Four Star Academies schools have been designated as Teaching School Hubs in the latest round of the Department for Education’s (DfE) Teaching School Hub programme.

In addition to retaining the three hubs Star schools have successfully operated in the North West since 2021, the leading multi-academy trust has been appointed to establish a fourth Teaching School Hub in Birmingham.  The announcement will see Star run the regional hubs – centres of excellence for teacher training and development – until August 2028.

Joining Star’s three existing hubs is Eden Boys’ School, Brimingham. The four high-performing Star secondary schools – all rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted – which have been designated as the hub leads will support all schools in the following regions:

  • Tauheedul Islam Boys’ High School – Hub for Blackpool, Lancaster, Preston and Wyre (DfE code: NW4)
  • Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School and Sixth Form College – Hub for Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale (DfE code: NW5)
  • Eden Boys’ School, Bolton – Hub for Bolton, Bury and Rochdale (DfE code: NW3)
  • Eden Boys’ School, Birmingham – Hub for Birmingham South (DfE code: WM10)

Teaching School Hubs (TSH) provide high-quality professional development for teachers and school leaders at all stages of their career; ensuring delivery of the ‘golden thread’ from initial teacher training to school leadership. They play a significant role in delivering school-based initial teacher training (ITT), the early career framework (ECF), national professional qualifications (NPQs) and appropriate body (AB) services for the induction of early career teachers.

TSHs also promote other high-quality evidence-based professional development to school leaders and teachers. As part of its high-quality professional development offer, Star will continue to work collaboratively with a breadth of respected research and CPD partners across each region, including the National Institute of Teaching and Curriculum Hubs.

Sir (Mufti) Hamid Patel CBE, Chief Executive of Star Academies, said:

“We are delighted to expand our role in the Teaching School Hub network and look forward to supporting an even wider network of schools. This programme enables the purposeful collaboration, sharing of expertise and professional growth of teachers and leaders serving different communities. We look forward to continuing to work and learn alongside our partners to build on the positive foundations that have been developed at our three existing Teaching School Hubs and to develop valuable new partnerships through our new Teaching School Hub at Eden Boys’ School, Birmingham.”

The TSH programme is part of the Department for Education’s strategy dedicated to supporting teachers throughout their teaching career. It forms part of the implementation of the recruitment and retention strategy to raise teacher quality and effectiveness.

More information on Teaching School Hubs is available here.

For enquiries about Star’s Teaching School Hubs, please contact Tim Freeman, Partnership Director, at info@staracademies.org.