“Nobody feels like they are a professional any more” Staff at Teach Like a Champion academy lift the lid on concerns about trust’s centrally-imposed teaching and behaviour policies

The first of Lemov's "Teach Like a Champion" books, whose techniques are being implemented within the Astrea trust

Teacher sources at a large comprehensive run by a 26-school academy trust have lifted the lid on concerns about its centrally-imposed approach to teaching and pupil behaviour, criticising the policies from multiple angles and suggesting that there will be a staff exodus as a result.

Two teachers spoken to by Education Uncovered took aim at a raft of the teaching techniques as set out in the book Teach Like a Champion, which the Astrea trust is seeking to implement religiously in its schools, including the well-known “SLANT” approach which was branded “ridiculous” by one.

Tightly-implemented behaviour policies which have drawn the ire of parents were also criticised, with one source echoing some families in warning that the trust’s sanctions were failing to work on the pupils needing them most, while simply making conscientious students anxious.

Their concerns have been backed by the NASUWT union, which represents many teachers at St Ivo school in Cambridgeshire on which this article focuses. Allegations of looming teaching shortages at the school seem to have been underlined last term by the trust having to set up classes of up to 90 pupils because, my sources claimed, it was impossible to staff lessons in groups of 30 on occasion.