Kent and Medway Training (KMT ) is the largest school based ITT provider in the South -East region. Having recently been inspected by Ofsted, a team of 8 HMI inspectors have judged the provider to be good in all areas of the ITT framework.
The inspection took place between the 3rd and 6th May of this year and Inspectors met with the CEO and the people director from LAT, members of the strategic board, the senior director of ITT, the hub directors and their deputies, the primary director and deputy primary director, the head of recruitment and operations and director of professional learning and development for the teaching school hub.
The inspection team conducted focused reviews in a sample of subjects. In the primary phase, these were in: early reading, mathematics, science, history and physical education. Inspectors looking at the secondary phase covered: art, chemistry, design and technology, English, history and modern foreign languages. To carry out the focused reviews, inspectors met with leads for the subject, scrutinised course documents and, in some instances, observed training. Inspectors visited schools to talk with trainees, mentors and senior leaders. They looked at evidence of trainees’ learning and, where possible, observed them teach.
KMT is delighted by the outcome of the inspection and feels that the inspection and the report captures the strengths of the organisation and also its desire to move forward in the ITT sector. Trainee teachers are at the centre of everything that we do so we were delighted when Ofsted commented that
“Trainees choose Kent and Medway Training (KMT) because of its commitment to ensuring that trainees emerge fully prepared for the profession and equipped to continue to develop and thrive.”
As if that wasn’t enough success Kent and Medway Training one of only 80 providers awarded accreditation by the DfE in Round 1
8 days after the Ofsted inspection, Kent and Medway Training were informed that they had been successful in their bid for re-accreditation to deliver Initial Teacher Training under the new Quality Requirements being introduced in 2024.
ITT Reforms
Alongside the development and introduction of the Core Content Framework (CCF) for ITT and the Early Career Framework in the past two years, ambitious new Quality Requirements for the delivery of ITT were recently released. All providers have had to go through a rigorous re-accreditation process based around how they will meet the new Quality Requirements in order to continue delivering ITT from September 2024.
Of the 240 ITT providers nationally, KMT was one of just 80 providers awarded accreditation in Round 1. Feedback provided by the DfE describes how KMT fully met the criteria in every aspect of the accreditation process, outlining how KMT “will provide high-quality ITT and benefit trainee outcomes” and that proposals demonstrate “a good level of knowledge, expertise, experience, capability and capacity.”
Phased Implementation of the new KMT Curriculum
This academic year, KMT introduced a new cross-phase ITT curriculum. This bespoke curriculum was designed to fully incorporate and go beyond the minimum entitlements of the CCF. KMT’s six key curriculum strands and their associated key content areas are deliberately interwoven, providing Associate Teachers (ATs) with repeated opportunities to develop wider, more critical understanding in phase and subject-specific contexts. Close links between KMT and partner schools ensure purposeful integration of learning on a weekly basis between central-based training and school practice.
During Phase 2 of implementation, which spans the next two academic years, the focus will be on further development of subject specificity within the KMT ITT curriculum. The duration of the programme will be extended for 2022/23 and again in 2023/24 to allow adequate time for this increased focus on subject at both primary and secondary levels, supporting ATs to acquire a deeper understanding of the breadth and depth of substantive and disciplinary knowledge.
The 2024/25 academic year will see the introduction of Intensive Training and Practice (ITP). This experience, which is in addition to the standard placement programme, enables ATs to observe and practise selected, specific elements of the ITT curriculum and receive highly targeted feedback from experts. A new ‘Faculty Lead Mentor’ role will also be established. These subject experts will play an integral role in the design and delivery of ITPs, ensuring KMT continues to be at the forefront of evidence-informed initial teaching training, as well as supporting lead mentors and school-based mentors to deliver the full KMT curriculum under the new Quality Requirements.
If you are a school looking to expand your ITT and Assessment Only provision and are interested in working with us, please contact Stuart Russell, Senior Director of ITT at KMT
stuart.russell@kmtraining.org.uk
