TNQ Report November 2015

Trainee & NQ Report ATL Future

MENTORING How to make sure you get the most out of the relationship

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Workshops, mini-conferences and learning zones all help develop your career and get you involved in ATL. Email atlfuture@atl.org.uk with your details and a few sentences about why you’d like a place. It is free and expenses are paid.

ATL FUTURE Louise Atkinson on the burden of workload

Managing relationships dealing with other adults. It shows how this can be learnt and helps you understand the relationship between self-

esteem and assertiveness. The course will help you explore and practise positive communication strategies and you will also develop assertive methods for resolving key situations with colleagues, leaders and parents.

The session will combine a mix of direct input from the course leader, coaching and development, as well as discussion and sharing with other NQTs. Courses are being held in April and May next year across England.

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Starting out

Apply Yourself is our guide to getting your first teaching job.

It covers job- searching, applications and interviews.

ATL has a series for trainee and NQ teachers.

Call 0845 450 0009 or go to www.atl.org.uk/publications.

Our legal advice and support is first class and our publications will help you create your CV, give you interview tips plus advice on how to meet your pupils’ parents and manage classroom behaviour.

Upgrade to NQ membership today. ion?)

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oose yo (How will you ch

Call 0845 057 7000* Terms and conditions available online. *Local call.

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ASK ATL Liz Coston answers questions on responding to a bad observation

ATL is the only member-led union to offer its NQ members dedicated newsletters and an interactive website www.new2teaching.org.uk.

NQ membership is FREE.

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2015

IN THIS ISSUE…

There are a number of places for trainee and NQ members to join the ATL Future delegation at ATL’s Annual Conference in Liverpool. Up to 600 members will attend the three-day event from 4-6 April. A lot goes on, including policy setting and ministerial speeches. The ATL Future steering group also holds its AGM and new members are welcome to stand to be part of the group.

As an NQT your relationships won’t just be confined to the students you teach. Instead you’ll have to manage numerous relationships with the adults around you: from your teaching assistant to your mentor; your head and other teachers; to the parents of the students you have responsibility for.

ATL offers through its CPD programme a half-day workshop to help you understand how essential assertive behaviour is when

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

2 TRAINEE & NQ REPORT MENTORING ADVICE

Making the most of your mentor YOUR MENTOR CAN HAVE A DRAMATIC IMPACT ON THE QUALITY OF YOUR TRAINING ATL’S RESEARCH among trainee and newly qualified members has found that the quality of mentoring is inconsistent. Some trainees and newly qualified teachers have approachable, flexible, easy-to-contact mentors who provide the right mix of support and autonomy – all essential qualities for a mentor. Others are less fortunate. Mentors who are unsupportive, disorganised, unmotivated and inexperienced are all too common.

They may fall short for a number of reasons: perhaps they have been told to mentor a trainee or NQT even though they are already overstretched and feel they haven’t the time to devote to the role; they may not have enough classroom experience themselves to help a trainee develop; they may not have the experience in the mentee’s field, for example early years; or they may have had no training in how to mentor.

“Mentoring has a different skill set from teaching; many mentors are extremely capable teachers in their own classrooms but find it challenging to articulate their practice to student teachers.

“But there can be an assumption that because someone is a good teacher that they will automatically be a good mentor,” explains ATL senior policy adviser Alison Ryan, adding that the role of the mentor is to encourage the mentee to reflect on their teaching in order to develop,

rather than simply copy their teaching style.

A good mentor should elicit information from their mentee about their teaching, which encourages this reflection, she adds. “Good mentoring is about empowering, not about solving a person’s problems for them.”

The importance of good quality mentoring in developing the next generation of teachers was underlined by Sir Andrew Carter’s review of initial teacher training, which was published in January. In response, the Government has promised to commission the Teaching Schools Council to develop a new set of aspirational standards for school-based ITT mentors.

In the meantime, ATL’s Guide to Mentoring, written by Trevor Wright, senior teaching fellow and senior lecturer in education at the University of Worcester, offers pointers on issues including managing the mentoring relationship, lesson feedback and behaviour management.

Wright says some mentors still wrongly see their role as one of modelling and practice oversight. Tensions can arise between the mentor and mentee because of the dual role of the mentor to act as a guide and an assessor.

“A mentee on a placement doesn’t simply undertake a watered-down version of a

teacher’s job,” says ATL’s guide.

