PGCE Newsletter 14th Ed. May 2022 by Peter Tankard

SECONDARY PGCE NEWS Core and School Direct Newsletter

A fond farewell...

Edition 14 | MAY | 2022

It is with much regret and some sadness that we inform you of the departure from the University of our current Programme Leader and Principal Lecturer, David McLaughlan. David has decided, after much deliberation, to take early retirement in order to pursue other avenues and ventures that have taken a back seat for so many years.

His contribution to the Secondary PGCE programme and the University more widely has been immense and the place will not be that same without his extremely approachable, friendly positive demeanour, his wisdom and experience. The partnership wants to extend their wholehearted thanks, gratitude and best wishes to you Dave and bid you good luck in whatever comes your way. Here’s to your new chapter!!!

In the interim... As the University seeks a replacement for Dave McLaughlan in the role of PGCE programme leader, John Cawkwell has taken on the post in an interim capacity, dedicating his time and work into making the remainder of the programme for this year run smoothly. Many of you will know John as he has been an integral part of the PGCE team for many years and was the School Direct Programme Leader for a number of those years when this position had more of a defined role. He is also a long serving PfL subject leader (Chemistry) and School Direct UPL for two successful alliances. As you can see, John has a wealth of experience of the programme and of University systems and will do everything possible, with the support of the wider PGCE team and administrators to support the partnership fully. The very best of luck to you John as you take on this new challenge.

Pedagogy in practice...

In this issue.... A fond farewell The final few weeks Mentor Training Developments • From Standards to Curriculum • Useful information • • •

Pedagogy in practice...

The Mentor Standards: Standard 1 - Personal qualities Establish trusting relationships, modelling high standards of practice, and empathising with the challenges a trainee faces. Standard 2 – Teaching Support trainees to develop their teaching practice in order to set high expectations and to meet the needs of all pupils.

Time-line for the final few weeks (KAP 3, PebblePad and Evidence) KAP 3 Time-line: •

Wednesday 1st June: ‘KAP 3 Data (FINAL)’ page released

This page functions in the same way as those at KAP 1 and 2. Trainees are required to indicate their final assessed level of progress and upload a copy of the final, summer term report and a final shaded progress matrix. Both documents can be accessed via a link on the page. •

Wednesday 1st June: ‘Exit Tasks’ page released

On completion of the programme there are some key tasks Pedagogy in practice... (see below) that must be completed for the trainee to be signed off and recommended for QTS. As you will be aware, the progress portfolio is a compulsory part of the programme so any assistance you can give to making sure the trainees are aware of their obligations will be greatly appreciated. 1. Exit Survey – In order for the University to evaluate and improve its provision we ask that the trainees complete an exit survey. This is an online exercise (via a link within their portfolio) and will take them about 30 minutes to complete. 2. Early Career Teacher (ECT) Professional Development Proforma - This equates to the old CEPD document. Details of this are again provided within the portfolio as is a link to access the proforma. The completion of this form is largely in parallel with the final KAP report so the trainee may well ask for you assistance. 3. Contact Details - This is a simple update of current contact details which may have changed or be different to those we already hold. We ask for these in case there is a need to contact the trainees directly either regarding job requests that we often get over the summer or to ask for assistance in other ways. •

Friday 17th June: Deadline for completion of portfolio and KAP 3

The expectation is that their Progress Portfolio will have been completed to their tutor’s satisfaction by the above date so that in the following week the University is able to sign off and recommend for QTS – If there is any likely delay in this please encourage the trainee to contact their named university tutor (i.e., their UPT or UPL) to discuss.

Evidence:

The new system for submission of evidence at KAP 2 was quite successful and the feedback from tutors so far is that the process worked well, with the evidence provided being appropriate and of a good standard. Trainees will receive specific feedback from their tutor to help inform the process for KAP 3. For KAP 3 we ask that they follow the same process but for their MAY Progress Tracker entries only. We have asked them not to worry about evidence for April or June as these have been ‘part months’ due to the Easter break and the end of the course. It is envisaged that this evidence will largely come from the SEP.

