St Philip’s Teaching School: Transforming Teacher Training with Mosaic
31 January 2025
St Philip’s Teaching School, based in New South Wales (NSW), Australia with partner schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), has grown significantly over the past seven years. From humble beginnings with a small cohort of trainees, the school now trains 65 future educators across multiple locations, following a school-based, mentor-apprenticeship model.
In this blog post, Andrew Youd, the Business and Development Lead at St Philip’s Teaching School, reflects on their journey, the challenges they’ve faced, and the role Mosaic has played in supporting their growth.
Our Journey of Growth
“We started our journey seven years ago with just eight trainees across six schools. Today, we’ve grown to have 65 trainees across seven St Philip’s Christian College schools and 14 other partner schools across NSW and ACT.”
A Community-Focused Approach to Teacher Training
“Our Teaching School model is built on a school-based, mentor-apprenticeship approach to teacher formation. We believe training teachers learn best in schools, surrounded by teachers and students – it takes a village to raise a teacher.
For us, teaching isn’t just a job – it’s a calling – and teachers grow within a community. Each training teacher is unique, so initial teacher education must be individualised and personal.”
The Need for a Supportive Learning Tool
“As we grew we encountered a number of challenges to supporting, resourcing, monitoring, and responding to the learning journey of our trainees. Mosaic was the perfect solution to not only meet our needs at the time, but it has become the tool to enhance our approach and impact.”
Why Mosaic Was the Right Fit
“We weren’t looking for an LMS. We wanted a tool designed for transformative learning within a mentor-mentee relationship. The platform’s goal-oriented structure, centred on curriculum standards, allows us to set clear objectives while individualising the path to achieve them. This flexibility supports our view of teacher formation as a process that occurs in relationship. Through Mosaic, we bring the village together, trainee, mentor, school leadership, and our Teaching School team.”
Supporting Our Mentors with Mosaic
“Furthermore, Mosaic has become our tool to support the learning journey and, therefore, the effectiveness of mentors. We use Mosaic to deliver effective training and support to our mentors.”
A Partnership with Penrose Education
“We have enjoyed working with the Penrose Education team. They are willing to listen, take on our feedback, and continually improve the platform. Their dedication to transformative education and consumer-centred approach has enabled our partnership to thrive.”
Scaling Without Losing Core Values
“Mosaic has become an integral part of our programme, enabling us to maintain our core values while scaling our impact across multiple schools in multiple regions. It’s not just a tool; we depend on our partnership with Penrose and our use of Mosaic in our work to shape the next generation of educators.”
Through Mosaic, St Philip’s Teaching School has successfully scaled their programme while maintaining the personalised, mentor-driven approach that has contributed to their success. As they continue to grow, Mosaic remains a key tool in their efforts to shape the future of education.
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