School partnership celebration event at the Institution of Education (IoE)

On 26 March 2019 we were delighted to hold a school partnership celebration event at the Institution of Education (IoE), supported by the Vice-Chancellor’s endowment fund.

This event provided the opportunity for us to get together and celebrate our partnership.  Although we could not invite all IoE staff or school partners, we were lucky enough to have a number of our steering committee members, key partners and staff at the event along with alumni and our wonderful Universal Voices community choir. The choir dazzled us with their singing abilities and had us all dancing to the bungalow song.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Fellowes welcomed everyone to the event, highlighting the importance of regional and local partnerships to the university. This was followed by Head of School Professor Cathy Tissot outlining some key points, including: 

  • We work with over 400 schools in our partnership within nine main local authorities (Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Surrey).
  • On average, we train around 400 teachers a year through undergraduate, Early Years, Primary  and Secondary initial teacher training programmes. 
  • Since  the 2012/13 academic year when we moved to the London Road campus, we have successfully trained well over 2,000 Primary and Secondary teachers and approx. 150 Early Years teachers within the partnership.
  • In the latest Ofsted, Initial Teacher Education inspection report, 2016 the inspectors recognised that The partnership makes a strong contribution to teacher supply in the region.”

As Cathy outlined, none of this would be possible without the strong partnerships we have with schools and we just want to take this opportunity again to thank not only those who were able to attend but our entire partnership for making it possible to help shape teachers that are sought after and inspiring.

A special thank you also to our speakers Mrs Lesley Godwin – Head teacher of Marsh Infant and Nursery School; Katie Ray-  a mentor from Prospect School; Elizabeth Langer a Primary PGCE student; and Sam Boseley, a Primary PGCE, SEN pathway trainee. Their inputs inspired us all and reminded us what our school partnership is all about. 

 

New IoE film released

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new film!

For those who are interested here’s the script:

Education, education education

It’s the most powerful tool we have

It has the ability to change who you are

Enable you to be whoever you want to be

To stretch you and empower you

It transforms how we think how we feel and how we behave

It can create thriving communities

Unlock passions that you might never have discovered

It changes our contribution to society

Alters the course of your life

And no one can take it away from you.

How we educate the next generation is the key to our future

Not only as individuals but also as a society.

That’s why at the University of Reading we are really committed to developing caring and professional practitioners

Carrying out world leading research

Training you to transform lives.

Become part of our global community and share our passion.

At the Institution of Education we practice what we teach.


This script resonates deeply with us here at the Institute of Education as we want to provide this generation and those to come with the skills to truly develop and succeed at whatever they aspire to.

We asked Professor Catherine Tissot, Head of the Institute of Education for her thoughts on the film and this is what she had to say:

“I’m really proud of this film as it captures the Institute of Education and who we are succinctly.  This film shows the passion that staff here have for what we do best. It means a lot to us here at the Institute of Education and to me personally. My father used to say that education is the most powerful tool we have and that no one can take it away from you. This has stuck with me my entire life and it lies at the core of what we do here. I’ve shown the video to several people now and they all smile and sigh when the little girl says the line.  It really is a powerful statement and she delivers it much better than I ever could!”

You may already know all about our filming this summer, with the images of school visits and film crews on our social media channels.   

Our partners and staff went all-out to help us make this film and are due a big thank you, especially the fantastic partnership schools who helped us film: the Bulmershe School, Maiden Erlegh School and Christ the King Catholic Primary in Whitley. 

Thanks also to two of our talented alumni: Laura Prime, now working as a Secondary Art and Design NQT and Tayla Sutton, a Primary School Direct trainee. 

And very special thanks indeed go to the wonderful pupils who took part – we could not have made such a brilliant film without you!

So check out our film here: https://bit.ly/2BpM50l  and tell us what you think.

To find out more about what’s happening at the Institute of Education, have a look on the website and at our Instagram , Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter accounts.