Director's Message

Thank you for your interest in this exciting role within our School-Centred Initial Teacher Training organisation (SCITT). The last few years have been a turbulent time across the education sector, and we are pleased that our ITT partnership has continued to grow and improve despite the many challenges that schools and ITT organisations have faced.

We are now seeking to employ a Lead Mentor, who will have specific responsibilities for our Oxfordshire Training Hubs, and primarily supporting our secondary Associate Teachers (trainees) and placement schools.

Our SCITT has excellent relationships with its partnership schools and a strong reputation for the quality of our programmes, our inclusive ethos and our drive for continuous improvement. We are proud of our work and the impact we have on the schools in our partnership, and the wider education system beyond.

This is an exciting time for us and we are looking for someone who is ambitious for the education system, forward thinking and creative, to enhance and complement our existing team. As a relatively small team working in a complex and ever-changing environment, we are looking for someone who is adaptable, has high standards and is excellent at building and maintaining relationships across a wide range of contexts.

Two key parts of our success have been a strong focus on collaboration and teamwork and an ongoing investment in our own development. Access to relevant and high quality CPD is therefore an essential part of the way we support our growth as a central team.

OTT SCITT is part of the River Learning Trust and operates alongside the Oxfordshire Teaching School Hub (OTSH); the successful candidate may be involved in aspects of the work of the Hub in addition to responsibilities within the SCITT Team.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Mr Patrick Garton

Director

About Us

OTT SCITT is a dynamic, schools-led ITT partnership that was first accredited by the Department for Education in 2013.

We currently work with around 160 schools across Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire and surrounding areas, and we currently have around 215 Associate Teachers (our term for trainee teachers) training with us. We run a full range of secondary subjects and three different primary courses (5-11, 3-7 and primary with enhanced SEND) and we offer full-time, part-time and apprenticeship routes.

Within Oxfordshire we currently have around 100 Associate Teachers across our three Training Hub locations (which are based in schools in Oxford, Banbury and Henley) and we work with around 60 placement schools.

As an organisation, we are dedicated to providing our trainees with a supportive and inclusive learning environment. We believe that the best way to learn how to be a great school teacher is to be in schools, learning in a structured way from expert colleagues and specialists, all of whom understand the joys and complexities of the school environment.

Our carefully constructed integrated curriculum ensures that our trainees build their knowledge and skills in a coherent and personalised way. They learn to teach excellent lessons, they develop deep subject expertise, and they understand the wider contexts of being successful within the profession.

Our Vision

Our moral motivation is to offer the very best initial teacher training for new entrants to our fantastic profession. As a schools-led and schools-based organisation we strive to ensure that our ITT programmes give the very best preparation for teachers joining the profession. Our integrated curriculum includes central and subject-specialist curriculum sessions and is co-delivered by expert Mentors in schools who support our Associate Teachers in contextualising and implementing their learning in the classroom.

The seven core areas of our integrated curriculum are; behaviours; pedagogy; subject and curriculum; assessment; professional relationships and responsibilities; values and wellbeing. They are threaded through everything we do and draw on a wide range of research.

We work hard to ensure that our expectations of our school based colleagues are appropriate and that we provide them with the very best training, materials and guidance to be effective in their roles.

About this Role

You will work as a key member of the SCITT team, providing leadership for Oxfordshire-based Secondary Associate Teachers. The role involves establishing and sustaining strong, positive relationships with Headteachers, senior leaders and mentors across secondary schools in the county.

The work is varied and dynamic; a typical week may include leading high-quality training sessions for current Associate Teachers, supporting placement schools and mentors, and contributing to the recruitment of future Associate Teachers. We are advertising for a full-time member of staff, but this is negotiable from 0.7-full-time. Please see the Job Description and Person Specification for further details of the exciting opportunities in this role.

About River Learning Trust

Education has the power to change lives, communities and society for the better. At RLT we believe that we can achieve more for our pupils, trainees, staff and communities by working together rather than alone. Schools in RLT are united by a common belief in the benefits of working together, and by our commitment to shared principles.

OUR VISION is for our schools and SCITT to improve rapidly, continuously and sustainably: to be better faster together.

OUR 'WHY?' is that children and young people 'only get one go' in school and therefore as part of RLT we aim to ensure the best possible 'go' for our pupils.

OUR 'HOW?' is through the highest support and challenge for our schools and each other, underpinned by our principles.

Our employees benefit from a wide variety of support including extensive continuing professional learning and development opportunities, wellbeing and staff networks and access to Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (TPS and LGPS) for all staff. For more information on what it is like to work for the Trust, and the benefits you could access, please see our " Working in RLT " guide.

If you would like to have a confidential conversation with us, about the role, prior to application, then please email patrick.garton@ott-scitt.org.uk .

This role includes regulated activity relevant to children. The River Learning Trust and OTT SCITT are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. The Trust is required to conduct a variety of checks and online searches about you as part of their recruitment process in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. It is an offence to apply for certain roles within schools if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

For all RLT Safer Recruitment Documentation candidates should click on the following link RLT Safer Recruitment Documents for Candidates . Please see our website for up to date policies including our Child Protection and Behaviour Policies.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. For further guidance for applicants click on this link List of offences that are not filtered

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