2015/16 Early Years Teacher Status Course Handbook
2015/16
Early Years Teacher Status
Course Handbook
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All statutory guidance and legislation referred to in this Handbook reflected the legal position at the time of printing but may not reflect Government Policy.
Contents
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1. Early Years Initial Teacher Training Warwick
1.1 Preface
Welcome to the Warwick Early Years Teacher course. We hope you will have an enjoyable, stimulating and rewarding year. The Warwick Early Years Teacher course is based on a partnership between the University of
Warwick and schools and settings in the region. The course has been designed as a high-quality programme of professional education leading to the award of Early Years Teacher Status.
This guide sets out:
The structure and organisation of the year;
Details of the different programmes within the course;
The way different elements of the course work together;
Essential information on assessment;
Expectations and responsibilities.
This guide will not tell you everything you need to know, and there may be occasions when we will need to change or amend arrangements outlined here, but you will be able to use this guide as your point of reference on most issues. Tutors, settings and trainees will work from the same guide. All references to settings in this guide also apply to schools. Any amendments to the course arrangements will be notified via the course website.
The Early Years Initial Teacher Training Course runs 2 pathways. Graduate Employment Based (GEBS) and
Graduate Entry Mainstream (GEMS). This handbook applies to both and we hope to make it clear where information differs.
One purpose of the course guide is to ensure that we all have access to common understandings about the course. This course guide gives an overview of the whole course. Details of expectations for placements will be in the appropriate Placement Guide.
This guide does not replace the Regulations published in the University Calendar, which can be viewed at www.warwick.ac.uk/services/gov/calendar The University reserves the right to modify or cancel any statement in this guide and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of such modifications or cancellations. Any problems with this guide should be discussed with your Personal Tutor.
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1.2 The Goals of the Course
The Warwick Early Years Teacher Course aims to prepare new teachers who are able to enter the teaching profession with the following:
Secure subject knowledge base appropriate to the demands of the Early Years curriculum.
Commitment to the development of skills and knowledge essential for effective practice.
Ability to recognise and respond to the wide range of demands on the Early Years teacher: academic, pastoral and managerial.
Understanding of the importance of reflection and enquiry in dealing with complex professional issues.
Ability to use a range of strategies to plan, teach and assess the early learning goals.
Ability to make use of a rich range of resources and strategies to plan, teach and assess the learning of all children. Including those for specific groups such as Special Educational Needs (SEN) or English as an
Additional Language (EAL).
Ability to model and implement effective education and care and support and lead other practitioners.
Sound knowledge of the legal requirements related to safeguarding and welfare.
Understanding of their role as teachers in relation to colleagues, parents, governors and the wider community.
The ability to teach Personal, Social and Emotional development, Physical development, Communication and Language, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world, and Expressive Arts and Design in the
Early Years Foundation Stage.
1.3 Summary of Key Dates
Week 50 Start of taught programme
Week 51
Week 52
Week 53
First possible day of autumn placement (GEBS)
Tutorials.
Fi
Start of Autumn Placement (GEMS) with regular University days
Week 2
Week 5
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12 -13
SSLC
Specialism Uni-based Day
Autumn Placement ends (GEMS)
Tutorials (GEBS)
University based (GEMS) tutorials
SSLC
Last possible week of autumn placement (GEBS)
2 week Christmas break
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Week 14-15
Week 14
Week 16
Key Stage 1 placement sourced by trainee on their own behalf.
(GEMS)
First possible start date of school placement (GEBS)
Spring Placement induction days (GEMS)
Tutorials (GEMS) Week 17
Week 24 Spring Placement ends(GEMS)
Week 25-27
Week 27
Week 28
Split Easter break includes 3 specialism placement days (GEMS)
Last possible week of school placement (GEBS)
University based (GEMS) SSLC
Tutorials (ALL)
Start of Summer Placement (GEMS)
Bank holiday
Week 29
Week 31
Week 34
Week 37
Week 38
Week 39
Early Warning Letter to those trainees at risk of failing
External Examiners in settings
End of Summer Placement. All final profiles to be in.
Tutorials (GEMS)
SSLC Final Meeting
Examination Board: trainees meet External Examiners
Course ends- additional days may be needed for some.
1.4 Expectations
Society expects a great deal of its Early Years Teachers. They must be well qualified and able to teach across the Prime and Specific areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage including key mathematics and
English skills. They must be able to inspire and motivate children about learning, and develop their literacy and numeracy. They must be able to establish and sustain safe and stimulating environments. They must adapt education and care to respond to the strengths and needs of all children. They must be aware of, and be able to use a complex range of information and communication technology. They must be able to communicate effectively with colleagues, parents and governors as well as with children. They must be able to work in and lead teams, contributing to the development of common policies. These are demanding expectations.
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The Warwick Early Years Initial Teacher Training Course is an intensive course of professional preparation.
The Partnership (the University and our colleagues in settings) has high expectations of trainees' professional conduct from the beginning of the programme. We expect you to be able to sustain these expectations:
The Partnership expects that trainees will attend all taught sessions of the course, be punctual, and complete teaching and written assignments.
Settings have a right to expect that Warwick trainees who are placed with them have followed the
University-based elements of the course and have, therefore, acquired a basis of knowledge, understanding and skills that underpin the course.
In settings, the Partnership expects that trainees will demonstrate an awareness of the physical, emotional, social, intellectual development and communication needs of babies and children, and know how to adapt education and care to support children at different stages of development.
In settings, the Partnership expects that trainees will plan, teach and evaluate sessions conscientiously and will engage in constructive discussions about teaching.
In settings, trainees will be expected to present themselves as smart, professional individuals able and willing to work within general established policies and specific guidelines. As developing professionals they will have to play a part in the implementation of those policies, even though they may not have played a part in developing them, and even though they may have personal reservations about some of them.
The Partnership expects that trainees will deal professionally and confidentially with information relating to children, parents and teachers. Learning to express yourself in appropriate professional language is an important part of becoming a teacher, and we expect trainees to maintain high standards of professionalism in their dealings with colleagues, children and parents.
In return, trainees may legitimately expect certain things:
From the University trainees can expect a taught course which will prepare them for the realities and rigours of teaching in the 21 st
century. Trainees can expect access to resources, which will support their development as teachers, and to personal, academic and pastoral support during initial professional education.
From Partner Settings trainees can expect a programme of mentor support and professional training and development which will complement the University-based course and which will support the development of their practice.
From both the University and Partner Settings trainees can expect that advice given will be open, thorough and supportive and that judgements about professional preparation and practice will be firmly grounded in evidence.
At the start of the course you are required to accept, online, a ‘Student Agreement’ which sets out in more detail the expectations and responsibilities of training to be a teacher. Please refer to this throughout the course.
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1.5 Responsibilities
The success of the course depends on trainees, mentors and tutors. All have a role to play in assuring the quality of the course and, most importantly for children, the quality of the work carried out in their setting or on placement. The work of mentors and Tutors is focused on supporting trainees' work in settings.
In general the responsibilities of mentors are to support the development of trainees as effective, competent practitioners by providing information, support and assessment. Mentors will take the lead in inducting trainees into and arranging timetables and support on general professional issues. They will support trainees' work, by providing information on the application of the EYFS framework, by providing observation, feedback and assessment to trainees and by assisting trainees in relating their learning to the particular context of the setting. Mentors will help trainees to audit their progress and set realistic, meaningful targets to ensure that trainees’ teaching contributes to improving outcomes for the children in their care.
The responsibilities of tutors parallel those of mentors. Tutors will introduce trainees to the curriculum framework in their teaching and to recent curricular developments, as well as exploring the pedagogy of particular subjects. They will monitor trainees' progress, draft formal references and will monitor the trainees' e-portfolio building evidence towards the Teaching Standards (Early Years).
Trainees' own responsibilities are critical. This is an intensive course of professional education, in which you will have distinctive learning needs and priorities. For this reason you need to be prepared to take a great deal of responsibility for your own learning. The Professional Digital Portfolio (e-PDP) is intended to provide a mechanism for articulating individual strengths, priorities and learning needs, so the completion of the e-PDP in the University and in settings is one of the trainees' important responsibilities throughout the course. Trainees' responsibilities include attendance at all taught sessions and a willingness to take an active part in the
University course, and to see themselves as beginning professionals. That is, professionals who set high standards for themselves and their children, who are able to work as part of a staff in implementing policies and ensuring that children maximise their potential. Effective planning, excellent teaching, reflective evaluation and the deployment of usable assessment instruments are all essential attributes.
1.6 Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) Checks
Any person working with people under the age of 18 must be thoroughly checked to prevent unsuitable people from gaining access to children. These checks must be satisfactorily completed prior to registration. It is the responsibility of the trainee to apply for their DBS disclosure.
Once you have received your Enhanced
Disclosure Certificate please keep it in a safe place as it is evidence that you have been cleared to work with children. Please note that the University no longer receives copies of your DBS disclosure so you will be required to provide a copy to the University if you received it after June 2013 – please keep it safe. You will be provided with a “Vetting Check form” summarising the date/number of your DBS Disclosure and you must give a copy of this to your placement settings.
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1.7 Teaching as a research-based profession
The University and its partner settings share a commitment to regard teaching as a research-based profession.
You must become aware of and be able to use the implications of recent inspection and research evidence.
You should take advantage of the fact that you are pursuing a course in one of the leading centres for teacher education and research in the United Kingdom, and in one of the top research universities.
Use the University's extensive library and resource facilities to ensure that your own approaches to your work as a teacher reflect current understandings of best practice.
Early years education and care have both changed very quickly during the last few years and are likely to continue to change. You should use the opportunities you have this year to look very carefully at different settings, to think about how they are changing and how this affects the work of teachers in them. Do not take settings, or the way they work, for granted.
You should try always to consider why some approaches work for you and why others do not; you should regard your own classroom, and your own professional practice, as things which can develop if you ask research-based questions.
1.8 The Graduate School
Trainees on the course are members of the Warwick Graduate School – a University-wide organisation whose purpose is to co-ordinate and provide high quality doctoral programmes and taught courses in every academic department. It is represented on all the University's major committees concerned with academic life, resource allocation, examinations and student welfare and it works closely with the Postgraduate Association in supporting the interests of graduate trainees. There are over 5000 graduate students at Warwick, about 40% of the student population .
