A FREE event aiming to help people thinking about joining the teaching profession look at the options available to them is coming to Wycombe High School - which has become a key player in teacher training in the area.

The event later this month will show people the different routes they can take into teaching and is being run as part of the School Direct programme, for which Wycombe High is a lead school.

The programme recruits and trains teachers on the job, with many applicants known as ‘career converters’ - people transferring from a different profession to a teaching career.

Julia Brown, assistant headteacher at Wycombe High, said the school, now in its third year of recruiting students, has been pleased with the results.

She said: "Students can come here and a do a bit of teaching during the year and you can get paid. It makes it a bit more possible for people who are thinking about teaching.

"Trainees spent several days out visiting schools and learning how they should go about applying.

"Last year 15 people went through the training - 10 came out with an outstanding result and five with a good one."

She added that most of those taking part had found jobs at the schools they trained at, with two others now working at different schools.

Wycombe High is the lead school in a Schools Direct consortium that includes Primary Schools Burford, Chiltern Gate, Highworth Combined School, and secondary schools Beaconsfield High, Great Marlow, John Hampden, Princes Risborough and Sir William Borlase’s. The schools work with Oxford Brookes University, which also provides some of the training.

Mrs Brown expects to have 29 places available across the member schools, for next year’s intake of trainees.

She said last year’s trainees came from a range of professions, including the banking and retail worlds, and were aged from around 25 to 50 years old.

She added that the way Wycombe High led the course meant trainees could focus on subjects where potential staff shortages had been identified, making them better tailored to fill jobs that were likely to arise.

Mrs Brown said: "We want to give the (pupils) the best education possible and we can't do that without the best teachers.

"By training our own teachers we can then fill our own vacancies."

The free Train to Teach event on Monday, October 20, runs from 6pm to 7pm. To book a place email schooldirect@whs.bucks.sch.uk