The Weekly Review
So that trainees have a real opportunity to progress throughout Phase 3 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.20-29) 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. Mentors are also reminded of the different approaches to feedback from the level 1 training and summarised on pp.11-13 of the handbook.
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
Hopefully, trainees and CMs have now completed the activities of the Promoting Behaviour for Learning theme.
This week, there is a new theme that focuses on the use of questioning. More information on this theme’s activities can be found on the theme 2 page, which also contains two support sheets for trainees that can be downloaded and filed at the front of their teaching file if they haven’t already done so. Please note that Activity 3 is optional.
As this was also a LATiS and SP1 theme, trainees should review their learning from the activities, share this with their CMs and build on it during the course of this week.
Further details on how CMs can support the theme’s activities, and the integration of theory and practice, can be found on the school placement themes page.
Activity 1 may involve making an audio recording and activity 2 involves making a video recording. These recordings should be reviewed by CM and trainee together, and a reflection on this should be included within the trainee’s weekly reflection. Trainees may find watching themselves slightly uncomfortable, but they will come to realise things about themselves that they were previously unaware of and are more able to address them appropriately. This process is also powerful in revealing to trainees the strong elements of their practice.
All recordings should be compliant with school policy and be made on school devices. The recordings should be reviewed as soon as possible, to reduce the amount of time it is stored, and then deleted once the review is complete. Trainees and CMs may therefore need to identify and set aside a specific time for this purpose. If CMs have any concerns regarding the compliance of this exercise with school policy, they are asked to email Ian (i.campton@soton.ac.uk).
We have produced some guidance for CMs to help them support trainees in reviewing and reflecting on the video recording. Based on the article Using Digital Video in Professional Development by John Yandell, it includes a list of suggested questions that CMs may wish to ask trainees as they review the recordings together. There is a set of questions for each of this placement’s three themes.
A link to this guidance can be found on the school placement themes page or on the guidance for recording lessons page.
In completing the activities for this week’s them, a target related to questioning might need to be set this week and followed up next week through discussion at the Weekly Review.
This Week’s Written Reflection
The trainee’s written reflection for this week should include a reflection on their learning from observing their CMs use of questioning (activity 1 of this week’s theme) and what they believe they need to embed within their own practice. Trainees should include a reflection on the reasons why the questions were asked (their intent) and how the CM responded to the children’s answers. The reflection should then go on to discuss the extent that learning gained from completing activity 1 impacted the trainees teaching in activity 2. For example, was the trainee’s use of questioning as effective as the CM’s? Why and how do you know?
Professional Tutor Visits
Professional Tutors will begin making visits from next week. Details of how to prepare can be found on the Professional Tutors’ Visits page and p.14 of the handbook.
Review Statement 3
The template for RS3 will be available for download this week, on 17 April. It should be completed and returned to the university by 26 April.
General Reminders
- CMs ePortfolio comments: Each week, please could CMs ensure they review the trainee’s Weekly Review page in ePortfolio and leave a comment to confirm the accuracy of the content.
- Planning: Trainees must not be planning by themselves. CMs should therefore continue to model the planning process to their trainees. Further guidance can be found on the Lesson Planning page.
- Focus Improvement Area: Each week it is important to identify a FIA (see p.9 of the handbook) which is then assessed and reflected on the following week.
- Weekly Expectations: Please refer to the guidance on p.36 of the handbook.
- The Tracker: Areas of the tracker relevant to the trainee’s progress this week should be reviewed and strands highlighted accordingly.
- Target Setting: Targets are set at each Weekly Review and should be achievable within a week (see p.9 of the handbook).
- PDAs: These should be discussed regularly and, 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.
And Finally …
We would like to wish all our trainees and their class mentors a restful Easter break.