Train to Teach with InvestED

About InvestED

InvestED is a leading SCITT partnership dedicated to shaping the next generation of educators through immersive, school-led Initial Teacher Training (ITT). Our collaborative network brings together a diverse range of schools committed to professional excellence, providing trainees with a unique blend of classroom experience and expert mentorship. At InvestED, our partner schools don't just host trainees—they play a vital role in delivering the curriculum, ensuring our 'by schools, for schools' ethos creates a vibrant ecosystem where new teachers thrive. By sharing expertise across our network, we foster a dynamic environment that transforms passionate individuals into exceptional classroom practitioners.

Current schools within the InvestED Network:

• Churchdown School
• Cleeve School
• All Saints’ Academy
• John Kyrle High School
• Bengeworth Academy
• Churchdown Village Junior School

 

Our Programme

Training and Support

As a trainee teacher at InvestED SCITT, you will train in one of the schools within our network, and gain second placement experience at another contrasting school. You will also have opportunities to apply for any relevant teaching roles and further develop your career across our schools.

Before you enter the classroom, you’ll have two weeks of intensive training. This will focus on core areas such as behaviour management and planning. You will have a further two separate weeks of intensive training later in the year.

You will be in school four days a week from early September until the end of the summer term, with six weeks in another local school (or schools, based on preference and availability). This will give you lots of hands-on experience and the change to learn from many experienced teaching professionals.

The fifth day of each week is reserved for you to engage in training and development to support your teaching practice. This weekly training day is designed in collaboration with Teach First’s expert curriculum designers and sequenced to make sure you are focused on the areas of teaching that are most relevant to that point in the year. The training will include a mixture of online and face-to-face elements and will ensure that you develop the knowledge and skills you need to become a great teacher, gaining your Qualified Teacher Status and your PGCE at the end of the year. 

Across the year, you’ll take part in six modules with live seminars and conferences. These are tailored to whether you’re specialising in primary or secondary education.

The six-week second placement will be in an alternative partner school. This experience will ensure you have a broad experience of teaching in different schools and further prepare you for your future career as a teacher.

The cost of training with InvestED SCITT and Teach First is £9,250 for the 26/27 academic year.

Details on bursaries, scholarships and other funding options can be found under the ‘Applying for Teacher Training’ menu on this site or here:

Teacher training funding | Get Into Teaching GOV.UK

 

Key Stages and Subjects

Primary

Trainees will ordinarily experience all primary key stages during their training, whilst focusing the bulk of their training in early years, 3-7 years or 5-11 years (depending on school placement and preference). 

Secondary Subjects

Applications are welcome from trainees wishing to train in the following subject areas:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• English
• Maths
• History
• Geography
• Religious Studies
• Computing
• Business Studies
• Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)*
• Physical Education

*Please note, due to the employment options in schools in our area, applicants training to teach Chinese will usually only be considered if they can teach a second language (ordinarily Spanish, German or French).

Alongside InvestED schools, a key partner in our SCITT is Teach First.

Teach First is an educational charity with twenty years of experience and a clear mission of improving the life chances of the 1 in 4 children in this country who live in poverty and, in many cases, do not get the opportunity to thrive in school. A core aspect of this mission is training excellent teachers who, like us, share the goal of reducing educational inequality.

The research is clear that great teaching often has a disproportionately positive effect on our most vulnerable young people, and all our schools understand that teachers entering the profession today see this as a priority they want to help address.

In their twenty years so far, Teach First have trained more than 16000 teachers and supported over two million children to fulfil their potential.

So, when we were given the opportunity to work with such an experienced provider of high-quality teacher training, we were proud and excited to enter into partnership and launch the InvestED SCITT.  

 

Apply for Teacher Training

All applications for teacher training must be made on the government’s Teacher Training Application website:

Find courses by location or by training provider - Find teacher training courses - GOV.UK

Once you have registered on the site, you can find our courses by searching for RET SCITT by entering ‘RET’ or ‘Ridgeway Education Trust’ in the search field.

For more information about the full application process visit Get Into Teaching

Bursaries and Scholarships

The majority of secondary subjects we offer are eligible for bursaries if applicants have one of the following:

• a bachelor’s degree class 2:2 (honours) or higher
• a master’s degree
• a PhD

Bursaries range from £10,000 to £28,000 and, for eligible applicants, are paid automatically once you start your training.

Scholarships are provided by charitable organisations with an interest in their subject area. 

Further details on both bursaries and scholarships can be found on the Department for Education’s ‘Get into Teaching’ website:

Teacher training bursaries | Get Into Teaching GOV.UK

 

Tuition Fee and Maintenance Loans

Funding is available to support trainee teachers with the cost of their tuition and living costs whilst they train.

Details can be found here:

Student finance for teacher training | Get Into Teaching GOV.UK

 

Events

 

Contact

For further information about teacher training or support with your application, please get in touch:

Email: investED@churchdownschool.com

Call:  01452 713340

Visit:

InvestED at Churchdown School

Winston Road

Churchdown

Gloucestershire

GL3 2RB