About partnerships at BGU

Range and nature of Partnership schools

We work with our partners to deliver courses at undergraduate and PGCE level with a significant period of each course being spent on placement.

The geographical location of Bishop Grosseteste University gives us the opportunity to use a wide variety of schools and locations. Lincolnshire itself is a large and varied county of small towns, rural villages and seaside resorts. Other areas used by the university include Nottinghamshire, Doncaster, Norfolk, Sheffield and Cambridgeshire. This ensures that the range of schools experienced by students reflects both regional and national types and organisations. As a result of this schools are widely spaced around the university and students have to travel to reach their school experience placement.

The locations vary widely from small fenland villages to inner city areas, school sizes from small 2 teacher primary schools to large comprehensive schools. Class sizes, school organisation and home background also provide a richly varied diversity for the student experience. Mentor training is already offered free for teachers mentoring a student, and this is under development to provide a new more advanced mentoring course to address the need for Continuing Professional Development for the staff in schools.

Entering into Partnership with Bishop Grosseteste University

Our aim is to develop professional and highly skilled teachers and we work closely with our partner schools to meet this aim. A particular strength of the university has always been the opportunity provided by our partner schools to train in contexts that reflect the full range and diversity of the local area and beyond. Our trainees enjoy a high level of tutor support, and the tutors work in tandem with the school mentors to ensure consistency of approach.

The benefits of working in Partnership with the University are many, but include:

• an excellent basis for staff development in a variety of contexts;
• access to a wide range of CPD opportunities, including the provision of a master's level mentoring certificate;
• working wth programme tutors on course development;
• opportunities to engage in collaborative school-based research;
• interviewing prospective candidates;
• high levels of support for our trainees;
• the opportunity to reflect on and articulate practice.

Fitness to Teach

The extension of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) to education and training means that providers must make sure they are not discriminating against disabled candidates, in either their selection procedures, their requirements for progression and completion of training or their provision of services. They also need to make sure that everyone admitted to ITE has the physical and mental fitness needed to teach, and that any who become unfit leave the programme. Further details can be found in the publication Able to Teach: Guidance For Providers of Initial Teacher Training on Disability Discrimination and Fitness to Teach.