The student associates scheme (SAS) provides an opportunity for students to gain experience in a school before undertaking their initial teacher training (ITT). But what does the scheme involve and how does it impact on ITT providers and students? The knowledge explains.

 The Student Associates Scheme gives students in full or part-time higher education the opportunity to gain classroom experience while pursuing their studies.
Guided by experienced teachers, students learn how to work with pupils in the classroom and contribute to lesson delivery, using their degree subject knowledge.
It provides an introduction to the teacher training experience and the chance to explore teaching as a career and make better-informed decisions about career options in education.
All students participating in the scheme are given a training and induction programme to prepare them for working with young people. They will spend fifteen days in a school working alongside experienced teachers and assisting them in classroom teaching. The fifteen days of the scheme can be planned to fit in with their studies.
Students are entitled to a tax-free bursary of around £40 for every day spent in school during the scheme. The scheme is open to students registered on relevant degree studies, including foundation, HND and postgraduate programmes, subject to certain conditions.

School placements are based around a core programme that has been developed from effective practice and the experience of providers of the student associates scheme. The context of the programme is related to the qualified teacher status (QTS) standards and is designed to ensure consistency across providers whilst allowing for a degree of flexibility and variation.
It is made up of:

• 12 core goals for all student associates
• induction into the scheme and the training required to underpin these goals (the equivalent of about 15 hours training)
• examples of what student associates would achieve on school placements in relation to their goals, and
• the sources of evidence of these achievements including the student associate’s written records of their experience.

The programme is the minimum requirement for the placement and is designed to have a positive impact on young people, schools and the student associates themselves.
For further information, this link.

Contact the Training School if you wish to find out how to enroll on this. Mention that you have seen this information on the Crown Hills’ website

LINK TO EM DIRECT STUDENT ASSOCIATE PAGE