Keep up to date with all the latest news happening at the moment.
Once again, we hardly seem to have started the new academic year when another round of School Direct recruitment begins. And though we get excited every year in anticipation of the excellent candidates we will recruit, we are doubly excited this year as the Pandemic restrictions ease and people begin to think about their future careers more optimistically. So far, we have had a number of enquiries and visits from people interested in our School Direct programme and all before the DfE portal was even open for searching! So if this is a measure of things to come, we feel confident that once again we will be privileged to recruit our usual crop of outstanding teacher trainees.
The application process is slightly different this year, with all applications being made through the DfE Apply portal rather than UCAS. But even though the application method may have changed, we are confident that the same care and consideration and the usual outstanding standard of our partnership will shine through to recruit and train another cohort of outstanding future teachers. And in anticipation of this, we will be managing a stand at the Trinity Open Day this Saturday (16 October) so if you have any questions for us, or you just want to treat yourself to a chocolate from our tin, please come and join us, we would love to see you there.
It's the first week of term of a new school year, and despite a few comments like, 'I feel like I've never been away', there is generally a happy atmosphere in schools as restrictions ease back to less obtrusive levels.
As the new Reception children start to take their first steps along a chalked rainbow path or a letter ladder, so our new trainees have joined us to take their own first steps towards their future careers. We welcome them as well as all our colleagues and children and wish everybody a happy, more restriction free, more joyous and productive year ahead. May the only surprises be happy ones!
In the words of the immortal bard, Willaim Shakespeare himself:
That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet
or as Gertrude Stein once put it, 'A rose is a rose is a rose' ...
Which is all to say, St Anthony's is changing its name. After 5 years of excellence under the Teaching School's banner, St Anthony's is shortly to become St Anthony's Primary Learning Partnership!
As the government begins a major examination and alteration to the way support and training is delivered, as always St Anthony's finds itself at the forefront of change and development. Exciting changes are ahead, more of which will be announced at a later date.
In the meantime, to use another well-known phrase, 'every journey begins with a single step' and so, as the beginning of our exciting new journey, we will be adopting our new name. Over the next few weeks, we will be making changes to the website (so apologies if names don't always match up), rebranding our countless outstanding activities whilst continuing to deliver the maximum levels of high-quality support and training.
So, the main thing to take away is the idea as offered by Romeo, that although your call it something else, the rose (or the training provider) stays the same. Therefore, whatever changes and challenges come our way, the partnership comprising of all our excellent partners will be the same, forward-thinking, proactive, outstanding alliance. An no matter what shape or form our delivery comes in, we will do our utmost to continue to deliver the same outstanding mixture of support and training throughout the region.
Despite the many changes imposed upon us this year and as we pass the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Pandemic, all of us can only reflect on the losses and the hardships we have encountered, whilst hoping for something much better to come.
Despite the unprecedented events, we in the Alliance have continued to work through the extra demands and changes imposed upon us, educating our wonderful children online or in school. Alongside this, we have worked hard to support our trainees and we think we have done pretty well to ensure that they have had as full and rich a teaching experience as the circumstances have allowed, avoiding the great periods of inactivity which dogged our trainees during the first lockdown.
However, it is not just our continued optimism that leads us to believe this, we have been lucky to have received some very pleasing feedback from this year's hard-working, professional, and truly dedicated School Direct cohort. The following is only one example of their praise:
"Really enjoyed my placement. The school has been so supportive and I have learned so much from being there. The development opportunities have been brilliant and the knowledge that they have shared with me has been amazing. My mentor has done everything asked of her as a mentor and more, she has supported me throughout giving me some brilliant techniques for teaching strategies in young children."
So if you are wondering whether to start your teaching journey and apply for next year's training, don't hesitate! We are still healthy and going strong and we are confident the same will be true whatever the challenges of next year. And though it is unlikely that things will be ever the same as they were before the Pandemic, we are certain that St Anthony's will continue to deliver some of the best training around!
Deep in the midst of the recruitment season, with Lockdown rearing it's ugly head, it's good to know that you can still find us out there supplying our reassuring mix of advice, support, and friendliness. Yes, we will be participating in yet another online recruitment event thanks to our partners at Trinity. This time they are trying something new, holding a virtual open EVENING, which should allow those at work to have the chance to find out more about Teacher Training in general as well as why St Anthony's specifically can offer some of the best training around. Although we won't be there in person, our brilliant promo-video will be able to give you our perspective on what makes us so special and unique among our competitors.
To book your place and find out more about the evening, use the link below to access the key information on Trinity's web-pages.
https://www.leedstrinity.ac.uk/study/teaching/open-days/book-your-place-november/
So if you're thinking of teacher training but would still like to know more, then come and find our page. Although we can't dish out the sweets in person, we have enough sweet information to keep you informed and supported on your first steps into teaching.
