Teachers across the country will benefit from vital developmental support and expert advice, allowing them to improve a broad range of vital teaching skills, under plans announced by the Department for Education recently.  The teaching workforce will get best-practice and expert advice on how best to engage with  pupils, lesson planning, and classroom management, as the teaching school hubs programme is rolled out across the country.

Pate’s is one the 81 schools in England selected to be designated as a new teaching school hub, building on previous experience leading the Odyssey Teaching School Alliance.  The teaching school programme was announced in 2019 and was followed by a  procurement to successfully appoint six test and learn hubs (appointed in January 2020). 81 hubs will be added in all corners of the country to provide high-quality 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. This will further level up the quality of teaching, allowing every child to receive a world-class start in life no matter where they are born.  

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. Pate’s and their partnership will cover the area of Gloucester, Tewkesbury and the Forest of Dean. Led by Pate’s, the bid was submitted in collaboration with a number of other schools and educational/training organisations from across the region and beyond.   

Russel Ellicott, Headmaster says:
‘We are delighted, that working closely with other bid partners, Pate’s Grammar School has been selected to become a Teaching School Hub. We are committed to joining with the other TS Hubs to create a consistent approach across the South West. We are therefore  
delighted to work with the Balcarras Teaching School Hub who have been designated as the lead for the Cheltenham, Cotswolds and Stroud area. Our collective aim is to ensure that schools across Gloucestershire have access to high levels of support and opportunities for  development and we will be working with the leaders at Balcarras to create a coherent and  unified model for the county.”  

Rachel Thorpe, Deputy Head and Director of Teaching School Hub,says:
‘We are confident that this new and exciting structure for collaboration can build further on the very many existing strengths and educational partnerships in the Forest of Dean, Gloucester and Tewkesbury region. We are looking forward to leading a strong partnership, for the ultimate benefit of all students in the area.’