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Teaching courses

The Teacher Training Department at Nescot prides itself on flexible and targeted provision of courses for those who want to teach in the post 16, lifelong learning sector. These courses are designed for those with a real passion for teaching and will show you how to transmit that passion directly to your students in the classroom arena while giving you the solid qualifying foundations you need to teach in this exciting sector.

Available courses

The Teacher Training Department

The Teacher Training Department at Nescot prides itself on flexible and targeted provision of courses for those who want to teach in the post 16, lifelong learning sector.

These courses are designed for those with a real passion for teaching and will show you how to transmit that passion directly to your students in the classroom arena while giving you the solid qualifying foundations you need to teach in this exciting sector.

Our students range from those who have spent years in a teaching environment and want to take their careers to another level, to those who have little experience in the sector but the passion and drive to succeed. The structure and timings of our courses are designed for those with busy working and family lives.

What to expect

We keep our class sizes small, at around 16 students, so you not only get much more individual attention from your tutors but build a real relationship with your classmates. Our expert tutors will also pinpoint the areas you are most challenged by and give you the personal skills and tools to master them. We then encourage you to learn from one another and bring your own experiences to the course using group work sessions, paired work and class discussions. You will even observe and evaluate one another’s teaching sessions as well as observing talented advanced practitioners in action.

Our Staff

Our staff have years of teaching experience in schools, colleges, corporate training and staff development and with specific community groups. We have specialised expertise across a range of needs, including behavioural and dyslexia. There are very few challenges within teaching that our staff have not met before and they fully understand the demands on the modern practitioner.

Judith Lawler (BEd (hons), PGDip) – Programme Coordinator

Judith is the programme coordinator for Nescot’s post-compulsory teacher training courses – PGCE & PCE. Before joining the teacher training team in 2005, she held the roles of Advanced Practitioner and Learning Development Advisor to support and implement cross-college initiatives as well as supporting staff through mentoring and the delivery of staff development.Previously Judith taught for 15 years in secondary education in different schools and across a range of subjects, though focussed mainly on maths, geography and IT/Computer Studies. When she left her last secondary school she was a member of the management team and responsible for a curriculum area.Judith is a graduate and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching & Learning and actively engages in continuous professional development.

Dr. Seidu Salifu (BA (Hons) Dip Ed, MA, PGCE, PhD)

Dr. Salifu is Head of Higher Education Professional Studies at Nescot and also teaches Education programmes, including research and ethics in Counselling and professional Practice in Osteopathy. He has 34 years of teaching experience spreading across secondary, Further and Higher Education. His background is in Sociology of Education and he has been a teacher trainer for 20 years. Seidu’s interest areas include contemporary issues in Education, Educational Management, Social Research, and Comparative education, including Ethics and professional practice and Philosophy of Education.

Beccy Privett – Course Tutor

Details coming soon...


Mark Warner (MA (Education), NPQH, BEd (SEND), FCCT) – Course Leader for the Foundation Degree in Education Support and the BA in Education Studies

Prior to NESCOT Mark was a deputy headteacher at a non-maintained residential special school for boys with SEMH/ASC, meeting the needs of boys Years 2 through 8.He has worked in a wide range of special school settings over a 36-year period; ranging from EYFS to Sixth Form, PMLD to GCSE, with experience of a wide range of Learners with Learning Disabilities and Learning Difficulties.He has extensive senior management experience leading on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Mark has also worked for a Local Authority School Improvement Service, leading on LA wide initiatives, delivering training for the LA and for individual schools on matters relating to SEND. Mark also trained as an Ofsted Inspector.

Working with Other Departments and Organisations

Our staff’s years of experience in the sector mean they have access to a wide variety of speakers in specialist areas, who come to share their knowledge with our students. You will hear from experts in such fields as Continuing Professional Development and Neuro Linguistic Programming, as well as professionals who support students and teaching like Student Finance and counselling experts.

We also work closely with teaching institutions in the area, including Farnborough College, the University of Greenwich and other adult education providers.

This department is staffed by people who are fascinated by and passionate about teaching. We pride ourselves on the level of support we give to every student and are motivated by the pleasure and confidence our students gain from their success. These courses are literally life changing. Many of our students have spent years accumulating knowledge in their fields and our courses enable them to pass that knowledge on as expert teachers and trainers in this deeply satisfying sector.

Photograph of a Nescot student

I would recommend Nescot to anyone. It’s the perfect size: small enough that it feels like family, but big enough that you get access to amazing facilities. Teaching is my passion, and I’m so grateful to Nescot for helping me to follow my dream.

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