At The Ongar Academy we are passionate about Initial Teacher Training. Today’s trainee teachers will be future classroom practitioners and school leaders. We are proud of the work we do in preparing trainee teachers for their future careers with a significant number of our current teaching staff have trained here. At The Ongar Academy all trainees are supported with excellent professional development programmes, weekly meetings with their mentors, fortnightly meetings with their Pathway Tutor and the outstanding online learning resources and CPD opportunities.

At The Ongar Academy we are proud of our links with a range of Initial Teacher Training providers including:

• Essex School Direct
• Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training (MEITT)
• University of East London
• Roehampton University, London

Essex School Direct

Essex School Direct is a large and successful teacher-training provider, covering the Epping Forest, Chelmsford, Harlow, Havering and Herts areas. If you’re looking for a new challenge during these uncertain times, or if you have a degree and would like to put it to good use, you should consider teaching.  Currently, we are training over 50 teachers, both primary and secondary, in 24 Good & Outstanding schools. Our completion rate is sector-leading – last year, it was 97%, which is significantly higher than most programmes. An impressive 74% of our trainees found employment in partnership schools – the majority of those before the end of the course and many in the school where they trained. (Our trainees often know about opportunities long before anyone else and schools like dealing with a training provider they know and trust).  

It’s a great time to be joining the profession - starting pay is good and there are strong promotion opportunities. We have a part-time route for those who would be unable to train full-time and we pride ourselves on being a flexible and caring team. Our trainees are a very diverse group; they range in age from early 20s to mid-50s and beyond, some come straight from university, many are career changers and others are returning to work after starting families. The minimum requirement is a recognised degree and GCSEs (or equivalent) in Maths and English Language at Grade C/4 (+ Science Grade C/4 for primary trainees).

For Further Information: https://www.essexschooldirect.com/

Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training (MEITT)

If you would like to find out more, please email us, call the office to speak to one of our friendly team on 01376 556398, or download a comprehensive brochure from our website https://www.midessexteachertraining.com/

• Mid Essex ITT has a small, friendly team of staff who get to know all the trainees well and are able to offer personalised support for them every Thursday.
• We have links with more than 20 Essex schools.
• We have an excellent employment record - virtually all of our successful trainees are offered Early Career Teacher (ECT) teaching posts, many within the schools in our partnership.
• Weekly professional training - this is normally held in the Braintree Arts Theatre but is sometimes online.
• Mid Essex ITT is fully committed to fairness and equality. We strive to recruit from all backgrounds and value the diversity this brings to the profession. We have full disabled access at our training venue and at a number of schools. We welcome any requests from applicants concerning anything we can do to support you as you apply to join the course.
• More than 25 years’ teaching experience and more than 800 alumni.
• A commitment to safer recruitment and safeguarding within our schools.