Scottish Borders Council

Agenda item

'Grow Your Own' Teachers

Consider report by Interim Service Director, Children and Young People.  (Copy attached.)

Minutes:

EDUCATION BUSINESS

 

Present:-     Mr G. Jarvie, Mr. I .Topping.

Apologies:-  Ms. C. Thorburn, Parent Representative: Ms Alison Ferahi.

 

Chairman

Councillor Hamilton chaired the meeting for consideration of the Education business.

 

1.1       There had been circulated copies of a report by the Interim Service Director, Children and Young people which proposed that Scottish Borders Council continue to grow and develop their ‘Grow Your Own’ Scheme to train and recruit individuals into the teaching profession, working in partnership with a number of Universities.  Christine Brown, Quality Improvement Officer, explained that Scottish Borders Council was working with two different Universities to develop and deliver training for individuals to become secondary teachers.  The report explained that recruitment of teaching staff, in particular for some secondary STEM subjects, had become more difficult nationally, but had been particularly felt in rural authorities.  Particular STEM subjects within secondary schools had been a focus for Scottish Government to develop opportunities for Universities to work in partnership with Local Authorities so individuals could become teachers.  There were a growing number of programmes available and Scottish Borders Council had been proactive in taking this forward to enable the Authority to ‘grow our own’ workforce.

 

1.2       It was further explained that there was a demand for alternative routes into teaching for individuals within the Scottish Borders, which enabled people to remain in the Scottish Borders, reducing their financial commitments involved in either living or commuting to a university elsewhere in Scotland.  Potential students with child care commitments could be prevented from undertaking study outwith the Borders.  Scottish Borders Council’s Children & Young People’s Department had been working over the past three years to look at alternative ways of training and then recruiting qualified teachers.  This had been a risk and an investment, taken by the authorities, which was paying the dividend of providing high quality committed teachers.  The report detailed how the Authority had been working with the University of Highlands and Islands since August 2017 offering a distance learning opportunity for Scottish Borders graduates to gain a qualification which would allow them to enter the teaching profession at secondary level.  A partnership agreement has been set up with the University of Highlands and Islands, who offered an initial teacher education programme for graduates who had a degree in either Physics, Business Studies, Mathematics, Home Economics, Technology or English. Applicants required to have National 5 Mathematics (or equivalent i.e. Intermediate 2, Standard Grade 2, O Grade), Higher English, and an appropriate degree. 

 

1.3       A further project was launched in 2018 in partnership with Dundee University which offered an 18 month programme with students graduating with a PGDE and having completed their Standard for Full Registration with the GTCS in June 2020. Acceptance onto the course came with a bursary funded by Scottish Government.  Students spent 4 days in schools and 1 day distance learning with the University.  The first 6 months in one school, then they moved to a second school for a full year.  As yet no additional funding had been allocated from Scottish Government for this course to continue past the initial cohort who were going through the programme.

 

1.4       Work continued to look for opportunities to recruit more individuals into the teaching profession in 2019 and Scottish Borders Council were working in partnership with the University of Highlands and Islands to offer 6 PGDE primary teaching places.  Recruitment was underway and students would be placed for starting in August 2019.  These students would complete their placements within Scottish Borders Council schools and link with the University to follow their academic studies in a distance learning way.

 

1.5       The Committee heard from three current participants about their experience on the programme and they answered Members questions. 

 

DECISION

AGREED that Scottish Borders Council continue to :-

 

(a)       deliver ‘Grown Your Own’ Programmes for teachers; and

 

(b)       develop opportunities for increasing the teaching workforce into the future.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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