Trainee teachers in Essex are continuing their training during lockdown and will still qualify this year

Trainee teachers in Stansted are continuing their training during the lockdown.

A group of 28 trainee teachers working at primary and secondary schools are on track to complete their training by July.

Donna Walsh, BMAT (Burnt Mill Academy Trust) Teaching School director, and Sian Cockman assistant head, have brought the group together on video calls to provide support and to enable the trainees to socialise with their colleagues and share ideas for remote learning.

The trainee teachers are continuing with their assignments and working remotely to keep on track with their programme.

Mrs Walsh said: “Our school-based trainees are working with their mentors and external tutors to gather the evidence they need to meet the Teachers’ Standards. We are supporting them to keep on track and to pass and achieve Qualified Teacher Status at the end of the term.

“Normally, our trainees would be teaching a lot in class at the moment, so we are having to be flexible and think outside the box to ensure they still get the pedagogical and subject training they need. Many of them are on the rota to go into their school, so they are spending as much time with children in the classroom as is possible under the circumstances.”