Birmingham Newman Direct Partners

The Crocketts partnership has a proven track record of effectively supporting trainees to become successful teachers. The feedback from previous trainees (including Birmingham Newman Direct, PGCE and Undergraduate) is always extremely positive and complimentary. As a trainee, you will be working with a highly skilled, but also caring and supportive team within a school who will do everything they can for you to succeed. You will be allocated an experienced school-based mentor who will support you during the programme. In addition, there will be opportunities to participate fully in the wider aspects of school life. One of the ways our trainees are so successful is their ability to work collegiately by sharing experiences and offering mutual support.

Our partner schools reflect the diverse nature of education on the outskirts of Birmingham, ensuring your placements are varied and increase your chances of finding the school that is right for you.

St John Bosco Catholic Primary School was formally a Teaching School and has been offering Birmingham Newman Direct places both primary and secondary since 2013. In 2021 it joined a Multi Academy Company (of the same name!) which comprises of two secondary schools, Stuart Bathurst and Bishop Milner and five primary schools:

St Josephs in Dudley, St Chads in Sedgley, St Mary’s in Wednesbury, St John Bosco in West Bromwich and St Marks in Great Barr and St Bernadettes in Brownhills. We also offer School Placement in non Catholic schools that we have worked alongside since 2013, extending our reach within the Black Country. Each student accepted into the programme is provided with a laptop which is theirs to keep if they successfully complete the training year.

We have a very supportive relationship with Birmingham Newman University and our partnership tutor Andrew Sheehan and course leader Claire Owen. As a student you will have the support of Andrew, Claire and our own MAC School Direct lead Chris Randall, together with a school based mentor and class teachers to support you on your journey to become a teacher at school and university level.

St John Bosco Catholic Academy (Primary School Direct), Bishop Milner Catholic College, Burton Road, Dudley, DY1 3BY

Futures Teaching is committed to recruiting and training outstanding enthusiastic individuals, passionate about becoming outstanding teachers. With our partner schools we cover a wide area of the West Midlands, including Coventry, Hinckley, Leamington Spa, Warwick and Rugby. We offer Birmingham Newman Direct (Training-fee paying) places.

We strive to ‘Build Brighter Futures Together.’ Our values are based on the core principles of ‘Students First; No Barriers: It’s About Learning’. Our partnership of schools, and their Professional and Subject Mentors, are led by Aidan Jenkins, Teacher Development Director. We believe we offer the very best specialist help in developing your classroom skills, whilst gaining a theoretical understanding of teaching and learning from your time at Birmingham Newman University. We work with you from the start to find a school (within our limits) that suits you and your location and has a place. After Christmas there will also be a complementary placement at one of the other partner schools. This is an opportunity to develop your practice further, and will offer a contrast in key stage and school context.

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Our key aim at Bromsgrove Primary Partnership is to work collaboratively with our Birmingham Newman Direct trainees and schools to provide support and challenge and ensure strong outcomes.  We work alongside Birmingham Newman University to deliver the Early Years PGCE programme.  The course equips students with the practical skills as well as subject knowledge and strong pedagogical understanding to prepare them for their future careers.

We have developed a shared vision for educational excellence with the schools in our partnership and the course reflects our commitment to partnership working. You will benefit from working with and learning from strong classroom teachers in schools. You will be provided with the opportunity to take risks within a professional, safe and supportive community of practice. The learning is led by highly experienced tutors who facilitate a wide range of practical experience and taught sessions to engage you in reflective and critical evaluation of research, policy and practice. We have a commitment to learning for life and actively encourage you to develop your own research skills and to continue your learning journey to build on your postgraduate certificate at Master’s level and beyond.

Blue Sky is based in the centre of Coventry with links to primary schools in Coventry and the surrounding areas. By training with us, you will work with experienced, expert professionals from our cluster of school providers. At Blue Sky we are committed to offering high standards of training for the teachers of the future and work together with our accrediting provider, Birmingham Newman University, to provide our trainees with the necessary subject knowledge and experience to ensure an excellent level of training.

In addition to the knowledge and experience provided by the Birmingham Newman University tutors, and the support from your school mentor, Blue Sky personally ensures each trainee receives support and guidance as needed and we look forward to working with you on this exciting career path.

