Within the St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust we believe in growing the talents of all our staff. We are ambitious for all of our staff to be the best they can be as we seek to provide the children and young adults we serve an education that is simply exceptional.

St Thomas CPD: Our Aims

1. To grow the talents of all staff through first class training
2. To provide opportunities to build a portfolio of experience across school settings
3. To build and secure a highly confident, highly knowledgeable and highly skilled workforce
4. To secure future leaders and retain great talent
5. To grow a community of schools supporting schools

Support staff ambition pathways:

Support staff are pivotal to the success of any great school and organisation.  Within the St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust we are building a series of pathways that will provide support staff the opportunity to grow in their work, increasing their readiness to move into areas of management or specialism.

Teaching Internships and Training to become a teacher:

Become a Teacher with STCAT Hub – in partnership with Xavier Teach SouthEast Teaching School Hub, we offer a range of routes towards QTS for both internal and external applicants. More information is available in our Become a Teacher page.

For those interested in training to become teachers within our Trust we offer internships within the Summer term of each academic year as part of the DfE funded secondary programme, along with additional unfunded internships in Primary settings and secondary subjects currently unfunded by the DfE. As part of this programme interns get the opportunity to be interviewed for - and apply to - the next stage of their teaching career – the SCITT programme.

Teacher Development: The Early Career Framework

We are proud to be a delivery partner for Xavier Teach SouthEast and TeachFirst. For the statutory two-year induction programme for early career entrants, we offer individual mentoring and support, a range of seminars covering pedagogy, curriculum and the theory behind these. We gather collectively for training on a regular basis in our three geographical hubs in Luton, South Bucks and Aylesbury which also helps our ECTs build wider networks. 

Teacher Development: The path to leadership

As teachers progress in their careers, some may already have Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) status – these are experienced middle leaders or senior leaders who have the skills, knowledge and capacity to drive improvement across the Trust. Alternatively, there are growing opportunities to become Trust Leaders of Education (TLE) - these are leaders who have a specific role for school improvement in an area of specific need.

We encourage our curriculum and pastoral middle leaders to follow the National Professional Programmes (NPQs) where appropriate, and we use a range of providers to facilitate these courses. Similarly, senior leaders are encouraged to pursue the NPQH and NPQEL courses.  Further we offer a suite of training provided by colleagues within the Trust focused on securing excellence in leadership.

In addition to working to generate a vibrant Trust CPD offer, schools in the Trust also collaborate with a wide range of other organisations as we promote the very best opportunities for learners.