Term 1 - Induction Tutor / Mentor Newsletter

Welcome 2023-24 ECT Tutors!

We are really pleased to be working with you to support you and your ECTs through their Induction period.

At the beginning of each term you will receive a newsletter from us, much like this one. Each newsletter will include important dates for the term and news and information we think will be useful to you.

What is on this Newsletter:

- What should I be doing in Term 1?

- Assessment date deadlines

- How to Submit the E1 Document

- Observing your ECT and having regular meetings

- Teachers’ Standards

- Professional Development Time

- Quality Assurance Visits

- ECT Impact Files

- The Guide to Successful Induction Webinar

- Tutor/Mentor Training

- Information About Induction for Year 1 ECTs

- Registration Checklist

- ECT Entitlements

- Information About Induction for Year 2

- Year 2 ECF Guidance from Best Practice Network

- What does Year 2 of the ECF look like?

- ECF Fidelity Checks

- NPQ 2023 don’t miss the deadline to apply!

- Contacting the Kent ECT Induction Team

What should I be doing in Term 1?

As an ECT tutor, you have been assigned the role of guiding your ECT through the induction process. It will be your job to assess your ECT’s progress and support them to make improvements throughout their induction period. At the end of each term, we expect you to submit an assessment online to outline your ECTs progress.

At the end of the first, second, third, fourth and fifth term of the induction period, the assessment online (https:// www.kent-teach.com/NqtManagerLogin.aspx) requires you to grade your ECT.

At the end of the sixth term the assessment online requires you to complete information about your ECT against each of the Teachers’ Standards as well as grading their progress for that term.

Assessment date deadlines

We'll send you the assessment dates each term but here are the dates for the year, for your reference:

Deadline Dates:

Each assessment will be released on

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

ECT Manager, 2 weeks before the deadline date listed above.

The same pattern of assessments will apply to year 2 of your ECT’s induction with a final full assessment necessary in term 6 of year 2.

A reminder for you to complete these assessments will be emailed to you 1 week before the assessment is due. 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 completed 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 the ECT begins to struggle during their induction period, it will be harder to argue that they are making sufficient progress. It is therefore important for ECTs to be proactive and ensure this document is uploaded at each interim assessment point.

ECT Absence Reporting

Please keep a note of how many days absence your ECT has throughout the year because you will be asked to submit the number of days absence in the full assessments at the end of Year 1 and Year 2. Those that have more than 30 days absence per year, may require an extension to their induction period. We will be in touch directly with mentors if this is likely to affect your ECTs.

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 to highlight the comments that best fit the progress your ECT is making at this point in time. This will help you determine the overall grade your ECT is working to. Once you have highlighted the relevant comments, save a copy of the revised document so that it is ready to 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 to be working to a ‘CSatisfactory’ level.

After you have submitted the Interim Assessment on ECT Manager, when on your ECT’s 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.

Observing your ECT and having regular meetings

Has a date been set to observe your ECT?

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 ongoing as and when necessary.

Have you set up regular meetings with your ECT?

You should be meeting with them regularly (ideally once a week) during this first assessment period to agree targets and to discuss their progress. Most meetings will be informal, but you should have a formal meeting with your ECT at the end of each Kent term.

You can find proformas to document these meetings and lesson observations within the Resources section of ECT Manager. You don't have to use these specific forms, but you must ensure that your meetings and observations are documented in some way.

Teachers’ Standards

Is your ECT familiar with the standards they will be expected to meet throughout their induction period?

When logged in to ECT Manager, select ‘Resources’ from the green menu bar and select ‘Teachers’ Standards’ to download the document.

We recommend that all ECTs use our ‘E4. Evidencing the Standards’ document to keep a record to show how they are meeting the Teachers’ Standards. This document can also be found in the ‘Resources’ section on ECT Manager. A copy of the standards can also be found here:

Professional Development Time

It's important to ensure your ECT gets their ECT Time. Their timetable should have a 10% reduction in teaching in year 1 and 5% in year 2 to give them time for continual professional development. In the Resources section of ECT Manager you will find our "Effective use of ECT Time" (E3) document. This will give you and them a raft of ideas as to how best to spend this time. ECTs should be proactive about how they use this time but may need some guidance from their tutor. 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

• Meeting with mentor

• Attending training

Important note: ECT time is in addition to PPA time and should NOT be spent planning or marking.

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.

If your school gets chosen we'll contact you to find a convenient time to visit. To obtain a full picture of induction in your school, we ask that you complete and return to us a selfevaluation form and would also like to invite your ECTs to comment about their induction experience.

The QA visit should take approximately an hour and a half. During this visit, we would have a discussion with the person responsible for induction in your school. As part of this discussion, we will give feedback on any full assessments you have submitted to us on ECT Manager, if you have ECTs in their second year of induction. We will then review a sample of your ECTs’ Impact file, which can also be in electronic format.

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.

If you would like to volunteer for a QA visit please let us know.

ECT Impact Files

It is a requirement for all ECTs starting from 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.

The Guide to Successful Induction Webinar

The mandatory Guide to Successful Induction webinar will ensure your ECTs understand their role and responsibilities as an ECT throughout their 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 ECT’s first term. We will be chasing up any ECTs who haven’t completed it after the October half term. If your ECT attended a session last year, they do not need to attend it again.

ECT Induction Tutor / Mentor Training

Are you tutoring or mentoring ECTs throughout their induction period?

Would you like to attend an online training session to ensure you understand your role and responsibilities as an induction tutor / mentor?