2 Course Structure
2.1 An Overview of the Warwick Early Years Teacher Course
Learning to teach is an emotional as well as an intellectual and practical process. It can be great fun, or highly frustrating; exhilarating or depressing; and it is always tiring. It will make great demands on you on all levels. It will involve the acquisition of skills of organising ideas and presenting material, in managing groups and whole classes, and in assessing, recording and reporting on the progress of each individual child.
2.2 The EYTS course year
See next page for the course year calendars.
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25/01/2016
01/02/2016
08/02/2016
15/02/2016
22/02/2016
29/02/2016
07/03/2016
14/03/2016
21/03/2016
28/03/2016
04/04/2016
11/04/2016
18/04/2016
25/04/2016
02/05/2016
09/05/2016
16/05/2016
23/05/2016
30/05/2016
06/06/2016
13/06/2016
20/06/2016
Date
07/09/2015
14/09/2015
21/09/2015
28/09/2015
05/10/2015
12/10/2015
19/10/2015
26/10/2015
02/11/2015
09/11/2015
16/11/2015
23/11/2015
30/11/2015
07/12/2015
14/12/2015
21/12/2015
28/12/2015
04/01/2016
11/01/2016
18/01/2016
EYITT 2015-2016 Calendar - University Led
Monday
University*
University*
University
University
University
University*
University
University
University
University*
University
University*
Tuesday
University*
Wednesday
University
Thursday
University University University*
University University University
Professional Practice - Autumn Term (0-30 months)*
Half Term - Reading Week
University
University*
University
University
All - Christmas Break
Christmas Holiday - University Closed
Professional Practice - Spring Term (1) Key Stage 1
Uni Nursery
University
University
*
Reception
Friday
University*
University
University*
University
Professional Practice - Spring Term (2)
Half Term - Reading Week
3 Day Specialism Placement Good Friday
Easter Holidays - *W 18th March-04th April *L/C 24th March - 11th
April
University
University
Bank Holiday
University
University* University University*
Professional Practice - Summer Term - Nursery (2-5 years)
University
Half Term - Reading Week
Professional Studies - University Day (bold = both routes to attend - *GEBs invitation day)
Professional Practice - Autumn Term (0-30 months)
Professional Practice - Spring Term (1) Key Stage 1
Professional Practice - Spring Term (2) Reception
Professional Practice - 3 Day Specialism Placement (SEN/EAL/CC)
Professional Practice - Summer Term - Nursery (2-5 years)
Half Term Holidays - Reading Week/Private Study
Annual Holidays week
26
27
28
29
34
35
36
37
38
30
31
32
33
10
11
12
13
14
4
5
6
7
8
9
50
51
52
53
1
2
3
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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EYITT 2015-16 Calendar - Employee Led
Date
0 7/0 9/20 15
14/0 9/20 15
21/0 9/20 15
28/0 9/20 15
0 5/10/20 15
12/10/20 15
19/10/20 15
26/10/20 15
02/11/20 15
0 9/11/20 15
16/11/20 15
23/11/20 15
30/11/20 15
0 7/12/20 15
14/12/20 15
21/12/20 15
28/12/20 15
04/0 1/20 16
11/0 1/20 16
18/0 1/20 16
25/0 1/20 16
0 1/0 2/20 16
0 8/0 2/20 16
15/0 2/20 16
22/0 2/20 16
29/0 2/20 16
0 7/0 3/20 16
14/0 3/20 16
21/0 3/20 16
Monday
University
*
University
Tuesday
*
Wednesday
University
*
Thursday
University
*
*
Friday
*
University
*
University
University
*
*
Half Term (if applicable to setting)
*
University
Christmas Break
Christmas Holiday (if applicable to setting)
Firstweek to startschool-6 week placement
*
University
Half Term (if applicable to setting)
Good Friday
28/0 3/20 16
04/0 4/20 16
11/0 4/20 16
18/0 4/20 16
25/0 4/20 16
02/0 5/20 16
0 9/0 5/20 16
16/0 5/20 16
Easter Holidays - *W 18th March 0 4th April *L/C 24th March - 11th April (if applicable)
University
Lastweekto complete 6 weekschoolplacement
* *
University
Bank Holiday
23/0 5/20 16
30/0 5/20 16
0 6/0 6/20 16
13/0 6/20 16
20/0 6/20 16
Half Term (if applicable to setting)
Professional Practice: Trainee to arrange throughout the year time in each age group, 10 days in Key Stage 1 placement
Half Term Holidays – If applicable to setting
University - 11 Statutory Days (trainee to choose a further 5 days)
Annual Holidays – dependent on trainee's employer
11 week
50
51
52
53
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
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2.3 University based days
University days are concerned with helping you to learn about working with children in classrooms and settings.
The demands on Early Years teachers are considerable since most class teachers are expected to show competence in teaching across the full range of the curriculum. You will gain practical experience of the themes and principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how they a ffect children’s learning and development in the prime and specific areas. You will learn the essential skills of planning, teaching and assessing. You will also look across the curriculum at broader issues such as welfare, child protection, special needs and English as an additional language. We also aim for you to have an overview of the National Curriculum in Key Stages 1 and 2 and you will attend lectures and seminars in both the core and foundation curriculums. Tutorials will focus on personal target setting towards you meeting the teaching standards. We will discuss your progress on placement and your contribution to university sessions.
2.4 Teaching Experience
GEMS - You will be on placement for at least 120 days of the course. You will undertake four placements and a mini specialism placement. Your first placement will be with children under 30 months including at least 3 days with babies under 1 year. Your second placement will be for 2 weeks in a Key stage 1 class. Your third placement will be 7 weeks in a reception class. Your specialism placement may be in a Special needs School, a children’s centre or another type of setting to give you a wide range of experiences. Your final placement will be 8 weeks within the 2-4 age range. Full details of expectations on placement are set out later in your placement guides which are issued prior to each placement.
GEBS - In the autumn day you will spend at least 30 days with children under 30 months including at least 3 days with babies under 1 year. This may or may not be in your own setting. In spring you will undertake a school placement which includes time in Key Stage 1 and reception. This again may or may not be in your own setting. You will be in your own setting for the final term.
2.5 Ways of learning and ways of teaching
Learning anything new is usually challenging. Learning to teach is no different. You will need to develop new ways of thinking about any subject if you are to communicate it to children. You will have to learn to manage your own time. You will need to learn to work independently in your own classroom but within the framework of national and local policies. You will, in short, be both a teacher and a learner during your initial professional education – this will require you to become very adaptable.
During the year, you will be presented with various opportunities to learn to teach. One obvious distinction is between the two sites of your learning: in the University and on placement . Although you will learn in both
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places, you will learn different things, in different ways in each. It will help you to organise your thinking and your own development this year if you are clear about the differences between the two and how to make links between them.
In the University you can expect to be introduced to general principles, to important ideas.
You will be provided with opportunities to explore resources and materials, to read and to reflect. You will have opportunities to compare your own experiences with those of other trainees. All these things are relatively difficult to arrange in school.
On placement you will have direct access to observation of children as they learn and adults as they teach. You will be able to try out ideas in practice in classrooms. You will be able to talk to experienced teachers - and children - about what works and what is less effective. In these ways your learning in settings will complement and build on what you learn in the
University.
You will have some time for studying within the course structure to meet your individual needs. This time may be booked for sessions including visits to settings so you will need to make sure you are available during the term time dates. Details of sessions will be on the timetable but there may also be additional sessions booked as tutors know you are available in those study slots. Please do not book holidays during this time or make arrangements to visit settings or go on trips with settings before asking permission from the course leader.
We would also normally expect you to meet any classes you will be teaching after the finish of the course.
Another important distinction is between different ways of learning . You will already be fairly expert learners: on your degree you will have used books, journals, lectures, seminars, experiments, videos and so on. On this course, you can expect to encounter some of these again, but you will also find yourself learning in different ways including e-learning by using on-line information. You will need to become used to learning by observing what goes on in classrooms, not passively but actively, questioning what you see and trying to work out how what you see affects your own teaching. You will need to become used to learning by reading and listening not to collect information but as a basis for acting - thinking about how what you read affects the classrooms you work in and the teaching you want to do. You will learn by discussing your ideas with fellow trainees, with children, with teachers and with tutors which may include the use of blogs and wikis. And, of course, you will learn by doing : by practising teaching routines, either in the University, teaching your peers, or on placement, teaching children.
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You will find that you accommodate yourself to this course more quickly if you have a clear idea about the ways that you can learn about the same topics in different settings:
Ways of learning
By observing
The “twin seats” of learning
On placement, might include:
Observing experienced practitioners
Observing individuals and groups
In the University, might include:
Observing tutor activities
Observing each other
By reading and listening
Reading policy documents
‘Reading’ children’s work
Reading books, journals, on line resources
Listening to lectures
By discussing
By doing
Discussing activities and policy with colleagues
Teaching and support teaching
Participating in seminars and online forums
Teaching your peers
Developing resources
However, you will also learn by teaching . There is a good deal of media discussion of teaching, most of it using simplistic divisions. Our intention on this course is not to persuade you of the merits of one teaching style above another. Instead, we want to give you the information and technical skills to make informed and intelligent choices about how to teach in different contexts. In particular, we want you to identify and deliver high expectations by choosing teaching and learning strategies effectively in given settings. You need to collect examples of different teaching strategies and consider their effectiveness. You need to ask classroom teachers and tutors why they teach in particular ways. You need to be prepared to try out a variety of teaching styles, and to be willing to start to consider why some things work and not others. As a developing professional, you will need to be active and enquiring in your use of teaching methods. You may find it helpful to keep a notebook of different teaching ideas, always making evaluative comments on their success
2.6 Your feedback on the course
At regular and frequent intervals throughout the course you will be asked to give your views in evaluation of various aspects of the course. These are completed online. However, feedback is only useful if it is provided in a considered and thoughtful way. The notes that follow have been prepared to answer some of the questions that students often ask about the feedback process, and to help you ensure that the feedback you give provides a very helpful input into the Institute’s quality assurance processes. This will benefit you and future students.
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Why is feedback collected?
The University, like most modern organisations, is committed to continuous improvement. This means that we are constantly looking for ways to improve the learning experience we provide for our students. We can only do this if you let us know your reactions to our courses. Not only to identify problems so that members of staff can take steps to eliminate them, but also to learn about the things you find helpful, so that we can disseminate best practice in teaching and learning throughout the Institute of Education.
