UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 18 JANUARY 2016
A West Midlands course which provides on-the-job training for new teachers and helps support disadvantaged school children has been given top marks by education watchdog Ofsted.
A report published today (Monday 18 January) revealed that the Teach First course provided by Birmingham City University was rated as outstanding in all four categories assessed, following an inspection carried out last year.
The assessment looked at the overall effectiveness, outcomes for participants, quality of training and the quality of leadership and management, for both the University's primary and secondary school courses.
Charity Teach First trains graduates as teachers, in schools based in low income parts of the region to improve the life chances of children and young people for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
It offers a Teach First Leadership Development Programme which combines teacher training with a range of other opportunities including business skills training and mentoring.
Students undertake a 13-month course and are equipped with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) as well as Qualified Teacher Status.
More than 175 students took part in Birmingham City University’s courses during the 2014/15 academic year.
Davinder Dosanjh, Programme Director for Teach First at Birmingham City University, said: "Following two years of dedication and hard work by our highly effective team, who year on year have delivered exceptional outcomes, we are overjoyed with the outstanding judgements from Ofsted.
Birmingham City University have been providing Teach First courses since 2013 after being named as the designated West Midlands provider.
Anita Wheeler, Local Area Director at Teach First said: “The inspectors highlighted the significant impact Teach First, our university partners and teachers are making in transforming schools. This outstanding rating is testament to the dedication and hard work of the thousands of teachers working each day in schools serving low income communities across the country.
"The passion and dedication of all those involved with the Teach First partnership, from participants on our training programme, to our university partners, schools and businesses, and many more has enabled us to support over a million pupils. We will continue to work with our partners to improve our work and strive to ensure that no child's educational success is limited by their socio-economic background."
Cliff Allan, Vice-Chancellor at Birmingham City University, added: "On behalf of the University as a whole I would like to congratulate the Teach First team for this truly excellent outcome.
"Hard and high quality work always should be recognised and I am delighted that the challenging Ofsted process has done just that."