“Mentoring isn’t a master-class.

It is a complex range of activities and this is what makes for a complex relationship.”

Setting ground rules on how the mentorship will work from the outset helps to reduce the possibility of problems arising.

Post-lesson feedback can be an area of tension between mentor and mentee, with a tendency for mentees to focus more on criticisms than compliments.

Agreeing that feedback will include three compliments and two development points will help ensure feedback is balanced.

Regular meetings may involve reviewing your targets to see if they have been met, discussing your successes and concerns with your mentor and looking at how you prepare for lessons. Targets are useful because they focus your learning. If you are finding that you are being set targets that are not followed up then you should raise the issue with your mentor.

Remember that it is part of the mentor’s role to offer criticism so try not to be defensive when it is given.

Keeping a record of your mentoring experience, what has been agreed, how many times you meet, etc is a good idea, so if a problem does crop up you can substantiate your concerns, says Ryan.

If you are finding that you aren’t getting what you feel you need from your mentor then don’t be tempted to let the situation drift and hope the

TRAINEE & NQ REPORT 3 ATL FUTURE

ATL Future

Louise Atkinson, ATL Future steering group vice-convener

“If you aren’t getting what you feel you need from your mentor then don’t be tempted to let the situation drift and hope the problems will resolve themselves” problems will resolve themselves, she advises.

Fear that a complaint could harm the relationship with the mentor deters many mentees from speaking up but in most cases tackling problems early can prevent them escalating.

Thinking carefully about how to raise your initial concern in a way that will lead to a positive outcome is important. “Tone and timing are key,” says Ryan.

“Making clear your concerns will

not necessarily damage the relationship with the mentor.

And, as a mentee, you should also be prepared to ask if there is anything you should be doing differently in order to improve the relationship.”

Your starting point for advice is your course tutor, who will inevitably have encountered the issues you are raising before.

Colleagues and trainee peers are also likely to prove a useful resource, both as a sounding board and as a way to compare your experiences and expectations of mentoring.

“As a mentee you need to take ownership of it and be quite assertive. If you are feeling uncertain, always seek advice from your course tutor. There may be some broader context to the problem that you are not aware of but your tutor is.

Perhaps your mentor has a personal problem that is affecting them professionally or they have just had their workload increased to unacceptable levels, says Ryan.

“The mentoring you receive is a vital part of your training, so it is important to make sure you get the most out of it,” she adds.

YOUR FIRST TEACHING JOB YOU HAVE OUR FULL ATTENTION hays.co.uk/education

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Aged 11, I knew I wanted to teach. At 16, I left school but decided to return to education later in life in order to fulfil my dream of teaching. For six years I studied part time, while raising two children and working two part-time jobs. TA by day, barmaid by night. It has taken years of hard work and sacrifice but at the age of 35 I recently completed my NQT year. Education is my passion. My spare time is spent reading Schools Week, teaching manuals or attending conferences. I relish a CPD course. I love working with children and helping them learn and develop as people. I have the best job in the world. Why is it then that I can’t see myself doing this job in 10 years’ time? I am among the 54% of trainee and NQ teachers who responded to the ATL Future survey into the attractiveness of teaching, stating that they did not think they would be teaching in 10 years’ time. I bounce into school every morning excited about the day ahead. But at 10pm when I am still marking, that excitement is difficult to muster. I appreciate that people in many other professions work long hours, and I am grateful I do a job I enjoy, but I just can’t see how I can maintain this work rate.

Good teaching requires planning and assessment, which take time. I have seen the positive effect that well-planned, exciting lessons, in which tasks are differentiated to enable all children to work in their own area of challenge, have on a class. I know that deep marking of all pieces of work, with comments and questions for the children to respond to, moves children on in their learning. I know that meeting with parents and writing reports is vital to enable them to support their children in their learning. I know that testing, marking and analysing data helps me to see the gaps in a child’s learning. But all this takes time.

Following on from a motion at ATL’s Annual Conference in March, ATL Future is looking at ways to reduce workload for trainee and NQ teachers.

Hays Education and ATL have a unique partnership to offer new members the very best in career advice and job opportunities.

With a network of over 40 offices, Hays has access to the best permanent and temporary jobs across the country. If you are looking for your first position, we can offer a personalised service to help you find the role that is perfect for you.

