Wycombe High School Academies Trust to lead England’s first Mathematics and Physics SCITT

Wycombe High School Academies Trust has been designated the National School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) for Mathematics and Physics, a new DfE initiative designed to give Mathematics and Physics trainees the best practical experience during their teacher training. 

More than a third of Physics teachers and a fifth of Mathematics teachers are teaching without a degree in these subjects in the UK, and the new SCITT will work to help tackle this issue. The programme will set the gold standard in specialist teacher training, bringing together the benefits of on-the-job teaching offered by a traditional SCITT, with the enhanced focus on specialist subject knowledge and pedagogy normally offered by a university-based course.

The new SCITT – the second national programme of its kind – is called the National Mathematics and Physics SCITT (NMAPS) and has three hubs: in High Wycombe, where Wycombe High School will be the lead school, in London and in the north of England. The initial teacher training will be delivered in partnership with the University of Buckingham and led by specialist Physics and Mathematics practitioners working in a network of image017.png@01D34BF8″ width=”304″ height=”251″ />the best state and independent schools nationally, to ensure the highest quality educational provision.

Sarah Yarwood, SCITT and Teaching School Director at Wycombe High School, said: “This national partnership of both state and independent schools offers unrivalled access to a range of experiences and training opportunities, across all sectors of education, for anyone wanting to train to teach Physics or Mathematics.

“It is an exciting and very prestigious achievement for Wycombe High School Academies Trust, and Wycombe High School as the hub school for the South and West region – the school has been involved in School Direct, a teacher training programme that places trainees in schools for one day a week, since 2013 and is one of only 35 Maths Hubs in the country, so is well placed to take on this new challenge. Wycombe High School will use its position as lead school for the new SCITT to strive to achieve its goal of delivering outstanding mathematics and physics provision, no longer just amongst the School Direct schools we are in partnership with locally, but across England. The SCITT is also a fantastic prospect for our teachers as it provides additional CPD opportunities outside the classroom – we are truly honoured to be selected to lead the programme.”

The SCITT will give trainees links with key professional associations that provide on-going high quality professional development, including The Institute of Physics, The Mathematical Association and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) and their regional Maths Hubs.