Our ITT Vision

Mission: Recruiting Outstanding Individuals that develop into Exceptional Teachers to create World Class Leaders.

At Barr’s Hill school we don’t just develop trainees into teachers: we develop outstanding leaders to live and breathe our values in “Building Brighter Futures”. We believe in a culture of shared leadership responsibility, where our teachers are encouraged to take an active leadership role with their peers, work collaboratively, and provide opportunities to ensure the success of new initiatives. Our teachers are recognised as experts in their field with valuable insights to share; here we utilise carefully selected CPD and research to inform our approach to leading development. Our staff have a relentless approach to increasing the life chances and aspirations of our students through our values and principles. Our teachers are leaders first and foremost who strive to shape, increase and illuminate the life chances and aspirations of our diverse group of students – this begins from the first day with us.

We fully immerse our trainees into our culture of excellence, working across the Trust and with wider partners to ensure that they have the support and opportunities they need in order to become excellent practitioners and experts in their chosen fields. Our collaborative approach results in our trainees being able to broaden their experiences across the Trust and other learning communities to ensure that their understanding of education is well-developed and far-reaching. Colleagues throughout the school consistently reflect upon and improve subject, pedagogical and content knowledge where our trainees lead on developing that culture early in their career. Our carefully crafted Teaching and Learning principles allow colleagues the space and autonomy to be authentic in their teaching practice, allowing the freedom for innovation and creativity, whilst our principles and values drive consistency across the school. We are at the forefront of curriculum design.

We offer a wide range of early experiences, so that trainees have the opportunity to see our values in action. We seek to secure and develop the best trainees, and in turn, we develop the best mentors. This means we establish effective coaching and mentoring relationships which are personal to each individual and their needs. Each trainee’s 3 Year Journey (From ITT, to ECT, to RQT) will be different. This is reflected in the personalised approach to CPD, which is grounded in research, and allows our trainees to flourish at a rapid pace, with many of our trainees taking on additional responsibilities across a wide range of career pathways early on in their teaching career. Our trainees are rooted in the common purpose and values of our school through their involvement in our community projects and enrichment offers for our students. As a result of the culture we create around CPD and development of colleagues we ensure that they belong within our school community and become excellent leaders as a result of the high class support they are offered and experiences they are provided.