Early careers teachers

We know just how challenging those first years in teaching can be once you have completed your training and we recognise the need to support all early careers teachers during that time so that they go on to have long and fulfilling careers.

Early careers teachers within all of our academies will be supported by a number of staff, the most pivotal being their early career mentor. Our team of highly experienced and passionate early career mentors are there to support our early careers teachers with navigating the early stages of their career both inside and outside of the classroom. We ensure that time is provided to both early careers teachers and early career mentors so that they can meet weekly in the first year and fortnightly in the second year. This dedicated time is opportunity for our early careers teachers to work through any challenges they have and seek support where needed. It is also opportunity for them to focus on their own professional development, guided by the early career framework.

Our Trust works closely with Shropshire and Telford Education Partnership (STEP) and Best Practice Network (BPN) to provide our early careers teachers with high quality professional learning as part of the early careers’ framework. We are fortunate that our Trust lead for the early careers framework facilitates this professional learning for STEP and BPN, so our early careers teachers can rest assured that they will be learning from someone who knows the settings they work in and can match the content to their needs.

Even after completing the early careers framework, we aim to ensure that our early careers teachers continue their golden thread of professional development, be that through NPQs or other professional development opportunities individuals identify for themselves. As Dylan Wiliam said: ‘Every teacher needs to improve, not because they are not good enough but because they can be even better.’

As a result of the support offered to our early careers teachers, we instil a focus on lifelong learning; developing teachers who continually strive to be better for the good of our students.