachers?
Answer: passion for the subject that they want to teach, to know why it is important and the value of that subject. As well as being committed to teaching and making a difference.
What support do you offer trainee teachers to acquire a job once qualified?
Answer: we support trainee teachers with the interview process and applying for jobs and if they keep getting rejected, then we will look into why that is and help support them so that they can improve and get the job next time. It is rare for students to not get a job within teaching once qualified.
