We hope all is going well in school. Trainees will not be in school on Monday 18 Mar. as this is a university return day. Please contact the professional tutor if you have any questions.
Notification Updates
Hopefully, everyone is receiving email alerts informing them of new posts (weekly updates) when they are made. Sometimes these alerts land in people’s trash and spam folders, so please could we ask trainees and CMs to check with each other that they are receiving them. All posts can be viewed directly on the updates page and the most recent are always listed in the footer of every page.
Induction
All trainees should have received their induction to the school. As part of this process, trainees need to familiarise themselves with the content of the policies listed on pages 6 and 7 of the Professional Development Journal and follow the guidance on page 5. This is in addition to the school’s own induction processes.
Important Information for Class Mentors
Level 1 Mentor Training
All Class Mentors are required to complete our level 1 training. If CMs have completed this in the past then there is no need for them to repeat this training as it only needs to be completed once. If CMs are unsure of this, it’s the training after which the mentor badge is awarded.
The partnership office has sent an email to those CMs who haven’t attended level 1 training to invite them to the last session of the year which is on 21 March at the slightly earlier time of 1330-1530.
Next year the DfE are introducing a whole new set of requirements for ITT, including mentoring. Completing the level 1 training will reduce the hours of training required as part of these new requirements which state that mentors require 20 hours of initial training and 6 hours of annual refresher training.
Briefing Video
For those CMs who were unable to attend the briefing meeting at the University on 21 Feb. 2024, please could they watch the video that can be found on the briefing video page and register they have done so by completing this form. The video provides information about the changes to the programme and the current processes and procedures for School Placements. If CMs are attending the level 1 training on 21 Mar. 2024 then there is no need to watch the video as the content will be covered in the session.
All the relevant information, including the handbook, is available via the Guidance item in the main menu on the partnership website, and general mentoring guidance can be found under the Mentoring item.
This Week
From this week, the placement’s formal procedures begin, starting the Weekly Cycle of Events (see p.7 of the handbook). These procedures are outlined below and further details can be found in the handbook. The informal procedures, such as CMs informally observing trainees, should continue.
The Weekly Expectations are outlined in the handbook (p.35). Please do remember that these are for guidance and CMs should guide trainees through them at a pace that is appropriate for their learning.
The first weekly review will take place this week and if they are to prove beneficial to trainees’ learning, then it is important that rich conversations take place between the CM and trainee as outlined in the briefing video and p.11 of the handbook. See The Weekly Review section below for further details.
Formal lesson observations will also commence this week with the delayed debrief. See below.
The Weekly Review
So that trainees have a real opportunity to progress throughout Phase 5 of the programme, rich discussions between CM and trainee become increasing important. None more so are those that take place during the Weekly Review.
IMPORTANT: CMs are referred back to the level 1 training and the discussion points in Appendix D of the handbook (pp.22-31) for guidance on how to promote these rich discussions. The prominent feature is asking the trainee to reason about their planning and teaching actions by asking “why?” to form the basis of an interrogation into practice.
A reminder of the Weekly Review agenda follows but CMs and trainees are asked to read the full details that can be found on p.8 of the handbook:
- Review trainee progress
- Review pupil progress
- Identify the strengths within the trainee’s practice and the areas for development
- From the areas for development, identify the most significant to be the Focus Improvement Area (see p.9 of the handbook)
- Set targets and action plans (firstly for the FIA and then for any additional areas of development)
- Discuss findings from PDAs
Further details can also be found on the Weekly Reviews page.
Placement Themes
Over the placement, there are three themes to focus on in supporting the trainees’ learning. They are designed to integrate theory and practice by building on the trainees’ learning from the LATiS days and SP1 experiences.
This week is Theme 1, Promoting Behaviour for Learning and full details for trainees, and for CMs’ reference, can be found on the Theme 1 page.
A target related to the theme should also be set, where applicable, and the learning that the trainees has achieved should be discussed at the Weekly Review and included within the trainee’s written reflection in ePortfolio.
Activity 2 involves the use of video and the trainees need to be recorded teaching. If it is appropriate, and would help trainees develop their behaviour management, the 10 minute video should be reviewed with the CM as part of the weekly review. Further guidance on the use of video can be found here.
Lesson Observations
Formal lesson observations of the trainee teaching should commence this week and continue weekly. The lesson observation form is available for download on the Lesson Observation Forms page. Further details can be found on p10 of the handbook.
In providing feedback from the lesson observation, the delayed debrief must be used to support trainees’ ability to reflect. CMs are reminder to allay any anxiety the trainee may experience following a formal observation but not to discuss the lesson until the delayed debrief.
Target Setting & the FIA
Targets set at each Weekly Review should be achievable within a week. No more than 3-5 should be set each week and one should become the Focus Area of Improvement of following week’s formal lesson observation. Please see p.9 of the of the handbook for further details.
Further details of the Focus Improvement Area (FIA) can be found on p.9 of the handbook.
Professional Development Activities
Trainees should begin completing the appropriate Professional Development Activities (PDAs) this week. For CMs’ reference, an electronic copy of the Professional Development Journal (PDJ) is available here. For continuity, the PDJ page also has a copy of the booklet containing the PDAs that trainees completed during their LATiS days so CMs can become familiar with them.
Planning
From this week, trainees should plan every lesson, or part lesson they teach, using the University planning template. Please could CMs therefore continue to take time during the weeks ahead to model the planning process to their trainees.