A PARTNERSHIP between a school and Milton Keynes College is aiming to tackle the shortage of teachers in classrooms across the city.
The collaboration between Milton Keynes College and Two Mile Ash Initial Teacher Training Partnership aims to enable would-be teachers to take a part-time Access to Higher Education course at the college to prepare them to study for a BA Hons in Primary Education with QTS at Two Mile Ash Initial Teacher Training Partnership.
Nationally, government targets for teacher training have been missed for the past seven years with many schools struggling to recruit staff. The part-time is also targeted at people who are in work, enabling those considering a career change to teaching to do all their training in the city and be ready to work in schools at the end of it.
The course is also expected to be popular with those already working in schools, such as classroom assistants and returning parents.
Kieran Grimes, adult learning lead at Milton Keynes College, said: “We have worked with Two Mile Ash on an informal basis for a couple of years and the partnership has been incredibly effective so we thought it made sense to create a formal pathway.
“It will mean people taking an access course with us will be able to see their future mapped out in front of them right from the start.”
The Access courses will be available online and be recorded so students can access them at any time. There will be a face-to-face session once a month once restrictions allow.
“This is in part another side-effect of the pandemic,” said Mr Grimes. “People have become much more confident online than they were and that has allowed us to take a blended approach to the course.”
Sarah Hand, head of initial teacher training at The Two Mile Ash Partnership, said: “We are delighted to formalise what has already been an incredibly effective relationship with Milton Keynes College.
“We are excited to broaden the range of opportunities we offer our potential trainees in order to continue to attract a wide range of individuals who will, with our support, become some of the very best newly qualified teachers in the area.”
The courses begin with a short distance learning module online to assess the suitability of each student for the courses proper.
Mr Grimes said: “Applicants will have to be really motivated because it is a lot of work but then so it should be if we want to produce the best teachers we can for the city’s children.”
To find out more, email Kieran Grimes at kieran.grimes@mkcollege.ac.uk
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