We are looking for expressions of interest for attendance at our online tutor training. If you are interested in attending, please complete this form. Once we have enough interest, we will set up a date and send you a link to book your place. What will the course include?

The course will ensure you are fully equipped with the skills to be an effective mentor following the revised statutory guidance.

The session is aimed at new and experienced tutors and mentors involved in the ECT induction process. The interactive online session will ensure you understand what your role entails including the recently revised statutory roles and responsibilities, what best practice looks like and where to go for help and advice. The course is also suitable as a refresher session for those tutors and mentors who haven't attended training in the past five years.

This course is accredited with the CPD Certification Service, the largest and most recognised CPD training accreditation service in the UK.

To be added to the waiting list for the tutor / mentor training select the link below:

Early Career Teacher Induction Tutor / Mentor Training

Induction information specifically for Year 1 ECTs

Do you know where to access key documents to support Induction?

The ECT Induction Handbook is available in the Resources section on ECT Manager.

To access the ECT Induction Handbook, when logged in to ECT Manager, select ‘Resources’ from the green menu bar. Please note: you must have an ECT registered on the system in order to access the ECT Induction Handbook.

Registration Checklist:

Do the following 3 colleagues have log in details to access ECT Manager?

The following 3 colleagues need to be registered on ECT Manager in order to complete the assessments:

• Headteacher

• Induction Tutor/Mentor

• ECT

All 3 parties will have their own login details on ECT Manager.

Do you have the correct Teacher Reference Number (TRN)? It is really important you have the ECT’s correct TRN number. This number can be found on your ECT’s QTS certificate.

Below is a list of the ECTs entitlements as per the Statutory Induction Guidance.

• ECTs have 10% professional development time in year 1

• Mentors should have sufficient time to carry out their role effectively – both to:

• undertake mentor training (for those on funded training programmes); and to

• plan and hold mentor sessions with their ECT(s)

NB: Mentoring sessions would normally be expected to be during normal teaching hours.

Induction information specifically for Year 2 ECTs

As a reminder, below is a list of the ECTs entitlements as per the Statutory Induction Guidance.

• ECTs should have 5% professional development time in year 2;

• Mentors should have sufficient time to carry out their role effectively – both to:

• undertake mentor training (for those on funded training programmes); and to

• plan and hold mentor sessions with their ECT(s)

NB: Mentoring sessions would normally be expected to be during normal teaching hours.

We will check that the reduced timetable is in place for year 2 as part of our normal QA process.

What does Year two of 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 the ECTs induction period. The tutor/mentor will be required to complete 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. The mentor/tutor should highlight the comments within the E1 document in the relevant columns, that best describe the ECTs progress within each Teachers’ Standard. Tutors may find it helpful to use a different colour highlighter each term so they can easily track their ECTs progress.

Induction mentor meetings

If your ECT is making at least good progress towards meeting the Teachers’ Standards, your meetings with your ECT can be reduced to 2 per term with informal catch ups inbetween, 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 they should focus on and then the second meeting (the assessment meeting) at the end of each term, should look at their progress and the grade that will be submitted in the assessment on ECT Manager. They should bring evidence to show how they are meeting the standards to these meetings, as this will help you make an informed decision about their 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 ECTs may find helpful to record where their evidence can be found.

The document lists the standards and highlights how they 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 they use this document and take it with them to their end of term assessment meetings where the mentor/tutor will discuss the grade they will submit on ECT Manager.

Early Career Framework

DfE guidance on Induction changes are outlined below:

Any changes during the programme need to be recorded via the DfE online service These could include:

• Mentor replacement

• Change of Induction Tutor

• New ECT joining part way through the year

• ECT moving to another school

Year 2 Early Career Framework Expectations for those ECTs on the Best Practice Network 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. You will need to choose a session and register for it by clicking on the respective link.

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.

ECF Fidelity Checks

Since September 2021, Appropriate Bodies have been required to check that all ECTs have access to an induction programme based on the Early Career Framework (ECF). This check is referred to here as ECF fidelity checking.

The ECF fidelity check only applies to schools that have chosen a core induction programme (CIP) or school-based programme (SBP) for their ECF.

The cost for undertaking these fidelity checks is as follows: (The charges cover both years of induction).

• CIP checks will be charged at £300 per school.

• SBP checks will be charged at £750 per school.

Schools should provide a breakdown of how their CIP or SBP ECF programme, namely training sessions, mentoring and self-directed study, that will be scheduled over the course of the ECT’s induction period. You would do this by submitting the relevant form which will be sent to you ahead of time.

Don’t miss the NPQ deadline!

We are delighted to announce we are now working with Best Practice Network to deliver the National Professional Qualifications to a school near you this Autumn. Taking on a National Professional Qualification offers you a unique chance to further enhance your skills, broaden your knowledge, connect with a community of fellow educators, and elevate your professional profile. With 8 NPQs available, we have qualifications for all leadership and experience levels. The courses are fully-funded by the Department for Education and applications close on 8th October, so don’t delay in starting your application.

To find out more and to apply, visit the BPN website, email at enquiries@bestpracticenet.co.uk or call on 0117 920 9428

Remember…

The ECT Induction Team is here to help you support your ECTs topass induction. You can contact us anytime to chat about your ECTs and we will advise as best we can. Our team is very experienced, so the chances are we've seen it before and will know how to help!

We hope Term 1 goes well but please do let us know if you have any queries at all. Due to the high volume of calls at the start of term the quickest way to contact us is via email.