Woodside Academy is currently the lead school in a training partnership working with Essex Initial Teacher Training. Graduate trainees on the programme working at Woodside or one of our partner schools and receiving training on site at one of the Essex centres and can gain Qualified Teacher Status within a year. We have been running this and similar programmes for some years and many of our staff are our own ex-trainees. Last year we trained 6 teachers and 2 of them are now teaching in the school. We are currently working with another group of trainees, 3 of whom will be working here next year. From September, Essex Initial Teacher Training will no longer be operating and we will be working with Benfleet-based partnership BTSA. We will be able to provide the same training opportunities but we will no longer be the lead school.
We welcome volunteers but we obviously need to conduct thorough checks before this can happen. Volunteering to help in class can provide the essential experience you need if you are planning to work in education but would not necessarily be the route to a support staff post at Woodside. When recruiting teaching assistants we have a policy of employing either graduates who intend to follow a career in teaching and may later wish to join our graduate training programme or individuals with proven training and experience in given specialized support to children will complex needs in an educational setting.
We occasionally need people to able to cover the absence of cleaning, catering or lunchtime supervisory staff and this is work which could lead to a permanent post. If you could be suitable and available for such please contact the school office with your details.