Trying not to constantly repeat, 'what a strange year it's been' is not easy at the moment, but whatever anyone says, it has been a very, very strange year. Nevertheless, even during Lockdown we at St Anthony's have managed to support and nurture our trainees and now, they have taken their rightful NQT places (many in our Alliance schools) leaving us to turn our attention to seeking out the next batch of outstanding St Anthony's teacher trainees.
And so, in spite of the very strange events of this very strange year, the Application Portal for the 2021-22 School Direct cycle is now open and we at St Anthony's can't wait to welcome the high quality candidates who anticipate will soon be beating a path to our door.
If you are interested in joining our hugely successful training scheme then why not look through the extensive information available on our website. Although, because of the continuing COVID precautions, we are unable to offer school visits at the moment, we are very happy to support you with your application. So, if you have any pressing questions about our course or the application and interview process, please don't hesitate to email our Teaching School P.A. , Mr Andrew Bove: a.bove@stanthonysleeds.org.uk who will be able to supply you with his normal detailed and helpful information.
Good luck with your application, your teaching journey starts now!
We've long known that Lisa and Siobhan Leonard are two of the brightest stars in our Alliance firmament, but now it seems they have become movie stars in their own right! At the behest of the ingenious Trinity marketing division, we have created a promotional video to entertain and beguile potential recruits to our teacher training programmes. Due to the ongoing COVID situation, the marketing team have devised a virtual event in which videos for each partnership would do the promotion work. This might not have been as good as the real thing if it were not for the hard work and talents of both Miss Leonards as they wrote, directed and produced their mini-masterpiece (roll-over Orson Welles). The video features information about the courses, interview process and the general experience of both school Direct and training with the Alliance of the whole, co-hosted by the equally glamorous Gemma Martin and newly Qualified teacher, Lucy Stephens. Together with a number of still photographs showing our trainees in action as well as the wonderful children in our Alliance, the video brilliantly conveys the reason why everyone should train with St Anthony's. And if you haven't seen it for yourself, why not visit the Trinity Virtual Open day this Saturday the 10th of October. And if you can't manage that, why not check out our ITT pages where the video is on prominent display.
That's a wrap everybody!
As schools across the nation open once again, it is with a mixture of joy and relief that St Anthony's and its partner schools have reopened their doors. Amongst all the happy smiling faces, not only of the pupils but the staff as well, are those of the new teacher training cohort who took their first step on their new career path this week, spending a day in the St Mary's Learning Hub, be inducted into the policies and practices of teaching.
Schools may look slightly different as they follow the new restrictions and safety guidelines, but this hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of the children or the staff, and so it is likely that unless things change again, the memory of Lockdown and all its home-schooling frustrations will soon seem a distant memory.
In addition to the normal challenges though, will be the added burden of getting the children back up to their excellent levels of work, as well as making sure that they are happy and safe and able to deal with the changed environment and the huge difference from being locked-in to sharing the company of a classful of children.
It will no doubt be an interesting and challenging time for all and a learning curve, not just for the trainees and NQTs, but also for the seasoned veterans for whom this year has been unlike any other in their distinguished career.
We wish them, all our school colleagues, and especially their pupils all the very best for the year ahead!
That's right it's that long anticipated day, the opening of the Application Portal for the 2020-21 School Direct cycle! And we at the St Anthony's Teaching School Alliance can't wait to receive our usual deluge of applications, or at least a steady stream.
We were delighted by the high quality of last year's applicants and can't wait to meet our new trainees either in school or at Leeds Trinity's forthcoming PGCE Open day on Saturday 12 October.
For more information on how to participate in the Open Day, visit Trinity's Open Day web-page by clicking here.
If you are interested in joining our hugely successful training scheme then why not look through the extensive information available on our website. And if you would like that more personal touch, please don't hesitate to make an appointment to visit us at St Anthony's or come and meet us at the Open Day. I can promise you will receive a very warm welcome, some highly knowledgeable answers to your questions and even a free sweet or two! Who could say fairer than that?
Unbelievably, it's almost time to start the new application cycle!
Just as we're about to send our brand-new trainees off on their first, full-time placement, so we begin the recruitment for next years cohort of outstanding teacher trainers. Next week will see the opening of the application portal, allowing prospective teacher trainees the chance to apply for the 2020 - 21 School Direct courses. Before that however, trainees will be able to find out more about each course and training provider by using the new DfE search tool. You can find the page by clicking the link below:
https://find-postgraduate-teacher-training.education.gov.uk/
Or alternately, you can browse these web-pages where you will find a detailed explanation of our course as well as useful advice on how to apply.
So as the St Anthony's School Direct Team finish of their fitness training and course of early nights, in order to prepare for the application onslaught, we wish all potential trainees the very best of luck with their applications!
Let's make it another great year for recruitment and training!