Colyton School gets 'teaching hub' status

And half a million pounds!

An East Devon school is to receive more than half a million pounds in extra funding after being recognised as a leader in teacher training and development.

Colyton Grammar School is to become a Teaching School Hub. The Department for Education has granted the status and is just one of 87 schools nationally that have achieved this accolade, which only goes to schools with a track record of exceptional pupil performance and leading training in other schools.  

So it can become a centre of excellence for teaching development it receives £170,00 a year for three years. It will be used to help teachers at 194 schools in four Devon districts: East Devon, Mid-Devon, North Devon and Torridge.

Tim Harris, head of Colyton Grammar School

The funding will be used to deliver national and local training programmes. In doing this, Colyton will draw on its strengths in curriculum, leadership and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), as well as a partnership of schools, trusts and training providers, including Kingsbridge Community College which leads the adjacent hub area.

The school expects to use the status to attract, retain and develop the very best teachers. 

Headteacher Tim Harris said: "Colyton’s new status as a Teaching School Hub puts us at the heart of supporting all schools and all pupils in Devon. If our March 2020 Ofsted report showed that we are an ‘exceptional’ school, this now gives us the opportunity to share our successes on a wider scale, support improvement for all pupils, and continue to develop as a school alongside the partners we work with."