Subject Knowledge Audit and Key Stage Transitions:

We also require the trainees to update the key stage transitions page and upload a final update to their subject knowledge audit. The Mentor Standards: Standard 3 – Professionalism Induct the trainee into professional norms and values, helping them to understand the importance of the role and responsibilities of teachers in society. Standard 4 – Self-development and working in partnership Continue to develop their own professional knowledge, skills and understanding and invest time in developing a good working relationship within relevant ITT partnerships

Mentor Training Developments

With the ever increasing emphasis on quality mentoring and development being at the heart of any successful PGCE programme, the University of Cumbria is in the process of designing a series of centralised online training resources that will be bespoke to our secondary PGCE programme. The first of these resources will be available to all mentors, known to be working with us during 2022 - 23, before the summer break. The early release of these materials is in order to alleviate pressure during the very busy first few weeks of the Autumn term and to give you time to digest the information, hopefully leaving you feeling better prepared for when your mentee arrives. As the programme is currently under development, the exact details are unavailable at this point, however, the general structure will consist of a mix of compulsory and voluntary modules all of which will make a valuable contribution to your personal CPD record. A resource that has received extremely positive feedback this year is our new mentor guide, designed to help mentors through the PGCE year but also to provide guidance more widely regarding mentoring in general and the process of target setting against the Secondary PGCE Curriculum to help develop trainee practice. As you will read below, the move from Standards to Curriculum has meant that we all have to think of trainee assessment in a different way. A copy of this booklet (pictured) is available via the University web portal outlined on page IV in the links section. During the course of 2021-22, there has been a real ‘sea change’ in the way that trainees are expected to be assessed. This is the case across all PGCE providers, not just the University of Cumbria and is in response to the DfE’s guidance based upon a number of far reaching reviews of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Training in the recent past.

From Standards to Curriculum

ITE Providers are now expected to assess trainees against their own curriculum, which is informed by the DfE’s Core Content Framework (CCF), instead of assessment being focussed primarily on the Teachers’ Standards. This transition has taken a considerable amount of work and time but the University of Cumbria Secondary PGCE team now feel that their new processes and procedures are fit for purpose and are becoming successfully embedded across our partnership. This will continue to develop over the coming years as everyone’s understanding of the new framework develops and further embeds. That said, the support and encouragement that the University has received from school partners in the development and implementation of our new framework has been extremely positive and productive and the programme is now set for full roll out over the coming years. If you have not been directly involved and would like to understand more about this change in emphasis, then our current course handbook (pictured) is a good place to start. However, please do bear in mind that the pace of change over 2021-22 did mean that this booklet has been very much a work-in-progress and the overhauled and fully updated version (to be shared soon) for 2022-23 will be the definitive version linking all the new changes and processes together. An important point to make is that the eight Teachers’ Standards still exist and underpin the CCF, theme by theme so in assessing trainees against the curriculum which is informed by the CCF then trainees that meet the curriculum assessment criteria at the minimum ‘expected’ level do in fact meet the standards and can, on successful completion of the PGCE programme, be recommended for the award of QTS.

Dates for your diary (2022-23)….. • • • • •

Tue 30th August 2022- Start of ‘Core’ PGCE Mon 26th Sept 2022 - Initial Experience Phase (IEP) begins Thu 15th Dec 2022 - IEP ends Mon 23rd Jan 2023- Sustained Enactment Phase (SEP) begins Fri 16th Jun 2023 - SEP ends

The twelve PfL Dates (2021-22): (8/9/22), (9/9/22), (19/9/22), (20/9/22), (7/10/22), (21/10/22), (11/11/22), (25/11/22), (13/1/23), (27/1/23), (10/2/23) & (10/3/23) 2022-23 Trainee Progress and Reports submission to UoC: • KAP 1 Autumn Term - Thu 16th December 2022 • KAP 2 Spring Term - Fri 31st March 2023 • KAP 3 Summer Term - Fri 16th June 2023 (Final Grades)

Useful Links (copy & paste in browser)…. University web portal (Documentation for placements) https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/about/partnerships/placements/ education/information-secondary/ (NB. Please select “Forms for Placements and Schools”) ITE Core Content: Content: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974307/ITT_core_content_framework_.pdf Mentor Framework: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536891/Mentor_standards_report_Final.pdf Addressing Teacher Workload in ITE: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/753502/Addressing_ Workload_in_ITE.pdf ITE Ofsted Framework: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-education-ite-inspection-framework-and-handbook