What happens to the feedback?
The staff most directly involved in its delivery will first read the feedback for each aspect of the course. It will then be summarised by course leader or Partnership officer as part of the University’s Annual Review process.
Tutors will take your comments into account in planning for next year's courses and your views on school placem ents will inform the Student Service’s Office the selection of placements as well providing feedback to the settings themselves. The Annual Course Reviews will be considered by all staff in the Centre for professional Education and by the University’s Graduate Studies Committee of the Board of the Faculty of
Social Sciences, to identify positive features and any areas for improvement.
Finally, a summary of the Course Review will be made available to your SSLC for comment and discussion.
So, the feedback you provide forms an essential input into our quality improvement process, helping to create a better teaching and learning environment for yourselves and future generations of students.
What constitutes useful feedback?
You are accustomed to being on the receiving end of feedback when your work is returned with comments from the marker. For those training to be teachers, you will quickly understand the importance of framing feedback in ways, which support, rather than hinder, development. If you think about what you do
– and don't
– like as feedback on your work, you will be in a good position to provide helpful feedback on modules and courses. Here are some points to start you thinking:
Be specific – be constructive: For example, a single comment: 'I didn't like this task' is not very helpful, since it gives no guidance as to what was wrong with it. In the same way, just saying that you did not like a session or course does not give any indication to the leader as to what steps s/he should take to improve things. Was the pace too slow? Too fast? Did you find it hard to see the relevance of the material? Make good use of opportunities for open-ended comments to explain these points.
Mention the positive as well as the negative: It is always good to know what you got right, and discouraging to read comments on your work which only mention what was wrong with it. So, when you comment on an aspect of the course, try to mention any features which you particularly enjoyed or found helpful. It is often easy to overlook the positive, and overly negative feedback can make anyone defensive.
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Be honest with yourself: We often talk about 'teaching and learning' to show that the educational process requires participation from two people – the teacher and the student. You cannot expect to get full benefit from a module if you simply attend lectures and do the assessment – you need to do the additional reading, participate fully in seminar discussions, etc. So before you indicate that you did not get much out of a course, ask yourself honestly what you put in. The same, of course, applies to school placements.
Try to separate personality from content: During your time at Warwick, many different members of staff may teach you. It would be surprising if you liked all of them equally as people, or if there weren't some who had habits and mannerisms which irritate you! But try to keep your reaction to lecturers' and mentors' personalities separate from your reaction to their teaching.
Be considerate: Lecturers and mentors are people with feelings, just like students. Sometimes you may need to be critical of aspects of a course, but you should try always to offer criticism in a sensitive way.
Comments such as 'X is the worst lecturer I've ever had' are neither useful nor constructive; but equally, neither are comments such as ‘Y is the best lecturer I’ve ever had’.
Be conscientious: PLEASE complete all the feedback forms you are given. If we only get a small number of returns, then we may well get a biased idea of students' views – and that idea may not coincide with yours.
So don't lose your opportunity to be heard!
Be professional: Feedback is a critical part of the teaching and learning process. This means that it needs to be focused on both areas of strength and areas for development.
[With acknowledgement to the Warwick Business School]
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3. Staff and Administration
3.1 Key contacts at the University (Centre for Professional Education)
Early Years Course Leader
Kirsty weeks
02476 522307
Student Services Manager
Jenni Smith
02476 524208
For School-related issues:
Partnership Development Officer
Mr Leigh Capener
02476 522171
3.2 Routines and administration
A considerable proportion of your year will be spent away from the University. If the course is to run smoothly and effectively, there are some important points about management and administration that you will need to learn quickly. We expect that you will make every effort to keep yourself informed of issues and events as they occur, as sometimes we find it necessary to make short-term changes to the timetable or procedures.
Changes will normally be announced by tutors, the Early Years website or via e-mail so make a point of checking your Warwick e-mail account every day .
3.3 Absence and attendance
This is a full-time, professional course. You acquire professional obligations from the first day of your training.
These obligations include attendance at all timetabled sessions, punctuality and a sense of responsibility for the development of your professionalism. You must also undertake to complete all the tasks required of you.
The point about attendance is not trivial. Settings will have every expectation that Warwick trainees have followed the University-based programme before, and alongside, their school placement. We keep a record of attendance for this reason, and poor attendance can be a basis for recommending that you fail. We are also
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required to report regularly on the attendance of trainees receiving training salaries from the government. We expect that you will attend all sessions and all school-based days.
We are required to comment on attendance and punctuality when writing job references. If you are unable to attend unexpectedly or if you will be late, you must ensure that you do the following:
For a University-based day
If you are unable to attend or will be late for any University-based session, you should telephone the Absence
Reporting Line before 8:30am on 024 7615 0241 . You should collect notes or arrange for a colleague on the course to collect information for you.
If you fall ill and it seems that you will miss more than a couple of days you will need to obtain a medical certificate.
In exceptional circumstances we may need to make special arrangements for you if your illness prevents you from participating in a substantial part of the course. The earlier you warn us that this is likely to happen, the more likely it is that we can work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.
For a setting-based day
Absence from placement is not something to be taken lightly. Unless you are ill, you must get permission from your Head teacher, Manager or School Mentor and your Course Leader for any absence.
If your absence is inevitable, you MUST take the following steps:
(i) Notify the setting.
It is a most important part of professional etiquette to ensure that fellow teachers have prompt information of a colleague’s absence by 8.30 am at the latest.
(ii) Notify the University via the Absence Reporting Line before 8.30am (024 7615 0241).
(iii) In the event of an absence of more than five working days, send a medical certificate to the Student
Services Office.
(iv) If you were expecting a Link tutor’s visit to the school, please try to ensure that s/he does not have a wasted journey by ringing/emailing the Student Services Team and asking the staff to contact the tutor at home as soon as possible.
(v) Notify the University via the Absence Reporting Line (024 7615 0241) and your Link Tutor of your return .
Following absence you should check with your Personal Tutor what steps you need to take to make up for missed time.
The University regulations state that:
“Failure to attend prescribed classes or to complete prescribed coursework may result in a student being required to submit additional assessed work, or to sit a written examination in place of submitting coursework, or in the student being required to withdraw from the course of study.”
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3.4 Withdrawals from the course
Temporary
A trainee may temporarily withdraw from the course with the permission of the Course Leader and the
University for a period up to a year. This temporary situation will normally be offered for one occasion only, and only on the basis of evidence as to why a temporary withdrawal is appropriate (e.g. medical, serious family/personal circumstances). Trainees must make their request in writing on a form available from the website and must have discussed it with their personal tutor before it is sent to the Director of the Centre for
Professional Education. Please note: temporary withdrawal is not automatic. It has to be approved by the relevant tutors. If a trainee is deemed to be not making sufficient progress or to be at serious risk of failing the course, temporary withdrawal is very unlikely to be approved. Medical notes should be produced if medical issues are cited. You will also in these circumstances, therefore, need to produce a certificate from a doctor to indicate that you are fit to return to the course when that point arises.
Please refer to the Warwick website for further information about temporary withdrawal at: www.warwick.ac.uk/services/gov/calendar/section2/regulations/reg36registrationattendanceprogress/
Permanent
A trainee wishing to withdraw permanently should firstly contact their Personal Tutor to discuss the reasons for their decision and to see if there is any additional support available, where appropriate, in order that the trainee could continue on the course. A trainee may be asked to leave the course if their conduct is not appropriate either on placement or in the University. In addition a trainee may be advised to withdraw from the course if they are not making satisfactory progress. Trainees must make their request in writing on an form available from the website or their personal tutor/course leader and discuss this with their personal tutor before it is sent to the Director of the Centre for Professional Education. Please note that if you withdraw yourself from a placement you will be deemed to have permanently withdrawn from the course. Please therefore consider this carefully before undertaking any action.
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4. Assessment procedures
4.1 Introduction to assessment procedures
Children deserve good teachers. One of the important elements of your development during the year is the assessment which will be made in order to determine whether you should be awarded Early Years Teacher
Status.
You must meet all of the Teachers’ Standards across the age range for which you are training at a level appropriate for an early years teacher. You must demonstrate this through your end of placement profiles and your Professional Digital Portfolio (e-portfolio).
4.1.1 Assessment points
There are three main assessment points during the year, when your progress is monitored and targets are set.
The main details are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
Autumn Placement review meeting. This takes place shortly after completion of your first placement. Your placement profiles and (e-PDP) will indicate your strengths and areas for development. Further professional training sessions will be arranged in particular elements e.g. planning, assessment etc. and students will be notified if they are required to attend these sessions.
Spring review meeting. This takes place towards the end of your placement and triggers an Early
Warning Letter where necessary. Again, students will be notified if they are required to attend any further professional training sessions following this meeting.
Summer review meeting. This takes place midway through your final placement and triggers visits by External Examiners where necessary. Following this meeting, recommendations are made to the Examination Board.
4.1.2 Guidance on Extenuating/Mitigating Circumstances
Extenuating or mitigating circumstances are those events which have had a detrimental effect on your study, to the point that it is in your interest to draw your department’s attention to them and ask for them to be considered in mitigation of poor performance. Such circumstances include (but are not limited to) illness, both bodily and emotional; the severe illness or death of a close family member; a shocking or traumatic personal experience. In addition, sudden, unexpected changes in family circumstances might affect your ability to make academic progress as a consequence of their demonstrable emotional impact upon you, and may also be considered as mitigation.
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The University is aware that in some cultures it is considered shameful or embarrassing to disclose the details of these kinds of circumstances to those outside one’s family. This is not the case in the prevailing UK culture and you should be aware that your department and the University are fully supportive of students in difficult circumstances and want to assist if at all possible. If you feel inhibited from talking to a tutor or other member of staff in the first instance, you may also consider talking to a member of your SSLC, the Students’ Union, the
University Senior Tutor or a member of staff in Student Support for initial, informal advice.
