Train to teach at Windsor Academy Trust

12th January 2022

Are you interested in training to become a teacher? Read more about the ways we are able to help support this with the School Direct Route in partnership with the University of Birmingham.

Windsor Academy Trust has a long well-established partnership with the University of Birmingham in delivering teacher training through the school direct route. School Direct means that you complete both of your training placements in a WAT school whilst completing your PGDipEd qualification with the University of Birmingham.  

School direct trainees follow the same curriculum as all other University of Birmingham teacher trainees but the time in school is longer.  This approach gives you more time in the classroom to trial and develop what you have learned at university.  

Here is one of school direct trainees Leanne Adderley who was a student at Windsor High School and Sixth Form and now works at here as a German teacher.  

Leanne was a school direct trainee in 2019-2020

Current position: German teacher KS3-5 Windsor High School and Sixth Form, with responsibility for leading the PASCH project in conjunction with Goethe Institute. 

Route into teaching:  School Direct through University of Birmingham and Windsor Academy Trust.  

Placement schools: Kingswinford Academy and Windsor High School and Sixth Form

University: University of Birmingham, University of Augsburg, Germany.  BA - German and German translation.

Sixth Form:  Windsor High School and Sixth Form.

A Levels: German, Law, English. 

EPQ:  Franz Kafka (Leanne now teaches Kafka's Die Verwandlung at A Level at Windsor!)

Enrichment: Acting as classroom support in KS3 language lessons

Here is Leanne at Windsor during her Sixth Form studies, she is second from the right:

 Leanne comments on her school direct training are below:

“I felt part of the school teaching staff straightaway, from the very first day in September.”

“I quickly became part of the MFL department in school.”

“The ECT support at WAT was great.  There were lots of opportunities to network with other ECTs across our family of schools”.

You can apply for school direct placements through the government website here.  School direct attracts the same bursaries for teacher training as other routes into teaching.

If you would like more information please email teachertraining@windsoracademytrust.org.uk