About Us
As your Teaching School Hub:
- We take pride in all that we do,
- We are responsible for supporting the professional development of all teachers from trainees to executive leadership,
- We are keen to innovate to retain and recruit teachers,
- We believe in working together,
- We work together with our partners to get professional development right and delivered in your area,
- We work with a range of organisations to create an excellent range of professional development opportunities,
- We can provide access to skills and training opportunities, which can broaden professional aspirations.
We believe that:
Every child and young person deserves access to good and outstanding education from early years, right through to further education and beyond.
Working with and investing in the teaching community and non-teaching profession to provide brilliant opportunities for teacher professional development throughout the golden thread life chances and social mobility for children.
We will work with our schools to provide access to good and outstanding education for all children and young people which provides them with the skills and experience that they need for future jobs and industry, creating clear pathways to careers at an early age.
Fairness and inclusion:
We want to ensure that every professional in education has the same opportunities and potential to be happy and fulfilled. We are committed to understanding our different school communities and supporting and celebrating diversity.
We will work hard to include people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised to ensure equality of opportunity for all to achieve their full potential.
Responsibilities of The Golden Thread Teaching School Hub
(Extract taken from the terms of designation set out by the Department for Education)
The focus for The Golden Thread Teaching School Hub is on teacher training and development, recognising teacher and leadership development as the most important form of school improvement.
The Golden Thread Teaching School Hub will build strong partnerships with other schools to support teachers and leaders, at every stage of their career, in every phase and type of school in their hub area. Activities that The Golden Thread Teaching School Hub will be expected to undertake include:
- Delivery of the Early Career Framework (ECF)
- Delivery of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs)
- Delivery of Initial Teacher Training (ITT)
- Providing Appropriate Body (AB) services for Early Career Teachers
- Other Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
- Other activities on behalf of DfE that may be specified individually or across the network, in consultation with TSHs and TSC.
The Golden Thread Teaching School Hub is required to build an effective infrastructure and work strategically with key stakeholders and providers in order to deliver these functions. These functions will vary from area to area and delivery agreements will reflect that.
The Golden Thread Teaching School Hub is required to adhere to requirements set by DfE to co-operate with necessary monitoring and reporting processes.
The Golden Thread Teaching School Hub Deal
| Our part | Your part |
| Remove the uncertainty of the statutory requirements of the Early Career Teacher induction process. | Inform us if you have any ECTs who are starting at your school so we can fully support you. |
| A commitment to supporting you and your ECTs every step of the way! | Developing a strong relationship with us |
| A clear moral purpose to benefit the ECTs, the school and your pupils. | Engagement with us in our vision to provide the very best CPD for ECTs and other staff in order to give them and their pupils the very best start in their career/life. |
| A commitment to the local area through the identification of specific needs such as SEND or PP specialist training. | Communicate what your community’s specific needs are so that we can support you and your area. |
| Be open to new, innovative ideas. | |
| Identify future golden thread opportunities for ECTs and other staff/leaders. | Encourage a CPD culture so that all staff can achieve their full potential. |
| Listen to your feedback and adapt programmes as necessary. | Contribute to QA processes and be honest in your feedback so we can improve and meet your needs. |
| Ensure we are at the cutting edge of education-based research. | Respond positively to research and be open to new strategies. |
| Provide outstanding training to all relevant staff in your school. | Encourage staff to engage with the CPD programmes. |
| Respond positively and supportively to your needs as and when required. | Communicate any issues you are experiencing. |
| Be as flexible as possible regarding the delivery of the CPD programmes. | Inform us of your preferred CPD delivery methods. |
| Be mindful of workload and wellbeing issues so your staff are not overwhelmed and feel in control of their journey. | Keep us informed of any wellbeing and workload issues so we can support you. |
| Be with you every step of the way in the development of a CPD culture in your school. | Be excited about realising the potential of your staff so that your pupils receive an outstanding education! |
Our Hub Area
Covering: Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands
Schools in Hub area: 264
Eligible schools in Hub area: 5
Eligible teaching schools in Hub area: 2
LAD: Stoke-on-Trent
Schools in LAD: 91
Eligible schools in LAD: 2
Eligible teaching schools in LAD: 1