What to expect during your ECT years
Support for Early Career Teachers
Support and assessment during the induction period
Reduced timetable
Communicating with Parents/Carers
Parent Consultation
Getting started in your new classroom
Support for Early Career Teachers
From September 2021, the statutory period of induction for Early Career Teachers (ECTs) will increase to two years. This has been designed to build on and compliment ITE (Initial Teacher Education).
The DfE (Department for Education) has produced the early career framework (ECF) which is designed to make sure early career teachers focus on learning the things that make the most difference in the classroom and their professional practice. They have published core induction programmes which include high-quality development materials, underpinned by the ECF, which will support early career teachers to develop the essential knowledge and skills to set them up for a successful and fulfilling career in teaching. The sets of materials cover the five core areas of the ECF: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours. All the resources can be accessed from the Core Induction Programme page on the DfE website.
Support and assessment during the induction period
You will be allocated an induction tutor who will be a member of staff at your new school. Your induction tutor will provide day-to-day monitoring and support, and coordinate your assessments. They will carry out two formal assessments – one in the final term of the first year and one in the final term of the second year. These assessments will appraise your progress towards meeting the Teaching Standards. You will also be allocated a mentor to provide regular mentoring. The mentor and the induction tutor are two discrete roles with differing responsibilities and it is expected that these roles should be held by different individuals at your school. In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary for the headteacher to designate a single teacher to fulfil both roles.
The induction tutor will review your progress against the Teachers’ Standards throughout the induction period, with progress reviews taking place in each term where a formal assessment is not scheduled. Progress reviews are not formal assessments and there is no requirement for you to create evidence specifically to inform a progress review. You are expected, nonetheless, to engage with the process and provide copies of existing evidence as agreed with the induction tutor. The mentor’s role is to regularly meet you for structured mentor sessions to provide effective targeted feedback; they will help to ensure you receive a high-quality ECF-based induction programme to include phase or subject specific mentoring and coaching and will take prompt, appropriate action if you appear to be having difficulties.
Formal assessment meetings should be informed by evidence gathered during progress reviews and assessment periods leading up to the formal assessments. Guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) states that ECTs should be kept up to date on their progress and that “there should be nothing unexpected”.
The final assessment meeting is at the end of the induction period, and will form the basis of the headteacher’s/principal’s recommendation to the appropriate body as to whether, having completed their induction period, your performance against the Teachers’ Standards is satisfactory, unsatisfactory, or whether or not an extension should be considered. This recommendation should be recorded on the final assessment report.
Over the course of the induction period, evidence from day-to-day practice as well as from specific development activities will build up to show how you are making progress towards meeting the standards. There is no requirement to maintain a portfolio of evidence against each standard however, it is important that you check with your induction tutor what the expectations are in your school. Statutory guidance states: “The ECT is expected to provide evidence of their progress against the Teachers’ Standards” Some schools may ask you to keep a teaching standards file. If that is the case, the document linked here will help you to decide what evidence might be useful for each standard and will also support the organisation of an ECT evidence file.
Throughout your first induction year you will have a 10% reduced timetable to allow for meetings with your induction tutor and other necessary activities. This is an additional reduction on top of the 10% set aside on all teachers’ timetables for PPA (preparation, planning and assessment). There will be a 5% timetable reduction in the second year.
More information can be found by reading the DfE statutory induction guidance.
In this article from the TES, two teachers involved in the formation of the change to the induction process take a closer look at what is included in the new framework.
Communicating with Parents/Carers
Parents and carers play a crucial role in supporting their children’s learning, and levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with better academic outcomes. This latest report from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is designed to support primary and secondary schools to work with parents – particularly those from disadvantaged homes – to support their child’s learning.
UoB have provided helpful tips and strategies when communicating with parents and carers that you may wish to consider in your role as a class teacher.
Here are some easy ways to develop positive relationships with parents and carers:
- Warmth and friendliness goes a long way. When you see parents and carers in person smile, shake hands and make eye contact. Be positive and tell them about the brilliant things their children have done and talk about upcoming events.
- Communicate regularly with parents and carers and they won’t be on high alert when they hear from you! Find out what communication tool works best for your parents and carers. It may be an App, a message boards, email, social media, or a phone call as well as face to face.
- Make sure that incidents such as falling outs, fighting, getting hurt, bangs and scrapes are communicated face to face or by a phone call. Sometimes what may appear to be a small incident can become a major issue for parents. Their child’s version may be one-sided and exaggerated so it is important that you explain the circumstances clearly.