Clearly, though, in order for your circumstances to be considered as mitigating by your department, they must be conveyed formally to someone in your department (a tutor, the Director of Graduate/Undergraduate
Studies, a course/module convenor, for instance). The University expects that you will discuss your circumstances before Exam Boards meet, so that they may be taken into account in good time. You should be aware that, in the event you feel you need to appeal the outcome of an Exam Board, offering extenuating or mitigating circumstances at that point will need to be accompanied by a good reason why you withheld the information earlier. Without wanting to invade your privacy, the University does expect that you bring such circumstances to your department’s attention in a timely manner, despite the discomfort you might feel in so doing. Failure to disclose such circumstances at a time when you could have done so may subsequently be problematic. Your department will do all it can to support you in difficult situations.
Placement Tasks
On each placement you will be required to complete a selection of tasks related to your placement. Some will relate to future University-based sessions, some may be required by tutors and some are purely for your own professional development. You are required to complete all of these tasks which will be detailed in the relevant placement guides.
4.2 Principles underpinning assessment on the EYTS course
Assessment on this course serves two purposes:
Assessment is for you : it will identify strengths and weaknesses and development as a teacher.
Assessment helps you identify what has been learnt and what still needs to be learnt. It is part of the cycle of monitoring and assessing your progress towards the standards for the award of Early Years Teacher
Status.
Assessment is for children and settings : settings and children deserve effective, highly qualified teachers. Part of the purpose of assessment during the course is to provide settings with the reassurance that initial teacher training is providing them with the teachers they need.
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These purposes of assessment rest on a series of principles.
The criteria for assessment derive from the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) published by the NCTL. This document specifies the minimum standards which newly qualified teachers need to achieve. You need to have been demonstrated you have met these standards in 2 different settings by the end of training. Our assessment process records and monitors your progress. The standards themselves are set out later in this document.
The key responsibilities for assessment are shared between trainees, setting-based mentors and tutors.
University tutors take lead responsibility for the assessment of written work, for pastoral care during the year, particularly as it applies to professional development, and for liaising with mentors about progress on placement. Setting-based mentors have a lead responsibility for day-to-day support, which clearly includes the exercise of judgement about progress. Mentors take a leading role in school-based assessment: they have day-to-day knowledge of your work. However, tutors play a key support role. They work across a wide range of settings , and moderate mentors’ judgements.
Assessment judgements are based on evidence collected as your course proceeds: assessments are based on classroom observations, discussion and the written work completed during the year. Final assessment judgements will be discussed with you and made on a straight pass/fail basis.
Assessment judgements are open and transparent. This means that they should rest on discussion and dialogue about your work and progress, but it lays on all those involved in the course - including trainees - a responsibility to accept the consequences of openness: giving and receiving advice which is formative but which includes necessary criticism is never easy, but an acknowledgement of the principles on which the process rests should make the task a little easier.
GEMS-Practical assessment during your first placement is primarily diagnostic: it will provide information about strengths and weaknesses which can be used to develop your competence during future placements. Assessment during your final 2 placements is intended to support a considered judgement by the end of the year about whether you should be awarded Early Years Teacher Status.
GEBS- You need to demonstrate you have met the standards in 2 different settings so for some of you this will mean you will need to meet the standards in the Autumn and Summer Term for others this means the Spring and Summer Term.
If you are at risk of failing you will be given evidence and reasons for this. . (See Section 4.1.1 and
4.5)
4.3 Teachers’ Standards (Early Years)
All initial teacher training is based on a national list of professional standards called the Teachers’ Standards.
This course follows the Teacher Standards (Early Years) which are similar to but not the same as the Teacher
Standards for Primary and Secondary school teachers. The Teacher s’ standards are set out in full in section
12. The Warwick Partnership has devised Assessment descriptors for each Standard which enable judgements to be made more objectively and explicit targets to be set (Section 12). Ofsted Grade Descriptors are also given in Section 12.
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4.4 Assessment in settings: observation and feedback
Observation of your classroom practice lies at the heart of learning to teach. You will be observed whilst teaching by mentors and teachers from the placement setting and by tutors from the University. The feedback from these observations will provide evidence both to support your further development and to support assessment judgements. This balance between formative and summative judgement is an important one.
Lesson observation proformas, used to give feedback on your teaching, will be shared with you and you will receive a copy of each form. Copies will be forwarded to the University.
To ensure that assessment judgements are both open and fair, good practice in assessment in settings is normally characterised by the following:
it is founded on classroom observation, supplemented by post-observation discussion and target setting for future development
it is closely related to the process of target setting in the PDP
it is based on a number of observations, in a range of different contexts, over a period of time
it is regular and frequent
it is based on trust, mutual respect and confidentiality, although not all decisions will necessarily be based on full consensus.
Observation and feedback are a central part of Professional Placement throughout placement, from the very beginning to the very end of the term. A full, detailed placement report is compiled at the end of the first placement and will be used to draft initial versions of references and to support action planning in the second and third phases of the course. Further detailed reports will be written by school mentors and University Link
Tutors at the end of future placements. References will be updated using this information and it will be used to base your future targets on. In a very small number of cases, evidence compiled will suggest that it may not be in your best interest to continue with the course. In these cases, your tutor will want to discuss your options with you and ensure that decisions are made which reflect your abilities and the demands of the profession.
Since your work in settings is directly supported by mentors, the University has entrusted mentors with the leading role in assessing pe rformance against the agreed Teachers’ Standards. Your tutors play a supporting and moderating role, and in all cases where there is doubt about the likely outcome of the placement, your tutors will be intensively involved in diagnosing difficulties and agreeing an action plan to address those difficulties.
4.5 Assessment points, moderation and external examining
All settings are different, and it is important that there is confidence that judgements reached in one setting are comparable to those reached elsewhere in the Partnership. The Partnership has five formal mechanisms to ensure moderation of assessment judgements:
Tutors’ visits to settings provide one mechanism for the moderation of assessment judgements. Whilst tutors will wish to talk to mentors and trainees, they will also provide feedback to settings on the way in which judgements have been reached. Such dialogue is an important part of developing a framework for
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University based, mentor and teacher training. Link tutors jointly observe with mentors to provide moderated judgements.
Autumn review meeting: Tutors will consider all profile, report and PDP evidence of progress towards the Teachers’ Standards. Trainees whose progress gives cause for concern will be asked to discuss the concerns with their tutors. More serious concern will lead to the involvement of the Course Leader or, exceptionally, the Director of the Centre for Professional Education.
Spring review meetings: Settings and University tutors each identify trainees who are deemed to be progressing satisfactorily towards the Teachers’ Standards, those about whom there is some concern and those about whom there is serious concern. Setting and tutor comments are cross-referenced and all concerns are followed up. At this stage, most trainees will be expected to be progressing towards full competence against the Teachers’ Standards. In a very small number of cases, where serious problems are not being addressed and where there is little evidence of progress, mentors and tutors may strongly counsel a trainee to withdraw from the course.
Summer review meeting: Settings and University tutors will again identify trainees who are deemed to be progre ssing satisfactorily towards the Teachers’ Standards, those about whom there is some concern and those about whom there is serious concern. Setting and tutor comments are cross-referenced and all concerns are followed up. Those trainees whose performance is causing serious concern will be notified in writing by and an action plan agreed. It is expected that at this stage most trainees are working at full competence against the Teachers’ Standards. Trainees who, in their final placement, are identified as not making satis factory progress towards the Teachers’ Standards will receive support from mentors and tutors and have clearly identified targets for action. If the trainee fails the placement, they may be offered the opportunity to take an additional placement in a different setting provided that the Examination Board considers that a resit placement will be successful. Occasionally trainees do experience significant difficulties at the end of their training which mean that they may not have received a letter as detailed above expressing serious concerns. Just because a trainee has not received a warning letter this does not mean that a trainee will automatically pass this component of the course.
External Examiners: External Examiners are drawn from other higher education institutions and from settings involved in other partnership schemes. External examiners will visit a range of trainees, including those deemed to be at risk of failing their school experience. They will wish to see trainees teach, to discuss placements with mentors and to review the evidence which underpins a potential fail judgement.
They also scrutinise assessed written work, meet a sample of trainees and look at their PDPs and comment generally on the course as a whole and subject content specifically.
4.6 Assessment in the University
During the course of the PGCE year, you are asked to produce a series of tasks. Detailed information on these will be found in the relevant sections of this placement booklets. Please note that:
All tasks must demonstrate the ability to write accurately and coherently. They must be spelt correctly and punctuated accurately. They must be grammatically correct. Tasks which do not reach appropriate standards of professional literacy may fail.
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5. Reviewing Your Progress
5.1 Assessment and progress: the review points
In order to provide you and your tutors with clear evidence on your progress, we have designated a series of clearly defined Review Points through the year. These are intended to:
provide you, and those working with you, with specified opportunities to review evidence of your progress and development as a teacher
support the process of target setting and development which lies at the heart of becoming an effective teacher
provide you, and those working with you, with indications as to shortcomings and weaknesses which will need to be rectified if you are to succeed
draw together the evidence, which is accumulating, on your progress towards achieving the Teachers’ Standards.
All of these review points include meetings with your Personal Tutor. You should have all aspects of your e-
PDP updated in advance of these meetings so that Personal Tutors have time to read and reflect on the content before meeting with your to review and set ‘next step’ targets. Such developmental targets then feed into meetings with your Link Tutor and then your mentor on placement .
Review Point
1 Week 52
2 Week 9 & 10
Focus of meeting Content
Induction e-PDP Give your tutor background information for a reference.
Review of pre-course targets set at interview
Set targets for Autumn Placement
Monitor progress Review the placement profile
Set targets Spring placement
3 Week 17 (GEMS only) Monitor progress Set targets for Reception Placement
Discuss job application situation
4 Week 28 Monitor Progress Review the placement profile and e-PDP
Set targets for Summer Placement
Discuss job application situation
5 Week 38 (GEMS only) Monitor Progress Review placement profile and e-PDP
Check job application situation
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5.2 The Professional Digital Portfolio (e-PDP)
Introduction
Your e-PDP is a personal record of evidence demonstrating your progress toward s the required
Standards and your development as an Early Years teacher. Completion of the e-PDP is a requirement of the Early Years Teacher Status course.
You are personally responsible for maintaining the e-PDP and ensuring that it is updated regularly and that the PDP contains the specified information . You will need to record where the relevant evidence demonstra ting your achievement of the Teachers’ Standards may be found. The e-
PDP should always be available and up to date on-line when you meet formally with your
Personal Tutor, Link Tutor and School Mentor .
