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Key Data

  • 597

    NPQ Registrations

  • 1457

    Early Career Teachers & Mentors

  • 354

    ITT Associate Teachers

School-led, Transformative,
Excellence in Partnership

Initial Teacher Training (ITT)

Our trainees are more than half-way through the course and on track to qualifying with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education(PGCE) with Qualified Teacher Status(QTS).

As you know, teacher recruitment has been a persistent issue for more than a decade. Recent parliamentary reports highlight that most secondary subjects continue to face under‑recruitment, despite government incentives. This shortage is part of a wider challenge around both recruitment and retention, which remain closely linked.

We know that many of you talk about struggling to assemble a strong field of applicants and may be having to recruit more inexperienced or unqualified candidates when necessary due to managing budget constraints and having to adjust staffing models.

With that in mind, we are busy recruiting for the 2026-2027 cohort and are excited to share the launch of our ITT Toolkit, which gives lots of information about the routes into teaching as well as a resource hub that we invite you to browse and share with members of support staff, parents and carers and the wider community. We hope you will join us on our journey to training the next generation of teachers, home grown, who want to teach in their local community.

Showcase Your Partnership with STEP

As a valued partner school, you play a central role in shaping and strengthening the STEP brand. By proudly displaying the Proud Partner School badge, you help us build a clear, recognisable identity across the region — one that highlights our shared commitment to developing excellent future teachers.

Visibility matters. When parents, visitors, prospective staff and trainees see the STEP badge on your website, newsletters, email signatures or social channels, it helps:

  • Raise awareness of the high-quality training offered through the STEP
  • Increase trust and credibility in our partnership and teacher development offer
  • Attract more potential applicants, who often explore school websites and communications when deciding where to train
  • Strengthen our collective voice in promoting teaching as a rewarding and accessible career
  • Showcase your school’s commitment to professional development and the future of education

Each time the badge appears, whether on a webpage, in an email footer, or in a school newsletter, it amplifies our message and helps more people discover the teacher training opportunities available through STEP.

Please download and share the image below wherever you feel it will have the greatest impact. By promoting our shared brand, you directly support trainee recruitment and help shape the next generation of outstanding teachers.

 

Supporting our trainee & qualified teachers on maternity/paternity leave

You will be aware that the parent-educator community have been recognised in the White Paper with a commitment to ongoing support for returning parents, including an increase in maternity pay. At STEP, we are proud to be supporting our colleagues on maternity/paternity leave, so that they are confident to return to their substantive role in school. We know that this can be a lonely and often daunting time, when thinking about returning to work. We are supporting the Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher scheme, by funding all teachers in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin to access free training and support.

Here are three opportunities coming up in March to share with colleagues currently on parental leave and those returning to work in the next few months:

Spring Parental Leave group coaching - begins on Monday 16th March - 18 live places remaining

March Return to Work workshop - Monday 23rd March - good live capacity remaining

For further information - https://www.mtpt.org.uk/ or info@stepwm2.co.uk

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