School Blog
Welcome to Teacher Training with JTSCITT
This blog welcomes our new trainees to the JTSCITT, sharing more about our approach, our personalised support and building a teaching career.
As Director of the John Taylor SCITT, I often return to the saying: “It takes a village to raise a child.” The same principle holds true for teacher training: it takes a whole school to train a teacher. No single person carries this responsibility alone. Instead, every member of a school community plays a part in shaping the next generation of educators.
Of course, mentors and professional mentors are at the centre. Modelling, mentoring and coaching what great teaching looks like. But their influence is amplified by a much wider network of colleagues, each individual contributes something unique to a trainee’s development.
On their very first day, it is often the reception team who offer the smile and reassurance that sets the tone. IT technicians and reprographics staff ensure that logins, access, and ID badges are ready, making a trainee feel like part of the team from the outset. Site staff and caretakers create the safe, well-kept environment in which both children and adults can thrive.
Pastoral leaders and designated safeguarding leads demonstrate the profound responsibility of keeping children safe. Heads of Year, attendance officers, and pastoral staff reveal the careful, consistent work that goes into supporting pupils’ wellbeing and engagement. Teaching assistants provide daily insight into how collaboration supports learning, particularly for pupils with additional needs, while cover supervisors model how to respond, build presence and manage classrooms when plans change.
Subject teachers across departments open their doors, offering inspiration, feedback, and professional dialogue. Exams officers guide trainees through the systems of assessment and accountability, while librarians and resource managers champion literacy and research, encouraging curiosity in both pupils and staff. Catering staff, often overlooked, show how mealtimes foster community, inclusion, and wellbeing.
Beyond the classroom, enrichment leaders in sport, music, and the arts highlight the importance of extra-curricular activities in building relationships and broadening opportunities. Business managers and finance teams illustrate how resources and budgets underpin every aspect of school life. Governors and trustees, meanwhile, provide a window into governance aid in reminding trainees that schools are also civic institutions, accountable to their communities.
This is why school-based teacher training is so powerful: trainees don’t just learn teaching techniques, they learn the rhythms, relationships, and responsibilities of real school life. And they learn it from all of us.
So, whether you’re teaching a lesson, fixing a photocopier jam, leading a rehearsal, or welcoming someone at the front desk, please know that you are part of the journey. You are helping to prepare the teachers of tomorrow and by proxy helping even more students to gain a high quality education.
At John Taylor SCITT, we see daily how powerful that collective effort is. And we’re deeply grateful for everything you do to make our trainees feel supported, valued, and inspired.
Because, just as it takes a village to raise a child, it really does take a whole school to train a teacher.
In the end, teacher training is not an individual endeavour but a collective one. It is the strength of the whole school community, each role, each contribution, that shapes, supports, and inspires the teachers of tomorrow.
At John Taylor SCITT, we are continually reminded that it truly does take a whole school to train a teacher, and it is this shared commitment that makes the journey so meaningful.
This blog welcomes our new trainees to the JTSCITT, sharing more about our approach, our personalised support and building a teaching career.
Nervous to start your teacher training with us? In this blog, Mike Simmons, Director of JTSCITT, shares more about your first week so you can start your teaching journey with us feeling prepared and confident.
In this blog, Mike Simmons, Director of JTSCITT, highlights the importance of the summer before teacher training as a valuable time for preparation.
In this blog, our Director, Mike Simmons, celebrates his 10th year of leading individuals through initial teacher training. He share some of his career highlights as well as his learnings.
