Department for Education (DfE) – Appropriate Body (AB) reforms
Important information update for Suffolk schools – In November, the DfE published a response to the consultation on Appropriate Body reform and induction assessment. To summarise:
- From September 2023, all new Early Career Teachers (ECTs) need to be registered with a Teaching School Hub (TSH) AB.
- Schools will also need to ensure that any ECTs who are registered with Suffolk Local Authority (LA) AB and who do not complete their induction by September 2023 are transferred to a TSH AB to complete in 23/24.
Three TSHs work within Suffolk, and the DfE has specified their operating areas as follows:
● Alpha TSH: Ipswich and Babergh
● Inspiration TSH: Waveney
● Unity TSH: West, Mid Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal
As part of the reforms introduced by the DfE, schools will continue to choose which AB to use, and will be encouraged to use the TSH and TSH AB that makes the most sense for their circumstances. For most schools it is anticipated that this will be their local TSH AB, as defined by the DfE.
Statutory guidance para 5.3 states it is important for the headteacher to ‘agree, in advance of the ECT starting the induction programme, which body will act as the appropriate body’. Headteachers are encouraged to contact the TSH AB for an initial discussion.
Contact details below:
| Appropriate Body Name | Contact name | Contact details and websites |
| Alpha TSH | Sam Torr Serena Locksmith | [email protected] [email protected] alphatsh.org |
| Inspiration TSH | Carmel Greene | [email protected] Inspirationteachingschoolhub.org |
| Unity TSH | Celia Moore | [email protected] unityteachingschoolhub.net |