A new training organisation designed to help teachers and school leaders “keep getting better” has been officially launched this morning.
Ambition Institute is formed by the merger of Ambition School Leadership and the Institute for Teaching, which was announced last summer.
The organisation says that all its training programmes aim to ensure children from disadvantaged backgrounds have the same opportunities as their peers.
On average, disadvantaged children are four months behind in their overall development at age 5, and as much as 19 months behind by the time of their GCSEs.
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Ambition Institute describes itself as a new graduate school that combines the mission focus of a charity, the academic rigour of a traditional university and the classroom connection of a teaching school.
It says its programmes will offer support to “educators” at all stages of their career, from new teachers through to the chief executives and trustees of multi-academy trusts, “to ensure there are expert teachers in every classroom being led by exceptional school leaders”.
Ambition Institute’s interim chief executive, Melanie Renowden, said: “Improving teaching and school leadership is the best way to make sure every pupil gets a great education.
“No other aspects of the school system have as much influence on pupil achievement, particularly the achievement of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Just as importantly, developing educators at all levels also improves job satisfaction and the retention of talent in the system.
“At a time when we know that over a third of teachers leave the profession in the first five years of their career, we have to help teachers and school leaders develop their expertise, and their careers, in different ways.
“There is enormous power and potential in the educators in our school system. We’re confident that Ambition Institute will support even more of them to keep getting better, bringing the sector as a whole closer to giving every child the education they deserve.”
Ambition Institute’s two predecessor charities have already supported more than 14,000 teachers and school leaders, reaching around 1.5 million children.
The organisation’s official launch will be marked with a leadership event at Oasis Academy South Bank, in London, this evening.
When the creation of the new organisation was first announced, the two predecessor charities said that combining forces would help them to have a “greater impact”.
