St Bernard’s is a welcoming and friendly environment which has our Christian faith-based values at the heart of all we do. We take pride that we are a Lead school which works collaboratively and in partnership with ‘The Sheffield SCITT’ – an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Training operated by Notre Dame High School. As a Lead School, we provide a welcoming and friendly environment where all trainees say they feel safe to learn, reflect and improve. Our trainees are made to feel part of the St Bernard’s staff body from the very start, receiving outstanding and intensive mentoring and support from experienced teachers.
As a Catholic community, we embody the power of faith, education, and community to inspire and empower young individuals to reach their full potential including our aspiring teachers.
Our course takes place within schools which we believe give our trainees the best possible preparation for a successful career working in schools.
As a Lead School of the Sheffield SCITT, our trainees engage in high quality training following the Sheffield SCITT teacher training curriculum:
- Our course lasts one year and results in qualified teacher status (QTS) with the option to study for the PGCE Master’s level credits through the University of Hull.
- You’ll train in at least two Ofsted ‘good’ schools, getting the chance to learn ‘on the job’ alongside current teachers.
- One main component of our training is the weekly school based hub training where our trainees come together to receive expert input from our hub training leader Mr Nicholas Lovell. The principles of academic rigour are the same as on University-led courses. The focus on teaching mastery and the science behind learning using evidence based research is prominent throughout all training sessions.
- Trainees are also equally eligible for a training bursary or scholarship and can apply for the same financial support, such as student loans. You can find details of these here:
https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-and salary/overview
- You will have a programme of high quality continuous professional development in both the core pedagogy of teaching, and subject specific content of your chosen area of the curriculum (secondary).
We are proud that we have a number of past ITT trainees who have flourished under our training programme and have since attained full time employment at St Bernards:
“My training with St Bernard’s is probably best summarised as being incredibly supportive. At every step, from my very first INSET day as an ITT getting to know everyone to my final assessed observation as an ECT, I felt completely supported, encouraged and inspired by my mentors and fellow staff members. Going from being an ITT to an ECT with your own classes can feel daunting, but the ECT programme meant I always had my mentor to help, I was still able to improve my practice through weekly training and I could thrive with the aid of experienced teachers around me. The care, enthusiasm and help from St Bernard’s is what makes me the teacher I am today!”
Eve Harrop ( Secondary English ITT 2019 -2020 and ECT 2021-2023)
Our applications for the 2024-2025 cohort will be open from Tuesday 3rd October. For further details, please contact our ITT coordinator Ms Chi Wan (cwan@sbch.org.uk), or apply through the DfE Apply portal here: www.gov.uk/apply-for-teacher-training
Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) Courses
Sometimes, our applicants need a ‘top-up’ with regards to the subject knowledge required to teach at GCSE level. This may be because they do not have a degree, or any recognised qualifications, in the subject area they are applying to teach within. If this is the case, we will make this part of your conditional offer and request that you complete a SKE course through the VIDLEARN® on Demand hub. As part of our offer we will highlight which course would be the most appropriate for the applicant. The brochure below gives an overview of the options.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q5Y8WWTcP3KJflvaF6reknFzawT6hz_g/view?usp=sharing
