WOODROFFE School will become a ‘hub’ for a brand-new teacher development programme.

The Lyme Regis school will act as a base for participating teachers across the area for the free-of-charge training scheme run by educational charity, Education Development Trust in partnership with the Chartered College of Teaching.

Teachers across the area are encouraged to sign up for the Accelerate programme, which will provide training and support in their first five years of teaching as part of a government drive to improve pupil attainment and keep talented teachers within the profession.

Weymouth and Portland have been designated as priority areas by the Department for Education, which means that they are able to access funding which aims to boost pupil attainment.

Accelerate aims to help tackle this by providing new teachers with specialist support to rapidly improve their teaching skills, help them face common challenges such as managing workload, dealing with challenging classroom behaviour and supporting students with Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) and provides a strong network of peers across the region, supported by a coach.

Beth Brooke, Teaching Schools manager for Woodroffe School, said: “We are excited to be working with the Accelerate Programme. We see this as a real opportunity to develop our teachers, strengthening their practice and giving them the high-quality support they deserve.

“We value their commitment to our young people. At the same time, training some of our own expert teachers as instructional coaches also improves our capacity to offer high quality professional development to all teachers, regardless of career stage.”

The scheme will begin in the early part of the spring term and more teachers and heads across Dorset are being encouraged to sign up now as places are limited.

The four-term programme includes a residential training event, expert coaching and online training materials, tailored to different subject areas and phases.

Matt Davies, Regional Director UK, Education Development Trust, said: “Education Development Trust is delighted to be delivering Accelerate across Dorset.

“Informed by our extensive programme of educational research, the scheme will help support and motivate teachers at the start of their careers, helping to deliver improvements for schools and, most importantly, children across the country.

“I call on more schools in the county to sign up to this exciting initiative.”

For more information, visit www.accelerate-teaching.co.uk