About our School Direct Partnership

The West Essex School Direct Partnership based at Davenant Foundation School has a long tradition of successful teacher training and we were centrally involved in the ‘pilot’ year 2012-13 when the Government launched the programme. We have 39 trainees on the 2016 – 17 secondary programme; in addition to this we also have 5 trainees on the primary course.  We provide a very special, school based training experience in partnership with TES Institute who have a reputation for innovative on-line learning materials, especially in shortage subjects, with its Subject Knowledge Enhancement courses. 

TES Institute, a leading teacher training provider and the newest member of the TES Global family, is delighted to be working in partnership with Davenant Foundation School and its partners to deliver School Direct Initial Teacher Training (ITT).  Our salaried and unsalaried School Direct programmes are accredited by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) and they provide a blend of online learning and in-school experience leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and an option to add a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). The PGCE is accredited by our partner university (UEL) and is subject to annual review.

TES Institute is committed to supporting school based teacher training, helping schools to create great teachers.  Through our team of highly experienced pathway tutors working in partnership with schools and trainees, TES Institute combines the best of in-person and online learning to deliver truly flexible teacher training.  Starting with just 2 partnerships and 27 trainees in 2013-14, TES Institute trained 100 trainees in 2015-16 and are expanding this further in 2016-17 with 7 partnerships, expanding from Essex into Suffolk and Kent.  TES schools work in partnership to share best practice and develop and deliver high quality teacher training.  In 2015-16 approximately 60% of trainees were graded outstanding.

There are 18 schools in the partnership, all judged to be outstanding or good (Grade 1 or 2) by Ofsted and managed by Davenant Foundation School as the ‘lead school’.  Davenant is one of a small number of ‘Teaching Schools’ in the country and it was previously a ‘Training School’ from 2008 -2012.  The unique blended learning programme combines school based training, on-line learning materials, a network of experienced subject specialists to deliver pedagogy and subject knowledge and a number of off-site visits to special schools, primary schools and Leading Teacher days. 

All of the schools have a track record of working with university PGCE providers and Essex ITT.   The working partnership has been in existence for over 6 years which ensures that cooperation between the schools is established and is a strength of the partnership.  Each school provides a fully trained Mentor for each trainee, supported by a Pathway Tutor from TES Institute who visits each half-term

For information on School Direct please visit the DfE website.

For enquiries about the various routes into teaching through Davenant Foundation School, email schooldirect@davenant.org