Ambitious Curriculum

Our exciting curriculum is informed by the best available research and the deep practical wisdom of local experts.

Our sequential and interconnected curriculum, developed through partnership and true collaboration, supports novice teachers to build the skills, knowledge and behaviours required to become effective and reflective professionals. Our curriculum is framed around five key competencies, underpinned by The Model for Great Teaching, a large scale and recent evidence review which summarises what makes great teaching.

All elements of the curriculum are delivered by teaching experts, some of whom work for national organisations including Evidence Based Education and the Education Endowment Foundation. Local experts (our mentors) support trainees in school to apply their learning to practice.

Sheffield Hallam University delivers and awards the PGCE element of the programme receiving the first ever 'Outstanding' rating from Ofsted for their early years' initial teacher training alongside an 'Outstanding' rating for their primary teacher training. Find out more here: PGCE, Exchange Teacher Training

Curriculum Principles

In summary, our curriculum is:

• Evidence-informed: Underpinned by a strong evidence base including the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF).
• Progress-focused: Delivered in stages to prioritise trainee development (Preparing, Developing, Embedding and Enhancing).
• Rooted in the subject: Subject sessions build upon the taught core curriculum and ensure that all learning is contextualised within the subject discipline.
• Inclusive: Focused on adaptive teaching and how to meet the needs of all learners, including those with SEND.
• Ambitious: The depth and breadth of the curriculum, and its spiral nature, deepens trainees’ understanding through the stages of their development.

"Through an ambitious, evidence informed curriculum trainees will develop as lifelong, reflective practitioners who will improve the life chances of all learners.”

It is important that trainees and all those involved in curriculum delivery understand what they are working towards. At the end of the Initial Teacher Training year, trainees should:

• Be consistently meeting the Teachers’ Standards to achieve the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
• Have engaged in study skills, explored relevant research and themes, and submitted academic assignments to achieve the award of a Post-graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).
• Be able to confidently embark on the Early Career Teacher Entitlement with robust foundations: clear knowledge, deep understanding and competent skill to support all learners to make good progress.
• Have developed the professional behaviours to equip them with the resilience, stamina and preparedness for the demands of the profession in the 21st century.