Teaching Staff Development

We are a SCITT, offering teacher training with a full range of programmes and subjects on offer. Our trainees use words like ‘welcoming’, ‘caring’ and ‘supportive’ again and again in their evaluations, and this really sums up our ethos: the wonderful team are here to support everyone, from those straight out of Uni to career changers, to excel in joining this brilliant profession.  

Train to teach with Bishop Challoner SCITT 

For Early Career Teachers, we deliver the Best Practice Network programme, which has provided some exceptional development for registered ECTs. Delivered by teachers and facilitators from Bishop Challoner Catholic College, but with mentoring support to help ECTs apply learning in their own context, this programme is designed to help all ECTs build strong foundations for a teaching career we hope will last many years. 

Working with trainees and ECTs, of course mentoring is at the core of our practice. We believe that to mentor is great CPD for the mentor as well as the mentee, and we invest time and support in empowering mentors to excel in their crucial roles.  

Early Career Teachers and mentor – development programme with Best Practice Network 

For staff beyond their ECT years, our Professional Growth model sets out the full (ever-growing) menu of CPD and development opportunities, both internal and external. Nothing stands still at Bishop Challoner Catholic College, and before you have been with us long, you are likely to be both engaging with, facilitating, or even leading CPD to develop for others, taking your expertise and using it to support other developing teachers.  

CPD for teachers – sign up for NPQs here 

In joining Bishop Challoner, you are not just joining a lone school. As Bishop Challoner Training School Alliance, we have achieved designations including SCITT provider,  Training School, Computing Hub and Maths Hub, which involve staff delivering CPD opportunities for colleagues across the region – and indeed nationally. We are at the heart of the development and delivery of programmes to support non-specialist teachers in physics, maths and MFL and we work in partnership with the Royal Society to develop STEM projects and resources that benefit pupils across multiple schools, including our own. As a school, we are at the cutting edge of national educational developments.  To join Bishop Challoner is not just to join a school with great CPD, but to join a community with a mission to support great CPD to thousands of other schools and teachers across England.  

We have included links to our various designations so that you can explore the opportunities that are available to you. Many of these are free, with funding available for some projects.

At Bishop Challoner Catholic College, we are committed to supporting the development of education professionals through a wide range of high-quality Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities. Whether you are considering a career in teaching, an Early Career Teacher, an experienced practitioner or looking to develop your leadership skills, there are opportunities to enhance your knowledge, strengthen your practice and progress your career. Explore the links below to discover some of the training, development programmes and professional learning opportunities available, including teacher training, ECT and mentor development, National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) and subject-specific CPD.

Explore our CPD opportunities:

• Train to Teach – Bishop Challoner SCITT

• Early Career Teachers and Mentor Development – Best Practice Network

• National Professional Qualifications (NPQs)

• Central Maths Hub

• Subject Knowledge for Physics Teaching – STEM Learning