Teacher scheme to be piloted in city

A new Government scheme to try and find more science and language teachers will be piloted in Peterborough. Education Secretary Justine Greening announced Peterborough was one of 25 areas in the country to benefit from the plans which will see student loan repayments for modern foreign languages and science teachers in the early years of their careers. Cambridgeshire has also been selected as another area where the pilot scheme will be rolled out. Around 800 modern foreign language and 1,700 science teachers a year across the country will be eligible for this pilot scheme. For a teacher on £29,000, the new student loan repayments pilot and the increased student loan repayment threshold of £25k will mean £720 cash in pocket.

Mrs Greening MP made the announcement as she addressed 4,000 teachers at the Teach First conference at Wembley Arena, where she also urged the teachers to make sure all children have the same opportunities ‘whatever their background.’ She said: “I want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to achieve their ambitions, regardless of where they are growing up, or their background. It’s great news that there are 1.8 million more children in schools rated good or outstanding than there were in 2010 and the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is narrowing.”

She added: “Great teachers help unlock children’s talents and Teach First is already playing a key role by recruiting top graduates with the potential to become excellent teachers in some of our most challenging schools.”