PGCE Newsletter 8th Ed. April '18

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TEN

years

2007-2017

Core and School Direct Newsletter

Edition 8 | April | 2018

Trainee autonomy and workload...

...In terms of UoC trainees?

As the SEP progresses into its final stages, it will become increasingly important that your trainee begins to develop some autonomy as a teacher in prepara on for the first stages of their early career. As your approach as a mentor begins to shi to more of a ‘coaching’ model it will be important that you encourage your trainee to reflect much more upon their own preparedness for and performance in the classroom. This aspect will be much more effec ve if they are star ng to try new things and work more as an individual and require less checking before they step in front of their classes. Where a trainee is progressing well and mee ng the standards mentors are encouraged to step back a li le and give the trainee some space to develop their own rou nes and systems for managing workload. This can be par cularly effec ve when it comes to lesson planning. Up to now it is likely that some mentors will be insis ng on fully detailed plans in advance for all lessons as a ma er of course. As the teaching commitment increases, although all lessons will s ll have an outline plan, the focus should move away from the detailed mechanics of who does what when, to thoughful considera on of the pupils’ needs and how they plan to assess learning and progress. It seems some trainees find they are working into the early hours of the morning just to get all the detailed typed up and as such are exhausted and perform poorly when finally in front of the class. If trainees are teaching up to about 12 hours a week or more, and planning is not deemed to be a problem (or unless there are par cular health and safety considera ons), then this is an area where we envisage mentors could reduce the requirement for very detailed plans. These would only be needed for the formal observed lesson, and trainees could be directed to concentrate more on the development of say, effec ve assessment, marking and feedback. [Con nued on page II]

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In this issue.... • • • •

Trainee autonomy & workload SEND IN FOCUS Updated ‘links’ sec on Key dates and contacts

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Trainee autonomy and workload (contd.)... Clearly the trainee’s planning has to be deemed to be adequate and fit for purpose at this stage and something that they can be trusted to do without full length, very detailed plans being presented and checked in minute detail for all lessons. It is more important that they begin to develop the skill of planning sequences of lessons (collabora vely where possible) that have a degree of flexibility ‘built in’ in order that they can react to and make the most of their assessment ac vi es as this higher level skill develops. If, in a emp ng to address this workload issue, the quality of lessons begins to falter, then a return to a more formal structure for lesson planning may be necessary and would be fully supported. In this instance, it would very much be a professional judgement on the part of the mentor or mentors. If you would like to read more there is a link to the report that centres on Planning and Teaching Resources from the Workload Reduc on group on p IV (in the links sec on) who say... “In the case of ITT providers, we have seen evidence of excessively detailed plans being required as a ma er of rou ne. Without proper context, this is not sustainable and does not promote the image of teachers as trusted autonomous professionals. There are clearly good reasons for requiring trainees to demonstrate their planning in a way that would not be appropriate for more experienced teachers. ITT providers should therefore concentrate on the purpose of planning, how to plan for the specific conceptual demands of a subject over me and how to iden fy the best resources to use”. (p8)

SEN/D IN FOCUS and... Teacher Standard 5

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Experience demonstrates that standard 5 is one of the most challenging for developing trainees and requires a great deal of considera on, reflec on and inves ga on to develop the necessary skills to a high degree of competence. There are some key issues for us to consider and perhaps the framework of core content for ini al teacher training (ITT) offers some insight as to what is expected, it says:

Providers should equip trainees to analyse the strengths and needs of all pupils effec vely, ensuring that they have an understanding of cogni ve, social, emo onal, physical and mental health factors that can inhibit or enhance pupils’ educa on. Providers should ensure that trainees understand the principles of the SEND Code of Prac ce, are confident working with the four broad areas of need it iden fies, and are able to adapt teaching strategies to ensure that pupils with SEND (including, but not limited to, au sm, dyslexia, a en on deficit hyperac vity disorder (ADHD), sensory impairment or speech, and language and communica on needs (SLCN)) can access and progress within the curriculum. Providers should ensure that SEND training is integrated across the ITT programme

Trainees should be able to recognise signs that may indicate SEND, and support common educa onal needs through review of their teaching, making adjustments to overcome any barriers to progress and ensuring that pupils with SEND are able to access the curriculum. These should take the form of a cycle or ‘graduated approach’ in the classroom. This should involve assessing pupil need, planning, reviewing and implemen ng change to support pupil progress, as referenced in the Code of Prac ce.