The e-PDP is part of an on-going process of gathering evidence and monitoring your professional development which will continue into and throughout your teaching career.
Rationale and Purposes of the e-PDP
Trainees ‘must’ meet all of the Teachers’ Standards before they can be recommended for Early
Years Teacher Status.
‘The Standards’ are a rigorous set of expectations and set out the minimum legal requirement .’
The purposes of the e-PDP are to:
Provide evidence of your increasing professional experience and progress towards the achievement of the Standards required for Early Years Teacher Status;
encourage you to reflect upon, evaluate and take responsibility for your own professional development;
enable your tutors, school mentors and class teachers to monitor and support your progress towards the Standards;
help set individual targets and tailor your experiences to ensure that all the professional standards have been addressed and achieved, to at least a satisfactory standard, by the end of the training year;
monitor developments in subject knowledge and experience of teaching the Foundation
Stage and National Curriculum.
gather information and evidence of other relevant experiences and achievements;
give you a system to continue to map out your professional development after the completion of the course
Key Points and Guidance
Maintaining your e-PDP should not entail a great deal of additional work but it will require you to be organised, disciplined and systematic. You should aim to develop good habits from the outset by updating and editing evidence of having met the Standards and making sure that relevant detail s, forms and profiles are transferred and uploaded into the e-PDP before you attend scheduled tutorials
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and meetings with your Personal Tutor, Link Tutor and Mentor. This will help you and others to facilitate your experiences to meet your individual needs and to ensure that you make rapid and successful progress towards achieving the Standards and becoming a proficient and professional teacher.
5.3 Using the e-PDP
You will be introduced in detail to the e-PDP during the induction weeks of the course. The PDP is intended to support your professional development throughout the course and to provide a basis on which induction into the profession in a first post can be effectively planned in detail, the aims of the e-PDP document are to:
record basic factual information, course entry and career entry profiles;
concentrate on setting targets for, and reflecting on, progress made during, the three University-based placements;
encourage you to maintain organised, professional placement files;
help you to understand and record your progress towards the professional standards for early years teacher status;
help you identify and take responsibility for your own achievements and needs;
promote the skills of reflection and negotiation;
provide you with an action plan for your further professional development as part of your Career Entry and Development Profile.
5.4 Professional Portfolio
Your Professional Portfolio is where you keep examples of your achievements. Its prime purpose is to demonstrate your strengths when starting a placement or when interviewed for a teaching post. The
Warwick Partnership recognises that it is good practice to take such a portfolio to interviews and to maintain it throughout your teaching career.
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6. Placement Information
6.1 Mentoring: the Warwick model
This Early Years course recognises that a very important element of your professional learning takes place in settings. Whilst the University manages the Early Years course, its success depends on the work carried out in settings by class teachers, room leaders and mentors. An important point to make here is that the
Warwick course places a considerable responsibility for managing and addressing trainees’ learning needs in the hands of school and setting based mentors.
Mentors co-ordin ate trainees’ work in the setting and generally arrange a programme of experience which allows you opportunities to explore the context of the placement setting. They will play a leading role in working with you on teaching, providing information on policy and practice, and providing feedback to you based on observation of classroom practice. They will liaise with University tutors about your progress.
They will also provide an avenue through which University provision is related to the specific circumstances of the setting. Mentors will take the leading role in assessing your competence as a early years teacher; they will not do this alone but will work with other colleagues and link tutors involved in your placements.
You will not always work in mentors’ classes.
6.2 Autumn Professional Placement
Placement during the first term of the year provides you with the opportunity to work with the youngest children.
During the first few days, you will undertake setting-based activities relating to your programme at
Warwick, working mainly with individuals or groups of children. The focus of these activities will be the following:
Finding out about the organisation and ethos of the setting, its layout, staffing, classes and timetable, the social setting and other significant features, for example its curriculum policies, behaviour policy, resources, rules and procedures, equal opportunities and race equality policies, child protection policy etc.
Being linked with a particular class, so that you begin to know this class: the names, background and attainment of children, classroom organisation and routines.
Discussing the curriculum planning for the class, which the teacher or room leader will have undertaken.
Working with individual children under the direction of the room leader.
Planning and undertaking some work with small groups of children in the prime areas
Agreeing a timetable for the block professional placement, including content of sessions and approaches.
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This placement should provide opportunities to develop your competence in teaching, with a particular focus on the teaching of prime areas. In nursery this will involve limited amounts of whole class activities, some group work, and a lot of 1:1 interaction. You will learn a lot about ob serving and responding to children’s needs.
6.3 Spring Placements - Key Stage 1 experience
GEMS-You will be required to undertake a 10 day placement in Key Stage 1 It is your responsibility to organise this placement and we would ask that you make arrangements with a school local to you as early as possible. The dates for this placement are 4th to 15th of January (Teacher Training Days can be made up on the next placement if needed). Please confirm your chosen school by 1st October 2015 so that we can contact the schools. Class teachers will be asked to fill in an evaluation form about your engagement during the 2 week placement.
GEBS- We ask that you spend the first 10 mornings of your placement in Key Stage 1. Evidence from this time should be built into your profile for the end of the spring placement.
The objectives of this placement are:
To be based in a Key Stage 1 class, but where the school has a large intake, have the opportunity to observe good practice in other Key Stage 1 classes too.
Take the whole class for short periods on a number of occasions during the fortnight e.g. story time, mental maths.
Support a small group of lower attaining pupils for a series of maths lessons, including having an input into planning for the group.
Observe and then deliver 2 guided reading sessions.
Observe phonics then with support plan and deliver phonics sessions to a small group.
Plan an activity which uses the outdoor environment and deliver this to at least 2 small groups.
Class teachers will be asked to fill in an evaluation form about your engagement during the 2 week placement. This placement should give you ample opportunity to provide more evidence for your e-pdp.
6.4 Spring Placement - Reception
GEMS - 7 weeks long.
GEBS - 10 afternoons then 4 weeks.
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These placements are intended to provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate competence as a classroom teacher across the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and to produce evidence that demonstrates your ability to meet the standards expected.
On the three preparation days/ afternoons you will need to:
Find out about the organisation and ethos of the setting, its layout, staffing, classes and timetable, the social setting and other significant features, for example its curriculum policies, resources, rules and procedures, equal opportunities and race equality policies, child protection policy etc.
Observe other adults working in a number of classes and discuss with teachers various approaches to classroom organisation and teaching styles.
Begin to know this class: the names, background and attainment of children, classroom organisation and routines and so on.
Discuss the teacher’s existing planning for the class.
Work with individual children under the direction of the class teacher/room leader.
Plan and undertake some work with small groups of children and/or the whole class.
Agree a timetable for the block professional placement, including content of sessions and approaches.
Find out how the adults plan and assess the work of children in their classes so that you can participate where possible.
6.5 Summer Placement
GEBS - Your own setting. GEMS- within the 2-4 age range.
About half way through your fourth placement, tutors and mentors will consult to agree a provisional recommendation about the award of Early Years Teacher Status.
6.6 Placement Procedures
Making Placements
GEBS - You need to have at least 6 weeks in an alternative setting. You will need at least 6 weeks working with children under 30 months and 10 mornings working in Key Stage 1. If you would like the University to help with placements we will do. However as it is our policy to pay all placements for their commitment to training your employer will be expected to meet half of these costs £200. This is expected to come out of your NCTL funding.
GEMS - The University arranges the 3 long placements. You arrange the short Key Stage 1 placement.
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When making arrangements for your placement, your individual training needs are paramount , though we will also try to balance a number of other factors, including:
○
○
○
○
○
○
Ensuring a range of year group and setting context experience
Availability of suitable placements
Connections you may already have with some settings
Family commitments
Health problems and disabilities
Where you live and your transport possibilities.
It is not always possible to place trainees close to home and some travelling is inevitable (one hour or more by car). Most settings would expect you to be there by 8.00am. You must let the Student Service Team know immediately of any change to your term-time address or personal circumstances which might affect the suitability of a placement. Please note that the University does not contribute towards trainees’ travel expenses.
Announcing Placements
We aim to let you know the details of your placement at least one week before it starts. Occasionally it may be possible to give more notice. You will receive individual notification on-line via Data Reveal giving school contact and address information.
Concerns About Your Placement
A great deal of care has been taken when placing you. As far as possible, personal circumstances and requests will have been taken into consideration. However, your training needs are the priority.
If you have any concerns about your placement, after you know where you are being placed, please discuss these with your Personal Tutor in the first instance.
Please note all placements are approved by the Professional Support Services Team, Course
Leader, Quality Assurance Officer, Link Tutors and Review Groups and, therefore, it is highly unlikely that any changes will be made to the placement allocation.
However, it is a good idea to let the
Professional Support Services team know of your concerns so that they can try to take them into account when allocating you for your next placement. To do this, send a message to cpe@warwick.ac.uk
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7. Trainee Support and Services
7.1 Tutors
We hope that you find this year to be a stimulating and rewarding course of academic and professional learning. However, if you are unhappy about any aspect of your course we would rather you discuss it with us than storing up ‘grievances’. If you still feel concerned then you should see the Course Leader, and beyond her, the Director of Teacher Education.
7.2 Student-Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC)
In addition, you may use the Student-Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC) to raise any issues of concern which may be of wider interest. SSLC fulfils a key role in monitoring the quality of courses and providing a means of communicating trainees' opinions and suggestions to the tutors responsible for the course. Early in the course you will select group representatives for the SSLC and you can ask these representatives to raise issues at the meetings. The University and Students' Union have produced the Student-Staff Liaison
Committee Handbook: Good Practice Guidelines . This is available at http://www.warwick.ac.uk/sunion/sslc
7.3 Help Services
The University provides medical and counselling services. For information or appointments, call the Health
Centre or the office of the University’s Senior Tutor. In addition, help is available from the Students' Union and from the Chaplaincy. Details of all these services can be found on the University’s website at http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/student-support-services
7.4 Hardship/Financial Problems
The University Senior Tutor's office provides a financial adviser who can be seen by appointment and it administers a hardship fund. The Students' Union Welfare Office provides counselling on money matters on a drop-in basis. Both offices can provide small sums to tide over trainees who are in real financial difficulties.
