Eighty-one new Teaching School Hubs to be rolled out

EB News: 11/02/2021 - 09:37

81 new teaching school hubs are being rolled out across the country to provide professional development to teachers and leaders at all stages of their career, and play a key role in helping to build up trainee teachers as they enter the workforce.

Each hub, all of which will be operational and helping schools from this September, will have its own defined geographical patch and will be expected to be accessible to all schools within that area, serving on average around 250 schools each.

The programme is being rolled out as teachers continue to deliver high quality remote education for pupils, with the current attendance restrictions in schools and colleges remaining in place until 8 March at the earliest.

There will be 87 hubs for teacher training and development, built around some of the best schools and Multi Academy Trusts in England. This comes from £65m of new funding, with the Hubs set to run for an initial three years.

The 81 new hubs will be rolled out in addition to the six existing test & learn TSH which were appointed in January 2020. This means there will be nationwide coverage for the first time, and every school in England will now have access to a local centre of excellence for teacher training.

The Hubs will also help in delivering the Early Career Framework reforms when this is available nationally from September 2021, as well as in delivering a reformed suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) including new specialist NPQs. They will also deliver Initial Teaching Training and additional high-quality evidence based professional development.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: "We know teachers are already providing the best education possible for pupils, and this is especially true while schools are closed to most pupils. These new Teaching School Hubs will further support the profession by providing the best possible training and development opportunities.

"It is important that teachers and school leaders feel supported in their career. The Hubs will make this substantially easier, with expert practitioners able to give experienced advice to those schools able to benefit from it."