Supporting school staff into further education
By Carys Davis
Carys Davis is Director of Initial Teacher Training at the Brigshaw Learning Partnership. Here she shares why they are partnering with the Centre in the first year of the prospective Foundation Degree as one of the planned delivery centres of the programme.
In my role as Director of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) at the Brigshaw Learning Partnership, I spend lots of time speaking to people at different points in their journey into teaching.
Some are experienced support staff already making a real difference in classrooms. Others are school leavers who are clear they want to work with children but don’t feel that a traditional university route is right for them.
What I hear again and again in these conversations is uncertainty about progression. Training to teach requires a degree, and without accessible routes into degree-level study, moving forward can feel out of reach – even for people with the skills, commitment and experience to succeed.
When I joined the Brigshaw Learning Partnership, one of the things that stood out immediately was the strength of our community in East Leeds. There is a real commitment from staff, families and partners to do the very best for children, and a huge amount of talent beyond the teaching staff in our schools.
The Centre for the Children’s Workforce describes this talent as a children’s workforce that’s “hiding in plain sight”. For this highly-skilled, often under-valued group of people, the issue has never been a lack of motivation. It is a lack of clear pathways.
“For this highly-skilled, often under-valued group of people, the issue has never been a lack of motivation. It is a lack of clear pathways.”
In recent years, we’ve seen what can happen when those pathways are in place.
Through our Initial Teacher Training programme, we have successfully recruited trainee teachers locally who trained with us and now work in our schools. Some are also parents of children in our classrooms. They understand the community because they are part of it. That connection brings consistency and a strong sense of responsibility.
In truth, without a locally delivered programme, several of these colleagues simply would not have entered the profession.
Those experiences have also influenced how I think about workforce development more widely. Across East Leeds, adults working with children, in our schools and early years settings, are supporting learning, building relationships and helping children navigate challenges.
Yet structured opportunities to develop and progress are not always easy to access. Family commitments and financial concerns are often limiting factors.
For me, the Foundation Degree is one way of addressing these limiting factors.
In the short term, it supports those brilliant colleagues already working with children in our schools to strengthen their knowledge and practice without leaving their current roles.
It also provides a pathway to teacher training, helping people to make informed decisions about their next steps grounded in the realities of the classroom.
Drawing on what we have learned through our teacher training programme, I believe this approach will support a workforce that is more resilient and more likely to stay to make a difference in our schools.
“This approach will support a workforce that is more resilient and more likely to stay to make a difference in our schools.”
Importantly, the Foundation Degree is open to anyone working with children locally, not just those employed by the Brigshaw Learning Partnership. That matters too. Our children’s experiences are shaped by a range of adults across different settings, and over the long-term, shared development will help build stronger connections across the children’s workforce.
The potential here is significant – not only for individuals, but for the stability and strength of the children’s workforce across our community.
At the Brigshaw Learning Partnership, our mission is to enable every child to achieve, thrive and make a difference. If we want this to happen, we need to think carefully about how we support the adults around them to do the same. The Foundation Degree is a very practical step in that direction.
I’m really looking forward to seeing the impact that the Foundation Degree – and the broader work done by the Centre for the Children’s Workforce – has in our community over time.