If you have approached both the above unsuccessfully, and are still in serious need, contact the Director of the Centre for Professional Education
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7.5 The Teacher Support Line
The Teacher Support Line is a 24-hour helpline offering free and confidential information, support and counselling for experienced and trainee teachers. You can call free on 08000 562 561 or email support@teachersupport.info
or visit the website at www.teachersupport.info.
Click on the link on the web site and you will be taken directly to a counsellor for a live chat.
7.6 Prayer facilities
The University has a chapel and prayer room on main campus. Please ask at Avon Reception for details of the prayer room on Westwood campus.
7.7 Equality and Diversity Policy
The University’s written Commitment to Equality and Diversity, as expressed in the “Single Equality
Scheme” and distributed to all staff and students, states:
“The University of Warwick, recognising the value of sustaining and advancing a safe and welcoming learning environment, strives to treat both employees and students with respect and dignity, treat them fairly with regards to all assessments, choices and procedures, and to give them encouragement to reach their full potential. Therefore the University strives to treat all its members, and visitors, fairly and aims to eliminate unjustifiable discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, and nationality, ethnic or national origin, political beliefs, religious beliefs or practices, disability, marital status, family circumstances, sexual orientation, spent criminal convictions, age or any other inappropriate ground.”
The University of Warwick is proud of its diverse community of staff, students and visitors, and is committed to maintaining its excellent record in teaching and research by ensuring there is equality of opportunity for all, fostered in an environment of mutual respect and dignity. The achievement of equality of opportunity is central to our mission as a Higher Education Institution and as an employer.
Our commitment is not simply limited to meeting legislative requirements but we endeavour to be a leader in the field of equality and diversity.
The promotion of Equality and Diversity concerns all of us and is the responsibility of all members of the
University’s community. As members of this community, it is expected that we will contribute to ensuring that the University of Warwick continues to be a safe, welcoming and productive environment.
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Aims of the Policy
There are four broad reasons for ensuring the implementation of the Single Equality Scheme:
the belief in Equality and Diversity principles
the fit with other aspects of University strategy, such as the over-riding need to recruit and retain the best staff; and increasing evidence that good practice in Equality and
Diversity will play an active part in supporting the University’s teaching and research mission by improving staff commitment
retention and business effectiveness; and
the increasing statutory obligations on the University stemming from recent and forthcoming Equality and Diversity legislation.
Everyone who seeks to be an employee, is an existing employee, or a student of or visitor to the
University, is entitled to be treated in a fair an appropriate manner irrespective of:
Race/ethnicity/nationality
Colour
Disability
Gender
Religion
Age
Sexual Orientation
Marital status
Caring responsibilities
Socio-economic status
This list is intended to be illustrative and is not exhaustive.
We embrace and celebrate the richness brought to the University by the diverse population of staff and students and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment or victimisation of any form.
We recognise that despite our best intentions and efforts, circumstances may arise which are not consistent with the aims of the policy and we are committed in the event of such circumstances arising to take action.
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University Policies, Guidelines, Schemes and Action Plans
The University’s website gives comprehensive guidance on policies and procedures, including:
Single Equality Scheme
Single Equality Action Plan
Equality and Diversity leaflet
Disability Policy for Staff and Students
Frequently Asked Questions about Disability
Gender Reassignment Policy
Dignity at Work and Study Policy for Staff and Students
Frequently Asked Questions about Religion or Belief
Frequently Asked Questions about Sexual Orientation
Further details can be found on the University’s website at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/equalops
Dignity at Work and Study Policy
(See: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/insite/topic/healthsafety/welfare/harassment/ )
Warwick considers all forms of harassment as totally unacceptable and offers support to trainees and staff subjected to it. The University is also prepared to take disciplinary action against offenders. Harassment is unwanted, unsolicited or unwelcome behaviour or language that is offensive or intimidating to the recipient. This includes conduct which makes the recipient feel threatened or humiliated as a result of his or her gender, skin colour, race, ethnic or national origin, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or other personal characteristic.
Trainees are advised to seek advice or help if needed from the University Senior Tutor and Counselling
Service, Advice and Welfare Services, Welfare and Equal Opportunities Officer, and the Chaplaincy.
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7.8 Library Resources
The main library on central campus contains specialist books and periodicals for a wide range of disciplines, as well as Government publications. Most education books can be found on the fourth floor of the library and most education journals can be found on the fifth floor of the library. Books that are in heavy demand are placed in the Student Reserve Collection (SRC), for short loan; or are placed in The Learning Grid in
University House for reference use only. The library also houses a settings collection where you can borrow teaching texts for use on placements. There are a number of useful e-journals, and on-line databases, including The British Education Index, which can be accessed via the Library web pages: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/main/tealea/socsciall/education
You are likely to make extensive use of the collections for tasks and wider reading as well as for lesson planning.
7.9 The Learning Grid
The Learning Grid is based on 2 floors in University House, with capacity for approximately 300 students. It is managed by the Library and is open 24x7, closed only on Christmas Day. The Learning Grid Student
Advisors are on hand for significant periods of the day, every day, to assist you with the use of hardware and software applications, navigation of Library resources and provide advice and guidance about how best to access other University services. Details of staffing, policies, guidance and matters of interest are exhibited by plasma screen display on both floors.
The facility provides an exciting, innovative, unique learning landscape where you can engage with individual study, group problem-solving activities, team working and presentation work. The Learning Grid is also a focal resource for supporting you in the use of digital multi-media for your assignments. It provides a wireless network, capacity for up to 10,000 reference use student texts and careers resources. A wide range of equipment includes scanners and document visualisers through to electronic whiteboards, video-editing facilities, networked PCs and video cameras with playback capability, etc. These facilities encompass study environments ranging from formal presentation rooms, which can be booked online, to soft seating.
This contemporary Library space places emphasis on students coming together to work collaboratively, therefore talking is encouraged. The ability to have hot and cold drinks as well as cold food in The Learning
Grid is integral to the ambience of the working environment. As a mobile technology tolerant area, users are able to blend together a range of study activities. More information is available at our website at: go.warwick.ac.uk/grid. Alternatively, pop in at any time. The Learning Grid Student Advisors will be glad to give you a short tour as well as additional information about the equipment and how it works. As The
Learning Grid does not have a fixed helpdesk, information about who is on duty is displayed on the screens.
All staff members wear blue T-shirts
Access to The Learning Grid is by University Card only. Users with mobility concerns will have independent access to both floors of The Learning Grid.
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7.10 The Careers Centre
Student Careers and Skills, located on the ground floor of University House, provides support tailored to your needs, including one-to-one advice, mock interviews, workshops and resources which are available online and in the Careers Hub.
There is a link careers consultant for the Centre for Professional Education who can provide on-going support with applications, personal statements and CVs. Customised mock interview practice sessions can be arranged and students should email careers@warwick.ac.uk
with any requests for help.
7.11 IT Facilities in the University
IT Services publish an annual information and computing services guide. The 2014/15 guide should be ready for the beginning of the Undergraduate term and is available from IT Services.
There are general courses for training in the basic use of PCs at Warwick. These courses are open to all trainees and will continue throughout the first two terms of the year. Notices detailing the exact location and times of courses will be posted in all IT Services public work areas. A series of three taught courses on Word for Windows, Version 6, will also be available. These courses will go into more depth on the use of this word processing package. Details of times and place will be circulated later. There will also be a pre-course session on basic keyboard and mouse skills for trainees who have not used a computer before.
If you require any further information on the courses please contact the IT helpdesk on 02476 573737.
IT Services Network
Registration with IT Services can be made online following links from the Warwick homepage: www.warwick.ac.uk/insite but usually takes place as part of the induction process. Please note that the
University will use this e-mail address as the principal means of communication with you – you must check it daily.
7.12 Travel and Transport Information
Many of the campus car parks require you to have a parking permit or pay-and-display during the undergraduate term. Failure to do so will result in the vehicle being clamped. All vehicles parked overnight on campus must have a parking permit. Students are not normally able to buy car parking permits and the regulations are shown on the University website at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/campussupport/carparks/regulations/ .
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Buses to main campus run from points marked B on the University of Warwick Location Plan. West Midlands
Transport (WMT) Nos. 112, 12 and 12A run every 10 minutes, and Stagecoach Nos. X16, X17 and X18 every
20 minutes.
7.13 Student Academic Complaints and Feedback Procedure
www.warwick.ac.uk/services/gov/complaintsandfeedback www.warwick.ac.uk/services/aro/academiccomplaints/
There are both informal and formal channels for making a complaint or providing feedback about a department or service at the University of Warwick. The University encourages informal resolution where appropriate and also has a formal Student Academic Complaints Procedure. Full details of the various channels are detailed on the website, along with information about the Office of the Independent Adjudicator and support open to students across the University.
8 Reference Section
This section will provide you with some general information about the placement part of your course. Further and more detailed information specific to each placement will be in your Placement Guides which you will receive just prior to your placements .
8.1 Responsibilities of Trainee Teachers
finding out about, understanding and working within the ethos of the school/early years setting and its policies;
assuming a professional form of behaviour and presentation which will enable them to function as temporary members of staff with all that entails – responsibility, co-operation, punctuality, appropriate dress and observation of the guidelines within which the staff normally operate e.g. conforming to the school’s/early years setting’s smoking policy;
setting high standards for themselves and their children;
observing issues of confidentiality within the school/early years setting and maintaining the reputation of the school/early years setting and the profession;
entering into as wide a range of school/early years setting activities as practicable;
respecting the social culture of all children, teaching staff, parents and others with whom they are in contact.
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ensuring secure knowledge of national frameworks and appropriate curricula documentation;
assuring secure subject knowledge prior to teaching.
maintaining a e-PDP, including overview of current needs analysis, target setting and evaluations;
maintaining a placement file;
preparing detailed learning plans in an approved format, including appropriate assessment strategies which will enable monitoring of progress and achievement;
securing teachers’ approval for their plans before teaching begins;
ensuring access to education for all children at all times;
maintaining records of progression by individual children.
Meeting Course Requirements
reading and acting upon the contents of documents issued by the University in respect of the individual placement;
engaging in post-placement evaluation with Mentors and University tutors as appropriate;
informing the school/early years setting, the Student Services Team and the Link Tutor if absent, and on return to the placement, and completing an absence form as required.
Responsibilities for Health and Safety on Professional Placement
During the placement, we would expect our trainees to prove to be effective, safe and reliable individuals.
