Leading training for Early Careers Teachers and helping them thrive

Yamina Bibi
Nov 13, 2019
6 min read

My NQT year was one of the most challenging years of my professional life. Without my professional tutor and mentor, Teresa Dunseith, I know I would have been another statistic, another teacher who had left the profession within five years of entering it.

So why did I stay despite it being so challenging? It was because Teresa saw my potential and focused on what I was doing well while helping me overcome what I was struggling with-behaviour. She never judged me nor did she make me feel like I was an unsatisfactory teacher.

She just shared her wisdom and gave me continuous but specific advice on how to improve my pedagogy in a kind and compassionate manner. Alongside her mentoring, I kept reading and researching anything and everything that might help me get better. As she continued to see me improve, she praised me both in private and in public even though I felt like a failure. Teresa inspired me to keep going and I know I’m still here now because of her belief in me back then.

Therefore, throughout my career, I have found myself asking ‘what would Teresa do?’ or encouraging myself to ‘be more Teresa!’ When I became a mentor, I tried to model myself on my super mentor. I’ve tried to ‘be more Teresa.’

Why is this important?

There is no doubt that, if we want to recruit and retain the most effective practitioners, we must invest in our new teachers, in their development, their wellbeing and their careers.

When my Headteacher asked me to take on the role as the whole school professional tutor, responsible for all NQTs and trainee teachers in the school, I was excited at the prospect of being their Teresa Dunseith. I was anxious though because I had to get it right. I had to get it right because what I did or did not do would impact our ECTs, their students, their mentors, their Heads of Departments and their departments. So essentially everyone!

To ease some of my anxieties, I asked myself a few questions:

What are the key pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge our NQTs and trainees need to understand and implement in order to be effective teachers?
What specific and personalised support will our ECTs need in order to become effective and reflective practitioners throughout the year?
How do I create the right culture and conditions to ensure this happens?
Which evidence informed practice and strategies should I use to inform the Professional Development (PD) sessions I organise?
How do I ensure mentors are trained to encourage their mentees to thrive in the first few years of their career?
How do I encourage our ECTs to take care of their wellbeing and manage their workload?

By asking and answering these questions myself and asking other stakeholders to do the same, I was beginning to co-create a vision underpinned by key values. I also looked to the new ECT framework and, once it was published, the ITT framework, to further strengthen this vision.

Below are a few things myself, other members of LG and middle leaders, have put in place this year to help uphold these vision and values:

1) We have an induction process which ensures all trainees and NQTs (all new staff too) are given a buddy with oversight from a senior leader. As part of this induction process, all NQTs and trainees were gifted their own copies of Tom Sherrington’s version of Rosenshine’s ‘Principles of Instructions’ and a subject specific copy of ‘Making Every Lesson Count.’

2) We have centralised mentor meeting minutes, with some standing agenda items. This is in order to reduce workload for mentors, ensure mentoring is quality assured and mentees are being set appropriate targets. Standing agenda items include: weekly reflections through the personalised NQT E- File (thanks to Shahid Hussain for this idea), setting SMART targets and and subject specific CPD. The subject specific CPD might include reading a chapter from the ‘Making Every Lesson Count’ and sharing this with the mentor and the department.

3) Myself and other leaders delivered in-house mentor training focusing on key mentoring skills. The first mentor training focused on theoretical understanding of what it means to be a mentor and how to be an effective mentor using the DFE’s mentor and ECT framework. This was then followed up by a mentor training focusing on setting and assessing effective SMART targets to ensure mentors provided feedback that would help ECTs progress and thrive.

4) This year, we have invested in IRIS connect, which is used as a developmental tool but also as a way of training teachers. They can record their own lessons and keep it to themselves as a self reflection tool or share with their mentors, myself or other colleagues to receive feedback . This also has a live coaching element where they can be coached live whilst teaching and given live feedback. The response to this has been really positive from teachers because they can see the immediate impact of the feedback.

There are also a bank of reflections/videos based on pedagogical principles, which have been recorded and shared by Lead Practitioners, Lead Teachers and others. This also includes subject specific reflections where teachers have shared how to teach a specific content or skill. It can be used by mentors to train their ECTs on something they might need further help with and is therefore a fantastic tool for training purposes.

5) We have a professional development programme which is organised to focus on key areas. Each professional development session is tailored to the needs of our ECTs based on the Early Career Framework; each session focuses on evidence informed practice and gives teachers an opportunity to plan for the implementation of the strategies with the person delivering. They are also given tasks that encourages them to reflect on their learning with their mentor and explain the impact of the strategies trialled.

Some of the topics so far have been on Behaviour for Learning, AFL and responsive teaching and managing workload and wellbeing. These are evaluated through a google form so that we can continually improve the PD programme.

What impact has it had so far?

Have a read of this reflection from our Head of PE Georgia France, mentor for PE NQTs and trainees, which summarises the impact it has had on her and her ECTs:

‘Having mentor training at the beginning of the year was really beneficial. It allowed us to reflect on the importance of being a mentor and the positive impact it can have. Furthermore, it provided us with all of the relevant knowledge and information we needed to be successful in mentoring.

Centralised mentor meeting minutes have been a saviour this year. It has provided a clear structure to the mentoring programme. It has ensured that the mentee has been able to reflect on the week,-what has gone well and what they would do differently-and it has also provided vast training opportunities. It ensures that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and there is a clear focus. For us as mentors, it also allows us to successfully support our NQTs with both whole school training and training on a department level. As a mentor it has also been a workload win as the agenda has been made for us with all the relevant links and information in a very easy to follow format.

The creation of the NQT E-File has been amazing. It allows our NQTs to be reflective and well organised. It encourages the NQTs to go out and observe others and reflect on what they have seen and what they will try out in their own teaching. This also has a positive impact as mentors as it ensures that all evidence is in one place which is easy to access allowing for easy tracking when it comes to report writing.’

Georgia is one of many phenomenal subject mentors we have, without whom, our NQTs and trainees may not thrive. Without our mentors sharing their time with us to help us succeed, many of us would not be where we are.

I know that this is true for me and I hope that we can do the same for all ECTs starting their careers with us so that this becomes our legacy. What will be yours?