How Sheffield's trainee teachers are overcoming the obstacles of Covid-19

Great teachers are needed more than ever to enrich children’s learning amid what has been a challenging time for the educational sector - the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Before the crisis, England’s school system was facing an increasingly severe challenge of recruiting enough trainees to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) to meet growing demand.

But, according to recent Ucas figures, more than 21,000 graduates had applied to teacher training programmes since the beginning of the first coronavirus lockdown, a rise of 65 per cent on the last five years.

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What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Sarah Rockliff, Director, Learning Unlimited TSA and some of the trainees, Matthew Runton, Alice Clack and Katie Shutt.What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Sarah Rockliff, Director, Learning Unlimited TSA and some of the trainees, Matthew Runton, Alice Clack and Katie Shutt.
What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Sarah Rockliff, Director, Learning Unlimited TSA and some of the trainees, Matthew Runton, Alice Clack and Katie Shutt.
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From mid-June until mid-July alone, the rate of applications raced up by 91 per cent compared to 2019 – with fears of a faltering job market seemingly playing a role in the rise.

The Learning Unlimited School Alliance (LUTSA) takes on School Direct trainees on a year-long programme in Sheffield and, like most, has been forced to adapt to meet the challenges of Covid-19.

Each student is placed in one of 14 partner schools where they work alongside and learn from experienced teachers.

However, when schools closed in March LUTSA had to think of ways in which last year’s students could learn outside of the classroom as teaching school director, Sarah Rockliff, explained.

What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Alice Clack with teacher mentor Nick Walker a year 3 teacher at St Thomas of Canterbury School.What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Alice Clack with teacher mentor Nick Walker a year 3 teacher at St Thomas of Canterbury School.
What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Alice Clack with teacher mentor Nick Walker a year 3 teacher at St Thomas of Canterbury School.
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“We had to introduce a virtual curriculum in two weeks,” she said. “Some of it was asynchronous, doing recorded sessions, but a lot we did synchrously, so live work.”

The trainees also took part in wellbeing activities, with the curriculum tailored around this to look at how the pandemic would affect children too.

Ms Rockliff added: "What we normally rely on is them being in the classroom, that’s the whole thing about Schools Direct. We found that quite a lot of them were back in schools around May time.

"There were a lot of key-worker children in schools and some of our trainees went to their placement schools and were helping and/or providing a curriculum online.”

What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Katie Shutt.What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Katie Shutt.
What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Katie Shutt.
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Based at St Thomas of Canterbury School, in Meadowhead, the alliance works in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) on its Early Years course and with Sheffield SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training) on its general primary course.

With schools fully reopen, this year’s trainees are now learning in situ alongside their course sessions – although some have faced obstacles such as having to self-isolate or their mentors being off due to Covid-19.

Matthew Runton, who worked in IT sales before joining the SCITT course, said: "There is definitely a change but the way the course is structured and the flexibility of what Sarah has worked on – especially with the Department for Education regulations and what they’re saying you need to be a newly qualified teacher (NQT) – we’ve be able to adjust and work just as closely as we can to what is ‘normal’.”

Katie Shutt is studying the SHU course and has had to to self-isolate twice while on placement at St Thomas of Canterbury School. She added: “Having the face to face experience is the best. On Zoom it is hard to keep your concentration, you stare at a screen all day and there is no practical.

What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Matthew Runton.What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Matthew Runton.
What it is like to train to be a teacher with the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance during the pandemic. Matthew Runton.
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"All of our SHU training has been online as well… that has been the hardest part of the training. You’re not there socialising with other people doing the course who are at different schools.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.