Providers should emphasise the importance of emo onal development such as a achment issues and mental health on pupils’ performance, suppor ng trainees to recognise typical child and adolescent development, and to respond to atypical development.


Teacher Standard 5 A teacher must.... “Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils” Amplifica on: • • • •

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know when and how to differen ate appropriately, using approaches which enable pupils to be taught effec vely have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ educa on at different stages of development have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educa onal needs; those of high ability; those with English as an addi onal language; those with disabili es; and be able to use and evaluate dis nc ve teaching approaches to engage and support them.

So what do the trainees need to know? There have been some key developments over recent years that trainees need to be aware of and in par cular, how your school approaches certain aspects and has adapted to these developments. These may have been covered in SEN/D training already but if not please encourage your trainee to seek out your SENCO to engage in dialogue regarding the following: • The new Special Educa onal Needs and Disability Code of Prac ce was adopted in September 2014 which makes it clear that all teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress of all learners in their class, including where they access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff • The new ‘Educa on Health and Care Plan’ (EHCP) replaces statements of SEN • The EHCP includes the views/aspira ons of the young person and their parents. It is intended to encompass health and social care needs • Schools may choose to retain Individual Educa on Plans (IEPs) although some schools may choose to alterna ve planning tools to record progress • ‘School Ac on’ and ‘Ac on Plus’ have been replaced with a single category of SEN – ‘Addi onal SEN Support’ Trainees should also be encouraged to inves gate the SEND tool-kit on the Na onal Associa on of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT) website - h ps://www.nasb .org.uk/send-toolkit/ where they will find a range of helpful resources.

The key issues for trainees to develop effec ve planning & teaching include: •

• •

• •

Using the Graduated Approach as a model iden fied in the SEN code of Prac ce (2014) trainees should assess, plan, do & review. That is, they should assess what the pupils in their classes need, to be able to access the learning; plan the lesson with appropriate strategies; deliver the lesson and then review its effec veness in mee ng the iden fied needs in order to support subsequent planning. The ac ons taken to meet the pupils’ needs should be stated clearly in the ‘inclusion/SEND’ box on their lesson plan. The focus is not on labelling the actual learning difficulty of par cular pupils although some coded reference to this may be stated. The key thing is to say what the trainee intends to do in the lesson to support those learners. Trainees should check the pupil IEPs (or equivalent) for each class picking up on what works well with those pupils to incorporate into their lesson planning. If there are lessons with allocated support staff, then they should liaise with them before the lesson to share their inten ons and to discuss the poten al effec veness for those pupils leading to ‘effec ve deployment of support staff ’ (Standard 8). The trainee is advised to seek guidance from department colleagues and the SENCO as to effec ve differen a on strategies and samples of resources to con nue development of their prac ce.


Useful Links…. ITE Core Content: h ps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/ uploads/a achment_data/file/536890/Framework_ Report_11_July_2016_Final.pdf

IEP Mentor Support video link: h p:// nyurl.com/IEPmentorvideos New Mentor Framework: h ps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/ uploads/a achment_data/file/536891/Mentor_ standards_report_Final.pdf NASBTT Toolkit: h p://www.nasb .org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ Training-and-Assessment-Toolkit-April-2015.pdf Workload Review Report (planning): h ps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/a achment_data/file/511257/ Elimina ng-unnecessary-workload-around-planning-and-teaching-resources.pdf

© University of Cumbria (Aspire, Achieve, Inspire) | www.cumbria.ac.uk | Bowerham Rd | Lancaster | LA1 3JD |01524 590800


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