Advanced Skills Teacher (AST)
An Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) is a teacher who achieves the very highest standards of classroom practice and is paid to share his/her skills and experience with other teachers. AST posts are based in all types of schools and involve outreach work in other schools. In order to take up an AST post a teacher must first have been assessed against AST standards.
We need to recognise and retain the best teachers in our classrooms. Until the introduction of ASTs, promotion into management was the typical career route for our best teachers. The AST pathway offers teachers who want to stay in the classroom, an alternative career route with the potential to earn a salary equivalent to that of many leadership posts. Together with the performance threshold, the fast track programme and the new excellent teacher posts, it is widening career progression opportunities and rewards for the best teachers.
AST posts concentrate on excellent teaching and learning and benefit the profession by helping to raise achievements and spread excellent practice both within and beyond the teacher’s school. The creation of an AST post brings momentum to teaching and learning across the school and contributes to the development of individual colleagues.
The AST outreach role supports networking between schools and encourages collaboration.
Nottinghamshire AST are involved in various activities around the county and across the East Midlands region. We have ASTs in primary, secondary and special school settings and they are all fully engaged with support work.
ASTs work both with their subject specialisms and individual areas of interest as well as supporting the development of generic teaching skills, knowledge and understanding. They also work cross-phase.
Some of their activities include:
- coaching individual teachers
- providing Inset for whole school staff, teams, key stages
- working on special projects, e.g. research into new curriculum approaches for QCA
- demonstration lessons for other teachers
- planning/team working with individual teachers/departments/schools
- staff meetings
- supporting NQTs
- contributions to conferences
- supporting leadership teams
- running subject networks for teachers at all levels
- leading subject development for NQTs
- research and development of new approaches e.g. thinking skills
- working with outside partners e.g. National Trust; QCA; HEIs
- working with other LAs.
- The AST’s own school by:
- retaining their services as a classroom teacher
- spreading their excellent practice through the school
- building on the good ideas they bring back from other schools.
- Other schools through:
- the outreach contribution the AST is able to make and the potential for building collaborative links with other schools.
- The LA by:
- sharing good practice across schools
- raising standards overall.
- The AST by:
- broadening experience
- providing new challenges.
- The profession by:
- providing another career option.
- Pupils and students through:
- the AST’s special contribution to raising teaching and learning standards.