What is a Training School?

As centres of excellence for training, Training Schools act as experts in adult learning and the transfer of skills, providing a high quality professional development. It is expected that they will contribute to supporting the whole school workforce through providing a balance of training programmes that are personalized, relevant and contribute to teaching and learning. When working with colleagues that are joining the profession, Training School support must model good practice and complement any professional standards. Other features of the role will be to extend the spread and reach of the school’s work as an advocate and adviser for education and training both locally and nationally.

Training Schools are designated by the DCSF and supported by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).

The DCSF Five Year Strategy, published in July 2004, made it clear that the Training Schools Programme would be aligned with the Specialist Schools network. The Training School Programme is now considered to be a second specialism and is open to those schools which attain High Performing Specialist Schools Status at the point of their specialist schools redesignation.

Key Training School Performance Indicators give a flavour of what it is to be a Training School,

• 30% of teaching staff are trained in mentoring or coaching
• 75% of subject departments have taken one or more ITT trainees in the past three years
• 90% of all trainees evaluated their experience as good or better
• 30% of Training School funded CPD activities involve collaborative outreach work
• 25% of all staff (the whole school workforce) have participated in accredited or award-bearing professional development in the last three years
• 20% of teaching staff are engaged in practitioner led research
• 30% of teaching staff contribute to the development and or delivery of in-house training programmes
• 90% of all CPD training evaluations are rated as good or better

Many Training Schools are working well beyond these performance indicators and have devised their own to reflect training activities which relate to their own individual circumstances. Many Training Schools are taking the lead in substantial areas of training in their local authorities. These areas include induction of NQTs, training to support teachers in their first five years of teaching, training activities under the Extended Schools or Every Child Matters agendas or coordinating support and teaching staff training.