Teaching alliance is the place to go for advice and training

Jo Peach, director of the Portsmouth Teaching School Alliance

We are a group of over 30 schools and other organisations in Portsmouth working together to help each other improve outcomes for pupils.

We run professional development for existing staff and also train people who want to become teachers.

This funding will enable us to continue the excellent work going on.

The Alliance has run over 50 professional development sessions already this year which have been attended by in excess of 750 staff.

One headteacher said it’s the ‘go to’ place for advice and training and it’s all local.

The courses are varied and schools decide what they need and then we organise it.

We often use expertise within Portsmouth, sharing our own good practice, and we also have a wide network of excellent national contacts who come and work with us including consultants, Ofsted inspectors and the Regional Schools Commissioner.

One of the outstanding features of the Alliance is our expertise in the field of special needs.

We are able to offer a wide range of professional development opportunities for staff and parents in areas such as autism and Asperger’s syndrome, developing effective communication as well as supporting pupils with learning difficulties and physical disabilities.

We also have a very strong maths hub, which is a regional centre specialising in excellent maths teaching and which is leading the way nationally with new techniques which help pupils to master the subject, raising outcomes.

Our Early Years Hub is working with children from 20 settings with a focus on early language development.

The courses offered have been well attended from across the city and our Early Years provision is a real strength.

The Alliance works with teachers at all stages of their career from those who are training to teach to those who are recently qualified, right up to those who want to apply for headship.

We have several teachers attending the regional training for aspiring middle and senior leaders, several of whom have already applied for jobs in the area.

Alison Beane, executive head of Solent Academies Trust, said: ‘It is so good to see the talent being nurtured here – we are training Portsmouth’s teachers and leaders of tomorrow.’

For more information, go to portsmouthtsa.org or phone (023) 9289 3702.