Course Curriculum

Our inspiring and highly successful full-time SCITT programme is a fantastic route into becoming a teacher. All of our courses incorporate hands-on classroom practice in two placement schools with ongoing training in Central and Subject Curriculum Sessions. The two block placements aim to provide a contrasting experience and we will always aim to be flexible with placement locations to accommodate your personal circumstances.

Our unique programme begins with pre-training induction days in July/ August where you will get to meet our team, your peers and also your mentor, on a visit day at your first placement school. We also use the induction days to introduce you to our carefully crafted Integrated Curriculum.

The Integrated Curriculum is the basis of your SCITT training with OTT SCITT and it underpins the time you spend in schools on placement as well as the delivered training sessions. Our curriculum has been designed to support Associate Teachers’ development to become confident, competent and determined teachers with the capacity and drive to improve pupil outcomes. The different strands of our curriculum provide a comprehensive introduction to the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching and what it means to be a great teacher. It is vital not to think of these strands as separate entities, but as a single, integrated curriculum that is co-delivered by all members of the partnership.

Integrated Curriculum Sessions include weekly Subject Curriculum Sessions that focus on the subjects themselves, helping Associate Teachers to develop knowledge and understanding of key concepts and questions, how children learn in a particular subject, as well as exploring and deconstructing how to become a great teacher of their subjects and phases. Central Curriculum Sessions are based around our Seven Core Areas and support the educational development of Associate Teachers. They focus on the theoretical and research-informed underpinnings of how to teach, how learners learn, as well as how these elements are successfully integrated within the classroom. Curriculum Sessions are supported by recommended research, reading and media.

Placement-Based Training gives Associate Teachers the opportunity to work and learn alongside expert colleagues in action, to deconstruct every aspect of teaching and to learn how to become an effective teacher of their subject(s) through carefully supported elements both within and outside the classroom. Expert colleagues in placement schools help Associate Teachers contextualise and reflect on their experiences to ensure that they develop effective knowledge, skills and habits. Within the placement school, the Mentor and Senior Link are key to the success of the co-delivery of our integrated curriculum, aligning and making explicit the links between material taught in Integrated Curriculum Sessions and how this is applied in the classroom.

Associate Teachers will be making constant connections with what they learn in Central Curriculum Sessions, Subject Curriculum Sessions and through their education and training in placement schools, so that by the end of their programme they will be well prepared to start their Early Career as confident, competent and determined teachers with the capacity and drive to improve pupil outcomes.

Below is a flavour of some of the sessions you will take part in:

• Lesson planning and design
• Special Educational Needs and disabilities
• Behaviour management
• Assessment
• Social justice
• Wellbeing for children
• Working with parents and carers
• And many more!

One of the key and unique features of our courses is the integrated subject training our Associate Teachers benefit from. We recruit Subject Specialists for every subject and phase that we offer from our partnership of schools to co-design and co-deliver specialist training on the elements of your subject or phase that you will need to know.  You will meet your subject specialist at the beginning of the course and they will run sessions which link to the central training sessions, to ensure that the pedagogy and theory you learn about is always referred back to, within the context of the subject and phase you are training in.

Subject Curriculum Sessions are complemented by subject reading lists, subject association membership and fantastic field days, outdoor learning and practical events related to your subject.

All of our courses lead to the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and all Associate Teachers have the option of adding a master’s level PGCE qualification to their programme. QTS is known as the ‘professional award’ and is the designation that nearly all schools, academies and free schools expect applicants for teaching jobs to have. A PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) is an ‘academic qualification’. A PGCE qualification is not required to be a teacher in this country.

The PGCE element that we offer is accredited by a local partner University, it does not have any additional training sessions; everything will be covered in the sessions that are delivered as part of our integrated curriculum. There are optional support sessions that relate to the written assignments.

The PGCE is a Masters level qualification and is assessed through 3 written assignments and a review of the overall evidence portfolio that you will collect as part of the QTS programme.  Each assignment draws on relevant educational research and is designed to inform the classroom practice of the individual Associate Teacher.

Each year around between one third and half of our Associate Teachers undertake this additional element in their training year, whilst others focus solely on their QTS programme. It is increasingly common for people who have gained QTS to undertake a PGCE further into their career and there are lots of options nationally for people who have already gained QTS to undertake the PGCE in subsequent years.

The final decision about undertaking the PGCE element will be an individual one and does not have to be made until your programme has started during the induction week in July and you will have the opportunity to find out more about the specific details and ask questions in June or July prior to making the final decision. Please note that taking the PGCE means you will pay a slightly higher fee, to cover the additional qualification, see our course page for more information.

Please note there are two codes on Apply when you start your application.  One for the QTS only programme and another for the QTS with PGCE programme.  This is for candidates to indicate their intention at the time of application, however, you will not need to make a final decision until this stage.