Portsmouth Primary SCITT - School Centred Initial Teacher Training

All applications to Portsmouth Primary SCITT are initially dealt with by the General Teacher Training Registry (GTTR).

Our expectation is that prospective candidates will have some knowledge of what it is like to work in a primary or early years classroom, either on a voluntary basis or possibly working as a Learning Support Assistant.

The minimum requirement is two weeks, but we would look favourably on someone who has shown commitment to working with children over a period of several months or longer. Our expectation would then be that a member of staff in school would be willing to supply a good reference, which would highlight that commitment.

Candidates are selected for interview from those applications forwarded on to the Training Manager from the GTTR - www.gttr.ac.uk. Interviews take place at one of the SCITT schools or at the centre.

The candidate selection procedure is divided into two parts. The first takes place at Paulsgrove Primary School where candidates are invited to take part in a group discussion and are then asked to deliver a short presentation. The presentation topic will be sent to applicants before the interview day.

Providing the candidate does well in the first stage, they will be called for interview. The interview will take place at one of the SCITT schools and will last for most of a morning or afternoon.

As part of the interview process, candidates will be asked to read a story to approximately 15 children and lead a short activity linked to the story. The total time for both the story and the activity is 20 minutes. Two or three members of the SCITT team will then interview the candidate, based on their understanding of primary education, their knowledge of primary practice and why they have decided they want to become a primary or early years teacher.

Most candidates will know within two weeks as to whether they will be offered a place on the course.

We offer all candidates the opportunity to receive feedback if they are unsuccessful in their application to secure a place.

Candidates offered a place:

If candidates are offered a place they will be asked to spend some time preparing for the course. They will be required to set up course files and develop their subject knowledge particularly in the fields of English, mathematics, science and Information Technology as well as history and geography.

All candidates are told that it will be a challenging year when they are offered a place, but they are given a considerable amount of individual support from the course tutors, link tutors and mentors either in centre or school based training. The demands made on each trainee are high, and we have a reputation for training good teachers, especially in the City of Portsmouth. This is a reputation we are proud of. Our demands require a very high level of commitment from all the applicants who want to consider joining us.

All PGCE trainees must hold a satisfactory CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) enhanced disclosure before the start of the PGCE course. Details of how to apply will be provided once you have been made an offer of a place on the course.

Please note – if you are made an offer following interview, your offer will be conditional on you gaining a satisfactory CRB enhanced disclosure before the start of the course. Failure to produce this will mean that you would not have met the conditions of your offer and therefore you will lose your place on the course.