Regional teaching hub launched

The University of Cambridge Primary School (UCPS) has become a regional hub for the Chartered College of Teaching (CCT).

Through the work with the University of Cambridge and other local and National partners, the regional hub is designed to be an energising and intellectually stimulating space to foster relationships and nurture professional dialogue among teachers.

It will help teachers to explore notions of research-informed and research-generating practices which will benefit teachers and their pupils across the region.

It offers an opportunity to support educators to feel inspired to further inspire the children they work with.

Dr James Biddulph, headteacher of the UCPS, said: “We are committed to exemplary teaching and learning for children.  In our approach to learning, we aim to be creative, bold, free thinking and rigorous.  The school endeavours to put into practice what matters to children and is also an innovative professional learning community for teachers.  By becoming a hub for the Chartered College of Teaching we hope to share best practice across East Anglia and the Fens and benefit from the experience of teachers from across the region.”

The University of Cambridge Primary School opened in 2015 and was the first primary University Training School in the UK.

Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge said: “We know that excellent teaching transforms the lives of all students, from those in early years to adult learners.  We also know at the University of Cambridge that collaboration allows best practice and world-leading research to be shared and increases the benefit to the public that knowledge can impart.

“I am delighted that the primary school will be the hub to develop, support and give voice to teachers in the region, enabling them to be the best they can, for the benefit of teaching in general and for their pupils in particular.”

The CCT is a new initiative, set up in early 2017 to promote what works in teaching and help teachers from across the country to interact.

Professor Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive of CCT, said: “The education landscape is challenging. Everything from curricular and assessment reform and budget constraints and workload concerns, to feelings of disempowerment and disillusion, can hamper what happens in the classroom.  We set up the Chartered College of Teaching to change that.  This is a once-in-a-generation chance for the teaching profession and we are incredibly encouraged that an exemplary organisation like the University of Cambridge Primary School, with its links to research within the university and beyond, takes on the role as a hub for the region.”

A launch event for the hub tonight (January 30) will set the scene for the role of the hub in supporting teachers engaging with research-informed teaching throughout Cambridgeshire and the Fens.