For 2023-24 we will be offering salaried and training Primary Birmingham Newman Direct places at a number of non-faith and Catholic Primary schools across Coventry and Warwickshire.

St Paul’s School for Girls is an outstanding Catholic Secondary school which works in collaboration with a number of Catholic primary and secondary schools, forming the Caritas Christi group.  With our close partnership of inner-city schools, we have a strong track record of training teachers and are committed to providing the best possible experience for our trainees and children so that expectations are high and aspirations can be raised.

We have had 100% employment for all cohorts, with an average of 70% employed in our previous partner schools and as a result of the success of our programmes we are keen to develop the next generation of teachers.  St Paul’s Caritas Christi works in partnership with Birmingham Newman University providing high quality courses and support for trainees.  Experienced mentors in schools will support you throughout your training year and, alongside your university tutors, will ensure that you receive personal and bespoke support to ensure a successful year.

At St. Peter’s Solihull Teaching School Partnership, we have a long and successful history of training new teachers through school-based training.  Undertaking the primary Birmingham Newman Direct programme with our partner is an exciting opportunity to develop into an outstanding teacher with the drive and motivation to make a difference.  Successful completion of the course will lead to the award of qualified teacher status (QTS) and will include a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) certified by Birmingham Newman University.

We offer a highly successful, bespoke training programme and have an excellent track record and a wealth of experience in training new teachers. We work alongside local primary schools, ensuring high quality mentoring and support and the course will equip you with practical as well as theoretical knowledge as you begin your career as a primary practitioner.

Lumen Christi is Latin for the ‘Light of Christ’. The name perfectly captures the spirit of guidance and enlightenment to which our organisation aspires.  Our mission is simply to work ‘together with trust, respect and love to provide the highest quality of Catholic education to our communities.’ We feel that working as a Multi Academy Company, we can together achieve our guiding aims and in doing so provide pupils and students with the opportunities to fulfil their highest potential and become the people God is calling them to be.

We are group of seven primary schools and one secondary school predominately based in South Birmingham, however we also have a school in Sheldon, Birmingham. We work in partnership with Birmingham Newman University and interview with Newman colleagues to take students who want to work in the primary sector and who want to gain hands-on experience as they train. Training includes in-school training led by classroom teachers in our partnership, to support your learning from safeguarding to phonics; behaviour management to planning and assessment.

The programme is one-year, full-time course from September until July and is delivered within the term dates of the schools within the Alliance. The majority of the programme is delivered in school, through school-based placements in our alliance schools. The academic elements of the programme are delivered by Newman University, from whom we purchase the most extensive School Direct programme that they offer. The curriculum structure for the PGCE School Direct programme is underpinned by the ITT Core Content Framework (CCF). The aims of the CCF have been embedded into a Continuous Monitoring Framework (CMF) which outlines key aims for each stage.

Our course maximises your experience in classrooms, but also takes advantage of the depth and breadth of experience of Newman University tutors. You will benefit from regular University tutor visits and training at Newman University, focused on pedagogy, professional studies and support with academic writing. Our partnership with Newman University will support you in completing Masters’ Level assignments leading to the award of Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) alongside Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). These assignments show how practice and research combine to provide a framework within which you teach, refer to practical pedagogy in the classroom, research of academic literature and both reflection and evaluation.

Stour Vale School Direct provides a unique, high-quality teacher training experience for prospective Primary and Secondary Teachers via School Direct Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses. We are an alliance of schools based across the West Midlands that work closely together in collaboration with local universities to recruit and train the teachers and school leaders of the future.With an exciting and comprehensive training programme that delivers up-to-date pedagogy alongside proven and practical skills for use in the classroom, our vision is to ensure all trainees are given the best possible start to their teaching profession. Experienced mentors guide trainees through the course and ensure that their time with us is challenging, rewarding and enjoyable!

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Training to teach with the Bishop Challoner Training School Alliance, ensures a high quality training experience which is informed by the most up-to-date research. Undertaking your training on the School Direct route ensures that you get the best of both worlds: essential university training as well as being part of a school community for the whole year. Bishop Challoner has a strong track record in successful completion of the programme and we provide excellent pastoral support for trainees throughout the year, as well as ensuring a bespoke and flexible experience which can be personalised to your rate of progress. We work with a variety of schools across the West Midlands, so whatever your school and phase interest, we can provide an experience which works for you!