22/05/2026
✨💫 Ever considered teaching? Join Ad Astra SCITT for a September 26 start! 10 months of high quality training and support ✨💫
A group of schools across Teesside, County Durham and Hartlepool is offering
people the opportunity to become teachers.
Ad Astra Academy Trust, which has ten primary schools under its umbrella, is
appealing for people to come forward for its ‘Train to Teach’ programme which starts in September.
Under the scheme, participants train on the job rather than go to university and no
previous teaching experience is required.
The programme has a 100% success rate of trainees acquiring teaching jobs at the
end of the ten-month scheme.
Trainees graduate with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and
Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
Helen Durnion, school improvement lead for Ad Astra Academy Trust and the
course lead, said: “We’ve had a good response to our 2026/27 programme, but we
still have a few places available. The programme offers an alternative to going to university to obtain a teaching degree. There is also the advantage that people train on the job and get first-hand experience in the classroom which is great preparation for when they become newly qualified teachers.”
Trainees will be based at every Ad Astra primary school. They are Ayresome and
Sunnyside in Middlesbrough, Crooksbarn and Rosebrook in Stockton-on-Tees,
Barnard Grove, Brougham, West Park and West View in Hartlepool and Deaf Hill
and Kelloe in County Durham.
For further information or an informal chat, telephone 01429 874552 or email
[email protected]
