Reminder: Review Statement 2

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

The extended reflection period spans the last two weeks of the placement (23 Feb.-06 Mar.) during which the usual Weekly Review agenda is amended so that discussion can focus on the content of the RS2. Hopefully, beginning teachers have been able to draft their extended reflection during last week so that mentors can now start drafting their comments. The final draft can then be discussed this week when amendments that complement and/or enhance the reflection may be made by the mentor.

Further guidance can be found on the Extended Reflection page and the “Considering the Extended Reflection” section of this post.

This Week

Beginning teachers will be in school Monday to Friday. The percentages in the Weekly Expectation grid, on p32 of the School Placement 1 Handbook, should be of the whole 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 again differs 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. Consider the extended reflection content for RS2 (see below)
4. Discuss any findings from the PDAs completed during the week

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, the following must remain:

• 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

Target Setting

There is no need to formally set targets at this week’s Weekly Review. Instead, targets that might act as useful starting points for School Placement 2, should be recorded in ePortfolio at the end of the week 13 page.

Tracker

Please could beginning teachers and mentors review and update this document during this week’s Weekly Review as it is important that it reflects the beginning teacher’s current practice. Once complete it must be uploaded to ePortfolio (Placement 1 Overview page)

iPads

Once the formal observation of this week is complete, the recording has been reviewed, and any earlier recordings have been reviewed as part of the discussion around the extended reflection, all recordings should be deleted from the device so the iPads can be brought back into the University on 09 March.

Please can beginning teachers remember to do this and not leave the iPads behind when they leave the school!

ePortfolio

Beginning teachers may notice some layout changes to the pages of SP1 weeks 12 and 13. Please do not worry about these. They are to reflect the changes made to the weekly reviews of these weeks.

Thank you

As this is the last update of SP1, please can we thank all our mentors, their schools and our beginning teachers for their hard work and accomplishments over the past 13 weeks of practice. The role of the mentor in ITE is invaluable and their efforts in supporting our curriculum is very much appreciated. We have seen our trainees develop and reach an important milestone as they embark on their second placement. We look forward to working with mentors in the very near future and with beginning teachers in the next placement! Thank you, everyone.