Early Career Teacher Development
Published: 6 March 2020
“If you are thinking about applying, then think no more. Get the application written as it will provide you with a life changing experience.”
Applications are now open for the 2020/21 Early Career Teacher Development programme. The programme is designed to support early career physics teachers (between their second and fifth year of teaching post qualifying) in their subject knowledge and pedagogical development following their formal teacher training.
“Retention of excellent science teachers in the profession remains a concern across the education sector,” explains James de Winter, Associate Lecturer in Science Education at the University of Cambridge and Ogden lead for initial teacher education & early career teacher development. “We hope that the Early Career Teacher Development programme provides some much needed support and nurture for teachers as they begin their careers.”
The programme, which awards a grant to the school as a time buy out of a half day per week, involves regular mentoring, additional CPD, and set timetable release to develop subject knowledge and pedagogy, Daniel Hobson has taken part in the programme this year.
“As an early career physics teacher, you can often feel alone which is generally caused by the lack of physics teachers in your department. When I first started at my school, I was the only physics teacher, and this meant I had no one to bounce ideas off.
“The Early Career Teacher Development programme has enabled me to meet fellow teachers and leading practitioners of physics. The events organised have allowed me to not only develop connections, they have also enabled me to develop subject knowledge aimed at promoting better progress within the classroom. Having access to a physics mentor has been greatly beneficial as it has allowed me to evaluate my approach to certain topics but also to get advice on how to adapt lessons to suit all children.
“The programme has allowed me to experience a couple of ‘magic’ moments already in the classroom. The first was the forces dance mat aimed at allowing students to think about resolving forces; the other was creating a new model for the alpha scattering experiment which involved a hula hoop, marble and a nerf gun.
“Another benefit of the programme is gaining extra time to reflect on your teaching practice. The programme provides half a day off timetable and this has allowed me to trial new practical activities, develop better assessment but more importantly allowed me to develop myself. The professional CPD undertaken in these hours has developed me as a teacher but has also allowed me to pass on these ideas to the department. Consequently, physics teaching can become stronger across the whole school.
“I’m looking forward to developing this early career network further and hoping to attend more events that are specifically related to physics. The Ogden Trust has provided me with a platform to develop but has also provided me with support in the tough moments. If you are thinking about applying, then think no more. Get the application written as it will provide you with a life changing experience.”
The Ogden Early Career Teacher Development programme awards a grant to the school as a time buy out of a half day per week (0.1FTE) at a set rate of £2,500 for one year. At the time of application, the school must confirm that they will support this time release, if the applicant is successful.
Application deadline for academic year 2020/21: 22 May 2020. Find out more about the Early Career Teacher Development programme on our Teacher Support pages.
Eligibility criteria:
* Applicants must be teaching physics in a state school in England and entering their second to fifth year post qualifying (as previously)
** For applicant teachers entering their second year post qualification, in schools participating rollout of the UK Government Early Career Framework Support Package, Ogden Trust time buy-out funding is not available, however teachers are eligible to receive mentorship and subject specific CPD.
If you’re unsure about the status of your school’s participation in the government scheme, please contact Paul Sapple (paul.sapple@ogdentrust.com) to discuss your eligibility.