The Guide to Successful Induction Webinar
The mandatory Guide to Successful Induction webinar will ensure you understand your role and responsibilities as an ECT throughout your induction. We have the following date to offer:
Monday 18th September
To book your ECT a place please complete this form
Please note: The webinar is mandatory and will need to be completed by the end of your first term. We will be chasing up any ECTs who haven’t completed it after the October half term. If you attended a session last year, you do not need to attend it again.
Assessments during Induction
There are 6 assessment points throughout the year where we expect your tutor/mentor to submit an assessment online to outline your progress. This applies to both Year 1 and Year 2 ECTs. At the end of the first, second, third, forth and fifth term of the induction period, the assessment online (ECT Manager) requires your tutor/mentor to grade your progress. This is called an Interim Assessment.
At the end of the sixth term (for all ECTs) the assessment online requires your tutor/mentor to complete information about your progress against each of the Teachers’ Standards as well as grading your progress for that term.
A reminder for your tutor to complete these assessments will be emailed to your tutor/ mentor 1 week before the assessment is due in. It is important that these deadlines are met in order for the induction period to run smoothly.
Interim Assessments
We do expect to see the E1 Grading document against the Teachers’ Standards. This should be submitted on ECT manager and can be done by the ECT or the mentor. We ask for this as it forms the evidence for the grade awarded that term. If there isn’t any evidence and you begin to struggle during your induction period, it will be harder to argue that you are making sufficient progress. It is therefore important for ECTs to be proactive and ensure this document is uploaded at each interim assessment point.
Assessment date deadlines
The dates the assessments must be submitted by, for each term, are listed below: Deadline
Each assessment will be released on ECT Manager, 2 weeks before the deadline date listed above.
Date
Term 1 17/10/2023 Term 2 12/12/2023 Term 3 06/02/2024 Term 4 26/03/2024 Term 5 21/05/2024 Term 6 16/07/2024
How to submit the ‘E1—Grading Using the Teachers’ Standards’ document on ECT Manager
Under each of the Teachers’ Standards within the E1 document, there are comments relating to the different grades. We would like you and your tutor to highlight the comments that best fit the progress you are making at this point in time. This will help your tutor determine the overall grade you are working to. Once your tutor has highlighted the relevant comments, it can be uploaded to ECT Manager.
Please note: we are not expecting ECTs in their first year to be graded as an ‘A’ grade at the end of their first term. There may be elements of ‘A - excellent’ under some of the Teachers’ Standards but we would expect the majority of ECTs in their first year of induction, to be working to a ‘C - Satisfactory’ level.
After your tutor has submitted the Interim Assessment on ECT Manager, when on your overview page, select:
• ECT documents (on the left-hand side of the page)
• Add a new document (in green)
• Complete the document name and description
• Select ‘Choose file’ to upload the E1 document
• Select ‘Save ECT Document’ (in green)
• If the document is saved successfully the following will appear at the top of your screen:
• The document will then be ready for the ECT Induction Team to review.
Please note: we will be expecting it to be submitted with the next Interim assessment.
Being observed and meeting with your Tutor/Mentor
Has your Tutor/Mentor agreed a date to observe you?
Statutory regulations stipulate that an ECT should be formally observed in the first 4 weeks and thereafter at least once in any 6-8 week period (i.e. one per term). Informal observations may be on-going as and when necessary.
Have you set up regular meetings? You should be meeting with your Tutor/Mentor regularly (ideally once a week) during this first assessment period to agree targets and to discuss your progress. Most meetings will be informal, but you should have a formal assessment meeting at the end of each Kent term.
Teachers’ Standards
Are you familiar with the standards you will be expected to meet throughout your induction period?
For more information about the standards, log in to ECT Manager, select ‘Resources’ from the left-hand side menu and click on ‘Teachers’ Standards’ to download the document.
We recommend that all ECTs use our ‘E4. Evidencing the Teachers’ Standards’ document to keep a record to show how you are meeting the Teachers’ standards. This document helps you to record where your evidence is kept and is useful for discussions with your mentor about your progress. This document can also be found in the ‘Resources’ section on ECT Manager.
Do you know where to access key documents to support your Induction?
The ECT Induction Handbook holds a wealth of information that you will find useful in your Induction period. To access this, when logged in to ECT Manager, select ‘Resources’ from the green menu bar.
Recommended documents for ECTs at the start of their induction are:
B5. Induction Tutor & ECT Checklist
B6. Overview of the induction period (provides a timeline of activities required as part of induction)
C1. Summary of Meetings
E3. Effective use of ECT time
E4. Evidencing the Teachers’ Standards
H1. ECT Impact File – outlines what ECT’s should include in their portfolio
Professional Development Time
It's important to ensure you get your ECT Time. Your timetable should have a 10% in Y1 and 5% in Y2 reduction in teaching to give you time for your continual professional development.
On ECT Manager, in the Resources section you will find our "Effective use of ECT Time" document that gives you lots of ideas of how best to spend this time.
Our recent survey indicated that ECTs found that these were the best ways to spend their ECT Time:
- Observing others teach
- Seeking guidance from other teachers
Registration Checklist
Have you received your username and password for ECT Manager?