However, you will appreciate that during this period they are under your control and that, therefore, the statutory duty of care and consequent liabilities rest with yourself.
As the trainees’ Placement Provider, the University expects you to treat them in the same way as your employees with regards to their health, safety and welfare. The University also expects that, as Placement
Provider, you will:
provide trainees with an induction in workplace health and safety arrangements, including fire precautions for specific activities and situations
include trainees in the risk assessment programme so far as it is relevant to their activities
provide appropriate instruction and training in working practices and in the particular control measures identified in the risk assessments
provide ongoing supervision and training for trainees in the performance of their duties
have a system of recording and investigating accidents and incidents, including ‘near misses’.
we would ask that you notify the University of any work related accidents, untoward incidents or health problems involving trainees that you are made aware of.
If there are special circumstances for particular trainees, the University, in cooperation with the placement setting, will undertake a detailed risk assessment prior to the placement.
Trainee teachers in are not employees of the setting or LA and thus cannot carry legal responsibility for the safety of children with whom they work. Equally they do not have the right to administer sanctions such as
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detentions to children, nor to contact parents. All contact of this nature should be under the direct supervision of a qualified teacher. The legal status of trainee teachers is that they are visitors to the school.
However, trainee teachers are training to take on the legal responsibility of teachers and, therefore, need to have experience of taking sole responsibility for a class (according to correct EYTS ratios) under the direct or indirect supervision of a qualified teacher, as well as having opportunities to experience teachers’ wider professional role. In practice this means that, at an appropriate point in the placement, trainee teachers need to be visibly in charge of the class, but with the qualified teacher who is responsible for the class readily at hand. The stage at which this is appropriate will depend on:
the trainee teacher ’s competence and stage of development
the nature of the class
the assessment of risk in the physical environment from, for example, science equipment or practical activities.
Trainees should always know how to access the support of senior staff; where a risk assessment suggests that this support may be needed quickly, help should be positioned appropriately. Trainees do, however, have a general responsibility on placement for the safety of themselves and others.
Visiting tutors from the University have a similar legal status. When a visiting tutor is observing a trainee teacher’s lesson we recommend that the Mentor or room leader observes the lesson as well, so that a three-way conversation about the lesson can take place between the trainee teacher and the observers. If this is not possible, then the same arrangements for supervision of the lesson should apply as if the tutor were not present.
8.2 Guidance for Mentors
Mentor Guidelines: Roles and Responsibilities
Introduction
The Mentor has overall responsibility for the development and assessment of the trainee, and will work in close liaison with the class teacher or room leader. This system works best when the Mentor and class teacher are different people. Where this is the case it is possible to make objective judgements about the trainee’s performance. It also adds an additional level of support to the trainee and the class teacher. It is also the experience of many Partnership settings that the Head teacher/ Manager finds it difficult to fulfil the
Mentor role because of pressures on their time and availability.
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The Role of the School/Setting i. ii. iii.
Release Mentor/teacher for training purposes
Ensure that the role of Mentor is covered at all times e.g. if Mentor is ill or away
Ensure adequate time is allocated to the Mentor and teachers for their training role iv. v. vi.
Ensure that trainee is placed in a class with a good classroom practitioner
Ensure that the trainee is placed in a class where she/he is able to make progress towards their individual needs and the Teachers’ Standards
Look after the health and welfare of the trainee – and ensure that they are supervised appropriately vii. Make sure that arrangements such as job shares or long term supply do not affect the training experience vii. Allow trainees to move across different groups and classes to gain a whole school/early years setting experience
The Role of the Mentor
The Mentor should act as a point of contact and support for teachers and the Link Tutor, ensuring that any problems which arise during the placement are dealt with swiftly and effectively in close communication with the teachers, the Link Tutor and the Student Services Team . The Mentor’s role also includes: i. ii. iii. iv.
Providing a focus for the trainee’s contact with the school/setting
Providing a focus for the school’s contact with the University
Supervision of planning, documentation, record keeping and completion of placement tasks v. vi.
Observation of teaching, jointly with teacher and Link Tutor, as required in the Service Level
Agreement
Holding formal, documented, regular review meetings
Giving feedback, oral and written vii. Maintaining a training record/file viii. Assessment of the trainee ix. Attending training provided by the University for Mentors and passing information to teachers x. as appropriate
Liaising with, and supporting, teachers and the Link Tutor.
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i. Providing a focus for the trainee’s contact with the school/early years setting
This involves:
Providing a supportive and welcoming environment.
Organising an induction programme including: a. providing trainees with information about the school/early years setting, the local community and the children and about standards achieved in school/early years setting as reported by OFSTED
(for example: a copy of the school/early years setting brochure, inspection report and action plan, details of staff responsibilities, planning and policy documents) b. introducing them to the Head/Manager and the other staff, particularly subject co-ordinators, the
SENCo and the named person responsible for child protection c. arranging a tour of the school/early years setting d. checking that they know where things are to be found (this might be set out in the Staff Handbook, for example) e. introducing them to the day to day routines f. providing curriculum details g. inf orming them about the school’s/early years setting’s behaviour policy - rules, rewards and sanctions h. outlining their role in relation to assessment procedures, report writing, staff and parents’ meetings and extra-curricular activities.
Arranging a teaching timetable.
Organising opportunities for observation including:
- observation of good practitioners teaching a range of year groups
- meetings and support from subject co-ordinators, SENCo etc.
- participation in relevant meetings, in-service training etc.
- involvement in the wider life of the school/early years setting, extra-curricular activities, study support, assemblies, parents’ evenings, report writing and outings.
Giving support in completing placement tasks set by tutors at the University.
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ii. Providing a focus for the school’s/early years setting’s contact with the University
This involves:
Receiving information f rom the University’s Student Services Team about the trainees coming to the school/early years setting and working with the Head Teacher to arrange their placement with appropriate class teachers and into appropriate Year Groups.
Liaising with the Student Services Office during placements.
Liaising with the Link Tutor to arrange visits to the school/early years setting, to identify and meet the trainee’s needs and to make a final summative assessment.
Arranging a joint observation with the Link Tutor. iii. Supervision of planning, documentation and record keeping
Trainees are expected to produce clear, full and detailed:
Records of Mentor meetings (see Placement Guides for a copy of the form they should use).
Lesson plans, evaluations and records of children ’ progress (see Placement Guides for a copy of lesson plan and evaluation formats).
Short and medium term plans, targets and success criteria (see Placement Guides for a copy of the lesson plan format).
A record of training in school/early years setting using the Professional Placement
Programme Record.
These should all be kept in their Teaching Placement File. They are also expected to compile a e-PDP. iv. Observation of teaching
The class teacher/room leader should observe informally but formal observation is required on each placement and this should, where possible, be carried out by the Mentor. The number of formal observations required for each placement is set out in the Service Level Agreement for that placement.
Copies of these are given in the Placement Guides.
When observing formally, Mentors should:
complete a Lesson Observation forms (part 1 and/or 2) , noting Standards addressed and still requiring attention (see Placement Guides for further information);
cover a range of subject areas of the Foundation Stage curriculum and include moving from adult led activities to supporting children in the environment;
take into account how the trainee has planned for the environment;
involve other staff, such as subject co-ordinators, where appropriate;
give oral and written feedback within 24 hours;
agree action points related to the Standards.
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v. Regular review meetings
Mentors must set aside a regular times to meet with each trainee. Where more than one trainee is on placement in the school/early years setting, it may be helpful to meet as a group on some occasions.
Usually discussions will be between the Mentor and trainee but there might be occasions when it is more useful for the meeting to include discussion with the teacher and/or Link Tutor.
The main purpose of the meetings is to:
review progress made since the previous meeting and towards the final standards;
agree action points.
It would also be beneficial to use time at some of the meetings to look at whole school issues and involve other staff such as subject co-ordinators or the SENCo. Mentors and trainees should discuss subject knowledge issues at these meetings. When they visit, Link Tutors should be made aware of any further training required and whether this can be delivered in the setting.
These meetings should be minuted by the trainee using the Log of Mentor-Trainee Meeting form and signed by the Mentor .
It is important for the Mentor to retain an overview of the trainee’s work in school/early years setting by maintaining a chronological record of lesson observations and review meetings (see vii below).
At the final meeting, the Mentor should complete the relevant placement profile together with the trainee and class teacher. A copy should be given to the trainee before the original is returned to the University. vi. Giving feedback
Informal feedback is very important and should be given immediately or at least within 24 hours. It should be oral but followed up with written notes. Mentors will also give formal feedback:
following lesson observations
in mentor meetings.
Feedback should:
objectively review the trainee’s performance
be constructive and helpful
celebrate success
set targets related to the Standards, in particular to address areas of weakness
suggest support available.
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vii. Maintaining a training record
Mentors should maintain a training record in the form of a training file which will contain:
copies of correspondence and memoranda relating to the trainee
copies of previous placement profiles if appropriate
a copy of targets following discussion of any previous placement profiles
a copy of the trainee’s timetable
copies of lesson observation forms and any additional notes
copies of Log of Mentor-Trainee Meeting forms and notes of any other discussions with the trainee
copies of completed profiles and the PPPR.
This training file will form the basis of discussions with the University Link Tutor and should be made available to any visiting examiners or Ofsted inspectors. viii. Assessment of the trainee
The Mentor, in discussion with the Link Tutor, should complete the relevant Profile at the end of every placement. Forms are sent to settings at the start of the placement and copies can be found in the
Placement Guides and on the web site. The trainee should be involved in the discussions and should be given a copy of the completed forms. These forms should be signed by both the Mentor and the trainee.
When filling in the forms, Mentors should refer to the Standards for the placement. The assessment timetable for each programme has already been sent to settings/early years settings and is also included in the Placement Guides. Deadlines are also printed on the forms themselves and Mentors should ensure that they are returned directly to the Student Services Team (not with the Link Tutor or trainee) before the due date. A copy should also be given to the trainee and a further copy kept by the school/early years setting. Guidance on assessment will be given at pre-placement briefings and by the Link Tutor. The
Mentor’s responsibility is to ensure that assessment relates to the published criteria and timetable and, crucially, is securely grounded in evidence.
ix. Attending training provided by the University for Mentors and passing information to class teachers as appropriate
The University organises a Primary Partnership Conference, including an induction session for those new to the role. It is essential that Mentors attend this conference. Mentors should disseminate information to teachers and other members of staff as appropriate.
