Review Statement 2

The template for the Review Statement 2 (RS2) is now available to download from the Review Statements page.

This Review Statement incorporates the beginning teacher’s extended reflection written in collaboration with their mentors to consider their development throughout SP1. Together, they should discuss the contents of the reflection and explore how the beginning teacher’s progress in learning to teach has contributed to pupils’ progress.

The extended reflection period spans the last two weeks of the placement (16 Feb.-06 Mar.) during which the usual Weekly Review agenda is amended so that discussion can focus on the content of the RS2. Beginning Teachers are encouraged to draft their extended reflection during the first week so that mentors can then start drafting their comments. The final draft can then be discussed in the second week when amendments that complement and/or enhance the reflection may be made by the mentor.

The RS2 submission deadline is 06 Mar. and further guidance can be found on the Extended Reflection page.

Further detailed guidance will be uploaded to this page on Friday.

This Week

Beginning teachers will either be in school Monday to Thursday or Monday to Friday, depending on whether they visit the secondary school on Friday. Regardless, the percentages in the Weekly Expectation grid, on p32 of the School Placement 1 Handbook, should be of the number of days beginning teachers spend in school this week. Further details of this week’s activities and responsibilities can also be found in this grid. Please remember, the information provided in the grid is guidance and need not be adhered to if it is not in the interest of the beginning teacher’s learning to teach. If mentors have any concerns regarding the pace at which their beginning teacher is progressing, they should contact the relevant tutor.

The Amended Weekly Review

The agenda for this week will differ from that set out on p.8 of the placement handbook. The revised agenda is as follows:

1. Review pupil progress
2. Discuss the reflection on the targets beginning teachers have been working on
3. Set three targets, and their action plans, for next week
4. Consider the extended reflection content for RS2 (see below)
5. Discuss any findings from the PDAs completed during the week
6. Plan which lessons will be taught next week and discuss any other logistics for the week ahead

Instead of reflecting on teaching moments, beginning teachers and mentors should focus on the practice of the beginning teacher and how it has developed during SP1. This will support the writing of the RS2. There is no need for mentors to identify the teaching moments during the formal lesson observation and there is no need for beginning teachers to write the usual teaching moments reflections.

However, everything else must stay the same:

• A formal lesson observation takes place and is recorded
• Beginning teacher’s write a brief reflection on their targets for the week
• Feedback is given at the weekly review when the recording may be used to support the discussion
• The tracker is reviewed
• Three targets are set for the final week of the placement

Considering the Extended Reflection

As previously mentioned, discussions at this week’s review meetings should focus on the progress trainees have made since the beginning of the placement. An ideal opportunity to do this, for example, is when reviewing the Tracker. For mentors, this will involve the use of more ‘progress feedback’ than ‘discrepancy feedback’, as covered in the mentor training session. See the following diagram for a reminder.

These discussions are to help beginning teachers appreciate the whole picture of their longer term progress and the sustainable improvements in their practice. The following should therefore be addressed:

1. ITaP: Review the beginning teacher’s learning journey through the programme’s five ITaP themes, which are listed on this page. There have been specific times throughout SP1 when there has been a focus on the themes and the development of the beginning teacher’s relevant practice. For example, the placement theme activities and target setting in certain weeks. But the development of these areas of practice should not be confined to certain times. It should be continual. So what progress has the beginning teacher continued to make in these areas since? Has this progress been embedded within practice and is sustained, or has the ball been dropped? Why and how do you know? What now needs to be done? What’s going well and should therefore continue?
2. Modify reflections: Each week, beginning teachers have been reflecting on two teaching moments and have considered the things they need to do in the future to improve aspects of their practice – the ‘modify‘ box. So the question is therefore, are these things being done as the reflection said, and they are embedded in practice, or have they been forgotten about? Why? What now needs to be done? What’s going well and should therefore continue?

Bringing these questions into the weekly review discussion can help beginning teachers appreciate how their practice has developed, the areas in which it has developed, and the achievements they can be proud of. All of which will help in the writing of the extended reflection for RS2.