Merry Christmas: Term is Over!

And so another long Autumn Term draws to a close. Whether pupil or teacher, the need for a break from school is rarely more evident than in the final week before Christmas. As ever, Astra extends a genuine and heartfelt thanks to our partner schools. It's in our partner schools where mentors make the difference for trainees and where our school-based route into teaching has its roots.

But while December may be a tiring month, it's been an exciting year of developments for Astra. In February, Astra SCITT and Teaching School Hub moved to new offices, generously provided by Dr Challoner's Grammar School. Refurbished to modern standards, these have enabled us to continue to expand our provision and support schools in Buckinghamshire and beyond in recruiting and retaining the very best teachers.

Our 2024-2025 trainees completed their training in early July, the first to follow our updated and improved course, run in partnership with Bath Spa University. Trainees benefitted from enhanced levels of in school support, a fully integrated PGCE route and deepened understanding of research based approaches to education, with additional Intensive Training and Practice weeks focusing on key elements of teaching and learning.

A highlight of the year was our annual conference, run in conjunction with Buckinghamshire New University, at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. Focusing on oracy and with keynote speeches from Daniel Thomas of School 21 and Harry Hudson of West London Free School, over 140 trainee teachers from different Buckinghamshire teacher training providers were able to take part in fifteen different workshops, run by contributors both from local schools and Buckinghamshire New University.

Despite schools facing more challenging financial circumstances, over 90% of Astra 2024-2025 trainees have so far gained employment, almost without exception in Buckinghamshire and neighbouring local authoritites.

The Spring and Summer Terms were a busy time of recruitment to our courses, and our next wave of training commenced in September with sixty new trainees, with a number of subjects seeing growing numbers including Drama, English, Modern Foreign Languages and PE. We are also now in our third year of running our QTS/ PGCE course in Dance.

In 2026 we're looking forward to a number of important developments, including further expansion of our postgraduate apprenticeship offering, which now includes special school placements.

Over the festive season our offices and Dr Challoner's Grammar School will be closed from 20 December to 4 January inclusive but we're very much open for any prospective trainees - we appreciate that the holiday period can be a good time to get cracking with your application.

Do contact us via the online form or email hello@astra-alliance.com and we'll do our best to help. (We don't promise a reply on Christmas Day itself!)

Merry Christmas!