- Speak to a parent as soon as a child shows signs of repeated poor behaviour. If it is left until there is a significant event, it will be surprise for parents and may be met with resistance. Be ready to explain what strategies you’ve already used to address the issue and what new strategies you are considering.
- Don’t ever feel pressured to make an important decision during a conversation. Instead, be prepared to take some time to think and get back to the parent. For example, “This is an important issue. I’d really like to give it some serious thought and get back to you on it.” Then make it a point to tell the parent exactly when he or she can expect a response: “Let’s schedule another meeting/phone call for Friday. Does that work for you?” This allows you time to consider the issue, develop possible solutions, and consult with colleagues if necessary.
- Let parents and carers know they can trust you. Be discrete and avoid discussing pupils with other parents or engaging in any negative school talk.
Most ECTs are understandably nervous about the prospect of their first parent consultation evening alone as “the teacher”! These tips show how good preparation backed up with evidence is worth having.
Further tips on how to prepare for a parent consultation can be found on the Teacher Toolkit website.
Sometimes you will need to have difficult conversations with parent and carers. Getting through these conversations with your relationships intact — whilst still getting your point across — can be difficult. Often the difficult conversations are when you clearly see the child in two different ways. What the parent sees is not necessarily what you see in the classroom. You have to convey that to the parent without making them feel wrong about the way they see the child.
Communicating with parents of young children is explored on the “Zero to Three” website and includes real examples of some difficult conversations.
Getting started in your new classroom
Some teachers choose to set up their classroom during the summer holiday and some leave it until the Autumn term starts. If you choose to go in during the summer make sure you check well in advance when you can get access to the school building – before you book that well earned holiday!! Having your classroom ready is essential because this makes you ready and will mean you can focus on the teaching and learning. A well-organised and attractive classroom shows that you mean business and children will take pride in their environment. To help you set up your classroom here are some useful tips:
- Check school policies. Ask colleagues and senior leaders whether there is anything you need to be aware of. For example, there may be fire safety considerations about hanging things from the ceiling or attaching notices to the door. Your school may have a policy on those non negotiable displays that need to be visible such as: behaviour management procedures, learning objectives board, learning/working walls, school vision statements, displays to support specific subjects, visual timetable, notice board, welcome door sign, reading corner etc. Make sure that you know where the backing paper is kept.
- Think about your desk space, the pupils working spaces and the carpet space. Position your own desk so you can see the classroom, and try to keep the items on your desk to a minimum. You want to model good managing skills for the pupils. Consider the layout of the tables and desks for the pupils. Decide whether you want them grouped, in rows or in a horseshoe shape and make sure that you have enough tables and chairs for the size of your class. Check that the whiteboard is visible from each chair and that the chair back can be pushed back easily without banging into furniture. If you are setting up in the holiday be aware of cleaners coming in and moving everything after you have set up the furniture. Perhaps leave a plan of the classroom on the whiteboard so it can be put back as it was left? You can read more practical advice about making the most of your classroom on the Sec Ed website.
- Organise your resources. You may need to have a sort out before you start but be wary about what you throw away. What looks like junk to you may be a resource that is used for a particular topic! Make sure all your resources are labelled clearly with images if appropriate, so that the pupils are able to put things back tidily. If you need drawers for each child make sure these are labelled clearly. Creating their own drawer labels can also be a good getting -to know you activity for the pupils. Once you have also labelled the cloakroom pegs consider how PE bags and book bags will be stored.
- Create classroom systems and procedures. For a well-managed classroom, it’s important to have clear systems in place for handing in homework, using the toilet, storing reading books, storing exercise books, sharpening pencils, and more. Buy a note book for your to-do lists and a diary so that you remain organised and remember key dates such as assessment deadlines, trips, visits, meetings and those all important social events. Some of you may find that you are required to teach in many different classrooms. It may be helpful to have a wheelie trolley and some sort of easy to carry filing system such as a concertina type file to store worksheets/assessment sheets organised into the different classes. With year-group bubbles likely being the “new normal” for secondary schools, at least in the first term, teachers will have to move around their sites more than they might otherwise have done. Peter Mattock offers words of advice so that being a ‘mobile’ teacher causes as little disruption as possible.
- Before that first day make sure that you have thought about seating plans, creating lolly sticks, timetables and class lists etc but remember to also look after yourself. You are the most importance resources for your pupils! Finally there are a range of resources for both primary teachers and secondary teachers to help you create a purposeful learning environment on the Twinkl website.
