The Initial Training Meeting is a remote meeting led by the Link Tutor and requires access to our online assessment system (Abyasa).
Dependent on the stage of training, trainees are categorised as Level 1, 2, or 3.
- Level 1: BA ITT Year 1, PGCE, PGTA and iQTS Foundation
- Level 2: BA ITT Year 2, WBR 1, PGCE, PGTA and iQTS Development Placement
- Level 3: BA ITT Year 3, WBR 2, PGCE, PGTA and iQTS Consolidation Placement and School Direct Salaried
General placement expectations
Professional practice
- DBS: St Mary’s University Registry Department is responsible for ensuring all trainees are DBS checked before the start of a school placement. An email will have been sent to the school confirming this. Trainees are NOT required to show any certification. The trainee must notify the university if there is a change in their DBS status.
- Code of conduct for school understood, including social media and mobile phone use.
- Trainee aware of key school policies (such as health and safety, marking, Prevent, safeguarding, e safety, behaviour, GDPR, and data protection).
- Arrangements for trainee access to pupils’ school and class records agreed. It is understood that trainees are to use and store pupil data in line with UK General Data Protection Regulations.
- Trainees will be provided access to resources, systems, and relevant schemes of work and made aware of any copyright restrictions.
- Trainee is aware of time to arrive in school, expectations to attend staff meetings/extra-curricular activities/ planning meetings (in line with student agreement).
- Attendance during placement is recorded by the trainee via Abyasa ‘student attendance’ tab. Trainees must contact their school and LT at the earliest opportunity, and should seek permission for pre-arranged absence (such as medical appointments).
- Trainees are required to receive support for certain activities (such as playground duty and practical lessons with potential health and safety issues).
Training plans
- Training plans are designed to support continuous progression over the course of a trainee's programme of study and indicate the amount of teaching, responsibility, and independence expected of trainees.
- Based on the unique nature of each school, an element of flexibility can be applied to the training plan. However, to support trainee progress the elements above must be considered to offer sufficient opportunities for professional development.
Monitoring and Quality Assurance (M&QA) visits
Based on the phase of training, expectations for M&QA visits will vary and may be adjusted if additional visits are required.
BA Primary Education with QTS
- Foundation: Initial Training Meeting, x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
- Development: Initial Training Meeting, x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
- Consolidation: Initial Training Meeting, x2 M&QA visits (at least one should be a school visit including a formal observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
BA Primary Education with QTS (work based route)
- Development: Initial Training Meeting, x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
- Consolidation: Initial Training Meeting, x2 M&QA visits (at least one should be a school visit including a formal observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
PGCE Primary with QTS
- Foundation: Initial Training Meeting, x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
- Development: Initial Training Meeting, x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
- Consolidation: Initial Training Meeting (not required if completing placement in same phase as Development), x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation) and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
PGCE Secondary with QTS
- Foundation: Initial Training Meeting and x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation)
- Development: Initial Training Meeting and x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation)
- Consolidation: Initial Training Meeting and x1 M&QA visit (school visit, including an observation)
iQTS
- Foundation: Initial Training Meeting, x2 M&QA visits and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
- Development: x1 M&QA visit and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
- Consolidation: x1 M&QA visit and sign off meeting (remote, approximately 15 minutes).
Additional Support Plans (ASPs)
- Additional support plans (ASPs) are implemented to offer trainees the opportunity to focus on specific areas of their practice which require further development.
- They are put in place as soon as a need for additional support is identified and usually allow trainees to complete their placement successfully following targeted intervention.
- Mentors should contact their link tutor should they wish to discuss implementing an ASP.
Evaluations
- Mentors, trainees, PCMs, and link tutors all complete an evaluation at the end of the placement to provide feedback on the phase of school experience.
Mentor training
- Mentors are required to engage with St Mary's University training over the course of the placement, further details of which can be found on the training portal page.
Weekly expectations
Attendance monitoring
- Trainees are required to log their attendance on Abyasa to ensure compliance with DfE requirements.
- Mentors and link tutors are required to monitor these records to ensure they are an accurate reflection of a trainees days in school.
Lesson planning, observations, and feedback
- Trainee should be supported with the process of planning lessons. Finalist trainees are encouraged to plan more independently. Agreement of when lesson plans are to be completed by and checked (see training plan for detailed planning expectations).
- Trainee’s PPA time agreed in advance. Partnership recommends this is the same time allocation as an ECT plus one hour. For example, 20%, and should be arranged with the mentor, so joint planning (PPA) takes place. All PPA should take place at school and be distributed across the week.
- If the trainee is not teaching, they may be out of the classroom fulfilling aspects of their training plan, unless requested otherwise by the mentor.
- If lessons are taught by outside agencies (like PE, Music) consideration should be made regarding how the trainee can fulfil the requirements of the training plan (like arranging to teach PE to another class in the school).
- Primary trainees are formally observed once a week by the mentor/another observer (such as a subject specialist) and receive formal feedback. All primary trainees must be observed in phonics and Year 3 Undergraduate finalists must be observed in their elective subject. Secondary trainees are formally observed on a twice-weekly basis (one observation for each Key Stage).
- Mentors complete the Lesson Feedback Record (handwritten/electronic) and annotate a copy of the lesson plan (supplied by the trainee to the mentor prior to the observation). It is the trainee’s responsibility to complete the first half of the Lesson Feedback Record prior to the formal lesson observation and upload all paperwork to Abyasa following the lesson.
- Coaching question prompts are provided on the Lesson feedback record to guide coaching style dialogue as part of the formal feedback conversation.
- Lessons are not graded pass/fail. Instead areas of strength/development are noted on Lesson Feedback Record. If any part of the lesson was inadequate, this should be made explicit in feedback.
- In the absence of the usual teacher, the trainee should continue with the planned teaching load. However, the trainee must not be used as supply cover. In addition, for insurance reasons trainees should not teach PE alone (if applicable to their programme).
- The LT is responsible for monitoring the trainee’s paperwork, such as checking lesson plans and evaluations, are being completed. Trainees must take any opportunity to fulfil aspects of their student tracker and date when completed.
Weekly training meeting
- Weekly training meetings should provide the trainee and mentor with a regular opportunity to reflect on progress, set new targets, and look ahead to the coming weeks on the training plan.
- A template should be completed to record this meeting and trainees are required to complete a reflection in preparation for the meeting.
Assessment expectations
At the end of the placement, trainees review their progress in collaboration with the mentor/LT/PCM. This is recorded on a progress or assessment record depending on the trainee's phase of training.
- Level 1 trainees have areas of professional learning against which to ascertain progress. This is recorded as: On Track/Not on Track.
- Level 2 trainees have areas of professional learning against which to ascertain progress. This is recorded as: On Track/Not on Track.
- Level 3 (finalist) trainees use the Teachers’ Standards to assess progress. This is graded as: Met/Not Met.
Signatures and confirmation of meeting
At the end of the meeting all parties record their attendance at the Initial Training Meeting using the template on Abyasa.