The following 3 colleagues need to be registered on ECT Manager in order to complete the assessments:
• Headteacher
• Induction Tutor/Mentor
• ECT – the tutor or Headteacher should send you your login details
All 3 parties will have their own login details on ECT Manager
How do I find out my log-in details for ECT Manager?
• Go to ECT Manager.
• Under Forgotten your Password’ select ‘Schools’ and follow the onscreen instructions.
Information about Induction for Year 1 and Year 2 ECTs
ECT Impact Files
It is a requirement for all ECTs starting induction after September 2022, to put together an impact file. The documents provided in the ECT Impact file should include the following, (NB: some of these may be held by the Induction Tutor):
• School’s ECT Induction Policy
• Evidence of an ECF based programme
• Copy of ECT’s timetable
• Evidence of support provided by mentors/induction tutor, including a record of meetings
• ECT’s termly action plan/individualised programme
For more information on this, please access the ECT Handbook in the ‘Resources’ Section on ECT Manager. Please see documents H1 and H1a.
Quality Assurance Visits
We like to make sure that all ECTs in Kent receive a high-quality induction, regardless of the school they are employed at. Therefore, every year, representatives from the ECT Induction Team visit schools to quality assure their induction processes.
We'll let you know we're coming and invite you to take part in a questionnaire to share your induction experiences with us. If your school gets chosen, you can ask to meet with us during our visit, if you'd like to. Otherwise, we will meet with your tutor and look at your impact file. Then we'll send a report to your school based on what we've seen during our visit and what we've read in your questionnaires.
The QA visits are an excellent opportunity for our team to gather examples of good practice that we will then share with tutors or ECTs in future newsletters.
Second Year ECTs—What does Year two of my Induction look like?
Observations
Observations should take place as normal with at least one formal observation every term. Some schools require more than one observation/ drop in a term and this is acceptable as long as the observation is a supportive process and constructive feedback is given in a timely manner.
Assessments
These will look the same as they did in Year 1 of your induction period. You will have an Interim assessment (just a grade) at the end of Terms 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and a full and final assessment (the more detailed assessment with comments against each standard) at the end of Term 6. Our E1 ‘Grading using the Teachers’ Standards’ document will also need to be uploaded to ECT Manager at the end of Terms 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Your mentor/tutor should highlight the comments within the E1 document in the relevant columns, that best describe your progress within each Teachers’ Standard. You may find it helpful to use a different colour highlighter each term so you can easily track your progress.
Induction mentor meetings
If you are making at least good progress towards meeting the Teachers’ Standards, your meetings with your mentor/tutor can be reduced to 2 per term with informal catch ups in-between, as and when needed. We recommend the first meeting should take place within the first 2 weeks of each term to discuss if there are any Teachers’ Standards you should focus on and then the second meeting (the assessment meeting) at the end of each term, should look at your progress and the grade that will be submitted in your assessment on ECT Manager. Don’t forget to bring evidence to show how you are meeting the standards to these meetings, as this will help your tutor make an informed decision about your grade.
ECT Impact Files
ECTs in Year 2 should continue to collate evidence to show they are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.
We have a proforma ‘E4 – Evidencing the Teachers Standards’ that they may find helpful to record where their evidence can be found. The document lists the standards and highlights how ECTs can show they are meeting them. There is also a chart where ECTs can record the evidence they have and where it can be located. We suggest ECTs use this document and take it with them to their end of term assessment meetings where their tutor will discuss the grade they will submit on ECT Manager.
Professional Development Time
In Year 2, you are entitled to 5% professional development time on top of your 10% PPA.
Year 2 ECF Expectations for those ECTs on the BPN Full Induction Programme
The ECF programme, for year 2 of the induction period, provides a more in depth analysis of the topics of year 1, consolidating knowledge. Year 2 of the ECF Programme involves enquiry-based learning and has had extremely positive feedback. Schools will also need to arrange for their ECTs to visit another school during the Summer term of 2024 (this can be taken in the Autumn 2023 term if necessary). Further information on all of this will be communicated to you at the Year 2 Induction Conferences that BPN will be inviting both Mentors and their ECTs to, very soon. These online conferences set out what to expect in the second year of the ECF programme and are invaluable preparation for the year ahead. The conferences are 3 hours long, and delegates will be able to choose from a range of conference dates and times to suit their availability. If you managed to attend one of the Early-bird Induction Conferences before the summer, you won’t need to attend again. Keep an eye out for the Induction invitation email from Best Practice Network soon!
ECTs following a Core or School Based programme should discuss the content of year 2 with their mentor.
Contacting the ECT Induction Team
What do I do if I have any queries about my induction?
Please do contact us (via email in the first instance) if you have any queries about your Induction. We are happy to speak to you in confidence if your query is sensitive and can call you back at a convenient time.
Remember, more information and resources about induction can be accessed via the ‘Resources’ section when you are logged in to ECT Manager.
Good luck in Term 1 and we look forward to meeting you either at your school or at an event during the academic year. Thank
you for taking the time to read our update. Please contact us if you have any questions. ect@kent.gov.uk 03301 651300 ECT Induction Team Tim Spoerry, ECT Induction Manager Elizabeth Dean, ECT Induction Advisor (part-time) Helen Grzeszczak, ECT Induction Coordinator (part-time) Amanda Risbridger, ECT Induction Administrator (part-time)
Clarke, ECT Induction Administrator (currently on maternity leave)
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