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x. Liaising with, and supporting, teachers and the Link Tutor
The Mentor should act as a central point of contact and support for teachers, Link Tutors and trainees, ensuring that any problems which arise during the placement are dealt with swiftly and effectively, in close communication with teachers, Link Tutors and the Student Services Team
The Role of the Class Teacher/ Room Leader i. ii. iii. iv. v.
Liaison with the Mentor and Link Tutor
Giving training, support and guidance
Acting as a good role model
Observation of the trainee teaching
Giving feedback i. Liaison with the Mentor and Link Tutor
Before the trainee arrives, the teacher/ room leader should liaise with the Mentor to discuss:
the trainee’s background and past experience
an appropriate teaching timetable
procedures for giving feedback to the trainee
the timetable for assessment.
During the placement the Mentor should be kept informed of the trainee’s progress against the Standards for the placement and of any difficulties experienced.
The teacher should meet with the Mentor to contribute to any Interim Report and to the completion of the final Profile at the end of the placement. ii. Giving training, support and guidance
This role is of vital importance. They will frequently observe the trainee teaching and know what can best be done to develop their strengths and remedy weaknesses in Professional Values, Knowledge and
Understanding, Planning, Assessment and Teaching and Class Management. (See Observation and
Giving Feedback below).
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They will also:
assist trainees in assessing children against appropriate Development Matters (EY) and
National Curriculum levels
assist trainees in supporting and assessing children with English as an Additional Language
assist trainees to plan, deliver and assess for both core and non-core subjects iii. Acting as a good role model
Although the trainee should be given opportunities to observe good practice throughout the setting, much of their time will be spent with the room leader who should be a good role model for their development.
8.3 The Role of the Link Tutor
Each school is allocated a University Link Tutor who will make contact with Mentors before the placement begins and on every subsequent visit to the school/early years setting.
To ensure that trainees meet the standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status, the complementary roles of the school/early years setting and the University in training and assessment must be firmly established and maintained. The Link Tutor’s role is of key importance in managing the relationship between the University and its Partner settings/earl y years settings in order to secure the trainee’s entitlement to:
A. The appropriate elements of the training programme.
The Link Tutor will be responsible for ensuring that the placement is suitable for the trainee and that the school/early years setting is in a position to fulfil the expectations of the course programme. The Link
Tutor should explain to the school/early years setting those elements of the programme which are to be covered during the placement. The Link Tutor will clarify the main aim of the placement and the contribution of both partners to the trainee’s development. When they visit settings/early years settings,
Link Tutors should discuss subject knowledge issues with Mentors, identifying any further training required and whether this will be delivered in the school/early years setting or at the University.
B. Support in the completion of placement tasks.
The Link Tutor will be responsible for ensuring that the school/early years setting is fully aware of the nature and purpose of tasks which trainees must complete during the placement in order to fulfill the course requirements. The Mentor and trainee will be offered support and advice on how to complete the tasks in order to ensure progress in relation to the Standards addressed in the placement tasks.
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C. Frequent and accurate assessment of their professional skills.
The Link Tutor must ensure that observations of the trainee’s teaching by Mentors and Link Tutors are made to the required format and at the required frequency. Observation should routinely record
Standards achieved by the trainee so that professional development can be charted and recorded. The
Link Tutor will be responsible for ensuring that the required number of joint observations of the trainee are made and that the outcomes are discussed with the Mentor. This will lead to a more consistent application of assessment criteria both within and between settings/early years settings. The Link Tutors will consult closely with the Mentor in compiling interim and final reports, and agree the trainee’s levels of attainment with respect to the Standards.
D. Discussion of trainee’s targets for development which ensure progress in relation to the
Teachers’ Standards.
The Link Tutor will ensure that:
he/she discusses pre-placement targets with the trainee which were set following discussion with the Personal Tutor
the agreed procedure for weekly Mentor meetings is observed
trainees make an input to the feedback in the light of their evaluation of their teaching
outcomes of targets from previous session and reviewed and new targets set
they offer advice and guidance in the traine e’s development of the e-PDP and in the collection of evidence which will support the trainee’s claims to the attainment of the Standards
they offer advice to trainees in evaluating the placement.
The following guidelines should be read in conjunction with the Guidelines for Mentors and for trainees, and the course-specific guidance.
The Link Tutor will make contact with the school/early years setting prior to the placement to discuss the trainee’s training plan
The Link Tutor will then visit to: a) monitor the trainee’s progress and the school’s/early years setting’s training programmes b) observe the trainee teach, jointly with the Mentor or teacher c) moderate judgements.
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8.4 Guidance on Grading Trainee’s Attainment (Ofsted Criteria)
From the Ofsted Framework for Inspection 2014
Outcomes for trainees
Criteria and outline guidance
83.
Outcomes are evaluated in terms of four separate areas:
attainment
how well trainees teach
completion rates
employment rates.
84.
For each phase inspected, inspectors must gather evidence on each of these criteria to reach their overall judgement about how well individual trainees benefit from their training.
85.
Inspectors must test the ITE partnership’s response to individual needs by observing how well it helps all trainees to become good or better teachers. Where inspection evidence reveals that variations in the quality of provision have an adverse impact on particular groups, inspectors will identify this as an area for improvement.
86.
Depending on the type of ITE partnership and where relevant, inspectors will pay
particular attention to the achievement of:
trainees in different primary, secondary and FE subject(s)/specialisms
trainees following core undergraduate, professional graduate and postgraduate training routes and/or School Direct or School Direct (salaried) routes
trainees following specific age-range training programmes
trainees placed in particular settings, colleges and/or settings or clusters of settings, colleges and/or settings
in-service/pre-service cohorts of trainees in FE colleges and other FE and skills settings
FE trainees undertaking different types of training qualifications
trainees working in other learning and skills settings, for example work-based learning
trainees with protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010.
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8.5 Teachers’ Standards (Early Years)
Preamble
Early Years Teachers make the education and care of babies and children their first concern. They are accountable for achieving the highest possible standards in their professional practice and conduct. Early
Years Teacher Status is awarded to graduates who are leading education and care and who have been judged to have met all of the standards in practice from birth to the end of the Early Years Foundation
Stage (EYFS).
Early Years Teachers act with integrity and honesty. They have strong early development knowledge, keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date and are self-critical. Early Years Teachers recognise that the
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 curricula follow the EYFS in a continuum. They forge positive professional relationships and work with parents and/or carers in the best interests of babies and children.
An Early Years Teacher must:
1. Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge all children.
1.1 Establish and sustain a safe and stimulating environment where children feel confident and are able to learn and develop.
1.2 Set goals that stretch and challenge children of all backgrounds, abilities and dispositions.
1.3 Demonstrate and model the positive values, attitudes and behaviours expected of children.
2. Promote good progress and outcomes by children.
2.1 Be accountable for children’s progress, attainment and outcomes.
2.2 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how babies and children learn and develop.
2.3 Know and understand attachment theories, their significance and how effectively to promote secure attachments.
2.4 Lead and model effective strategies to develop and extend children’s learning and thinking, including sustained shared thinking.
2.5 Communicate effectively with children from birth to age five, listening and responding sensitively.
2.6 Develop children’s confidence, social and communication skills through group learning.
2.7 Understand the important influence of parents and/or carers, working in partnership with them to support the child's wellbeing, learning and development.
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3. Demonstrate good knowledge of early learning and EYFS.
3.1 Have a secure knowledge of early childhood development and how that leads to successful learning and development at school.
3.2 Demonstrate a clear understanding of how to widen children’s experience and raise their expectations.
3.3 Demonstrate a critical understanding of the EYFS areas of learning and development and engage with the educational continuum of expectations, curricula and teaching of Key Stage 1 and 2.
3.4 Demonstrate a clear understanding of systematic synthetic phonics in the teaching of early reading.
3.5 Demonstrate a clear understanding of appropriate strategies in the teaching of early mathematics.
4. Plan education and care taking account of the needs of all children.
4.1 Ob serve and assess children’s development and learning, using this to plan next steps.
4.2 Plan balanced and flexible activities and educational programmes that take into account the stage of development, circumstances and interests of children.
4.3 Promote a love of learning and stimulate children’s intellectual curiosity in partnership with parents and/or carers.
4.4 Use a variety of teaching approaches to lead group activities appropriate to the age range and ability of children.
4.5 Reflect on the effectiveness of teaching activities and educational programmes to support the continuous improvement of provision.
5. Adapt education and care to respond to the strengths and needs of all children.
5.1 Have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can in hibit children’s learning and development and how best to address these.
5.2 Demonstrate an awareness of the physical, emotional, social, intellectual development and communication needs of babies and children, and know how to adapt education and care to support children at different stages of development.
5.3 Demonstrate a clear understanding of the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, and be able to use and evaluate distinctive approaches to engage and support them.
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5.4 Support children through a range of transitions.
5.5 Know when a child is in need of additional support and how this can be accessed, working in partnership with parents and/or carers and other professionals.
6. Make accurate and productive use of assessment.
6.1 Understand and lead assessment within the framework of the EYFS framework, including statutory assessment requirements (see annex 1).
6.2 Engage effectively with parents and/or carers and other professionals in the on-going assessment and provision for each child.
6.3 Give regular feedback to children and parents and/or carers to help children progress towards their goals.
7. Safeguard and promote the welfare of children, and provide a safe learning environment.
7.1 Know and act upon the legal requirements and guidance on health and safety, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child.
7.2 Establish and sustain a safe environment and employ practices that promote children’s health and safety.
7.3 Know and understand child protection policies and procedures, recognise when a child is in danger or at risk of abuse, and know how to act to protect them.
8. Fulfil wider professional responsibilities.
8.1 Promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
8.2 Make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the setting.
8.3 Take a lead in establishing a culture of cooperative working between colleagues, parents and/or carers and other professionals.
8.4 Model and implement effective education and care, and support and lead other practitioners including Early Years Educators.
8.5 Take responsibility for leading practice through appropriate professional development for self and colleagues.
8.6 Reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of provision, and shape and support good practice.
8.7 Understand the importance of and contribute to multi-agency team working.
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Reference: NCTL-00108-2013
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