School of Education and Continuing Studies (SECS)

Diversity and equality for PGCE trainees

The School of Education and Continuing Studies is proud to be a multi-cultural community, committed to the attainment of equality of opportunity.  In their most recent report, OFSTED described our promotion of equality and diversity as Outstanding. 

We value diversity and strive to ensure that our trainee teachers are provided with a safe, supportive and welcoming environment, here at the University and in their school placements.

We are particularly committed to the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority trainees on the PGCE course and in schools in this area.

We have exceeded our target for new ethnic minority entrants to the ITT programme at Portsmouth.

We now have, on average, 10% recruitment of trainees from ethnic minority backgrounds.

We have managed to increase our number of trainees through a variety of successful initiatives and procedures.  

We have:

• An experienced teacher from an ethnic minority background to offer expertise and advice
• Contacted and liaised with local community leaders and with several ethnic minority support groups
• Advertised in specialist journals for trainees from a minority ethnic background
• Organised conferences, lectures and seminars on race and religious awareness for trainee teachers, mentors and University staff
• Provided additional support to trainees as necessary and in particular through the provision of specific induction, extended ICT support and knowledge of the British education system
• Reviewed selection procedures and revised our interview practice
• Consulted with past and existing trainee teachers to assess their needs and to evaluate our support network

We are:

• Continuing to advertise in specialist journals
• Planning individual support packages for trainees from ethnic minority backgrounds
• Providing supplementary race awareness to trainees and staff
• Holding recruitment talks to community language and EAL tutors