To search for your first job visit hays.co.uk/jobs/atl For more information email us at atl@hays.com or to find your nearest office call 020 7259 8794

20/03/2015 16:59

4 TRAINEE & NQ REPORT ADVICE

Ask ATL…

ATL MEMBER LIZ COSTON IS A DEPUTY HEADTEACHER AT A JUNIOR SCHOOL. HERE SHE ANSWERS SOME OF YOUR COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS I AM AN NQT AND I’VE HAD A BAD OBSERVATION SO I’M REALLY WORRIED AS I GO INTO MY SECOND TERM. WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE? Many teachers get a bad observation from time to time.

The really important thing is to learn from it. Hopefully you have been given feedback verbally and in writing that highlighted your good practice but more importantly has given you areas to work on.

Make sure you are clear about your areas for development and seek help from your mentor. Support for these areas is essential. You are of course learning your trade.

Observing other teachers is very useful; team teaching your own class with a more experienced teacher and having support with your planning would all also be very beneficial.

You also need to ensure your books are marked and

you keep up to date with this workload. Pupils’ books are now one of the most important ways to measure progress and will be looked at as part of any observation.

Progress over time is a key measure. If you have any concerns regarding your school’s marking and feedback policy seek your colleagues’ advice. Share your marking and feedback with others and compare it to other colleagues in your year group/department.

Teachers are always learning and improving; you never crack this job! Stay positive and don’t dwell on the negatives. I am sure you do many things well; an observation is only one lesson in a half term.

I COMPLETED MY PGCE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, BUT HAVE ONLY DONE SUPPLY AND OTHER WORK SINCE THEN THAT HAS NOT COUNTED TOWARDS MY INDUCTION. I NOW HAVE AN INDUCTABLE POST AND I AM NERVOUS – HOW CAN I PREPARE? First of all congratulations on the new job. It is natural to be nervous, and no bad thing.

Being on supply for a while will have given you huge amounts of experience. Working in different schools is always useful as every school does things slightly differently.

You must have worked with a wide range of pupils, which is very beneficial. So take all this useful experience with you to the new job.

It is very important to prepare for this job especially as you want to pass your induction year successfully.

Firstly, make sure you have visited the school and met your class. You will need information on the children so

YOU ARE NOT ALONE PROFESSIONALLY

Other colleagues can be a great source of help and support. You can also seek advice from the ATL rep in your school, your local district/branch secretary, or one of ATL’s member advisers on 020 7930 6441.

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Congratulations to the winner of the June 2015 sudoku competition: Pat Bennett

report@atl.org.uk @ATLUnion facebook.com/ATLUnion ATL, 7 Northumberland St, London WC2N 5RD

Sudoku competition

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JOIN THE DEBATE…

you will be able to plan appropriately. Make sure you find out about any children with special educational or medical needs.

Secondly, make sure you have read the national curriculum relevant to your new year group/subject.

All state schools and many academies will be following this and you need to get well acquainted with it. Thirdly, read the school’s key policies.

Also make sure you know who your mentor will be. They will play a key role in supporting and assessing you.

Check out www.new2teaching. org.uk, which features useful publications and factsheets to support NQTs.

WIN!

One lucky winner will win £50 in Marks & Spencer vouchers, courtesy of Hays Education.

Simply send your completed sudoku to: TNQR sudoku competition, Think Publishing, Capital House, 25 Chapel Street, London NW1 5DH

Closing date: Monday 4 January 2016

Tick here if you do not wish to receive the latest information from Hays Education.

Write your name and contact details, including your email address, here:

Hays Education and ATL have a unique partnership to members the very best in career advice and job oppor With a network of over 40 offices, Hays has access to permanent and temporary jobs across the country. If y Terms & conditions: Please include your full name, address (including postcode), email address and telephone number. The looking for your first position, we can offer a personali winner will be picked at random from the correct entries on 4 January. They will be notified and their name will be published in to help you Employees find the of role the next issue. The editor’s decision is final. No purchase is necessary. Theservice prize is non-transferable.

ATL that and is perfect for you.

YOUR FIRST TEACHING JOB YOU HAVE OUR FULL ATTENTION Think are not eligible for the prize draw.

hays.co.uk/education

To search for your first job visit hays.co.uk/jobs/atl For more information email us at atl@hays.com or to find your nearest office call 020 7259 8794