Training for Progression

ITT Effective Practice Conference

TTA Partnership Project Yorkshire and Humberside

June 23rd 2003

To show how using the TTA School based Tutor materials can lead to improved understanding and professional practice of current Initial Teacher training within a school.

To explain the complementary benefits of being a Partnership Promotion school and a Training school.

To explain and demonstrate how this work can lead to improvements in Teaching and Learning.

Aims and Outcomes

The main theme of this presentation is:

To realise the importance of a shared understanding of ITT training within the context of Continuous Professional Development.

but it will also touch on:

How Partnership Promotion School developments in Wakefield have resulted in collaborative work with HEIs, the LEA and the Partnership schools to help to build capacity within teaching.

BackgroundAs a school we have taken students for over 25 years but have been actively involved in Partnership with our local HEIs since 1991. We regularly take 20+ trainees and see teacher training as a key strategy to raising achievement and school improvement.

We have always used ITT as a contributor to professional development through the new educational and subject based ideas and thinking approaches that it introduces via the trainees. In addition to this, there are frequent mentoring or coaching opportunities for staff to work in close collaboration with trainees and the HEIs. All of these are transferable skills that can and do enhance professional development.

We have embedded the Investor in People standards in our self review to develop a highly sophisticated model of continuous professional development. It maps a seamless road from ITT through to Senior Management encouraging progression and promotion opportunities.

It provides structured and supportive mentoring as well as empowering the individual to take ownership of their own professional development.

We have a very extensive programme for Continuous Professional Development for all of our staff at all levels and through our programme for Performance Management staff set challenging but achievable targets.

We work closely with the LEA and many of our staff contribute to its CPD programme as trainers.

Continuous Professional Development programme

ITT trainees through

PGCE and GTP routes

Taster / returner courses

Trainees and teachers gain experience of cross-phase Key Stage 2-3 Teacher

Exchanges

Early Professional Development for years 2 & 3

Professional Bursaries for Years 4 & 5

Management training for Middle Leaders at all levels – Subject, Pastoral and Support Staff

Senior Management Training –NPQH & LPSH and Bursars.

Subject specific updates and new ideas

DfES Strategies such as Key Stage 3

ICT through NOF and online learning approaches

Support staff – NVQs for staff with specific areas of administrative responsibility such as classroom assistants and school administration.

Best Practice Research Scholarships

Vocational qualifications and work placements for staff involved in Vocational Curriculum

Specialist Technology College in 2002

We have developed our links into the community and with our partner schools – Primary and Secondary -through Master Classes, Family workshops, taking Science and Design Technology into our primaries, providing classes in ICT for parents, Sports links into primaries through the Sports Development Trust, Gifted and Talented and University of the First Age Summer Schools and many more.

We have continued and extended our work with LEA through our cohort of ASTs, Leading Teachers and other experienced staff. This has had a major impact on Learning across the college and in our Ofsted Report in January 2003 we can out as Very Good at all 3 Key stages

Partnership Promotion School in 2002

We have extended our work in Initial Teacher Training by setting up Wakefield Model E. Here we work in partnership with 4 other secondary schools linking up and supporting the development of ITT links with schools either not yet involved in training or through looking at opportunities of building capacity in those schools who take trainees.

Training School in 2003

As a Training School we felt it was essential that all staff had a clear knowledge and understanding about how teachers are currently trained and assessed. To help us achieve this we used the TTA School based Tutor materials focussing on the introductory module. This ensured all staff were familiar with the requirements of the ITT standards, and enhanced their knowledge about how teachers are currently trained and assessed.

We organised the training to be at a time when our trainees were able to participate and contribute to the session.

We deliberately organised the groups to be cross curricular and to have at least one mentor – who acted as a facilitator, and a trainee within them. We also tried to ensure that there was an NQT or a teacher who had trained within the last few years so that they were familiar with the QTS standards.

What did we focus on?

We took the main aspects of the introductory model and modified the tasks to best fit our school.

The main tasks were:

Positive aspects of working with trainees.

Why did you become a teacher and what motivates you?

What skills do you use?

Case Study: Using Prior data effectively – Looking at the QTS Standard 3.1.1. – Setting challenging teaching and learning objectives which are relevant to all students.

Making the familiar strange.

The feedback from staff has been extremely positive.

108 staff took part in the training and the summary of the results are illustrated below:

94% said it transmitted the knowledge of skills to the trainee well or better

94% said it helped to convey the understanding of the classroom as a complex social setting well or better

96% said the exercises provided opportunities to develop the trainees’ ability to work with and gain knowledge from the experience and expertise of teachers.

94% found that the expectations and requirements of the exercises were clear and over 90% had a sense of progressing through the module.

97% felt that the expectations and outcomes were appropriate and achieved and that there was a sense of challenge.

The future!

We are about to offer 2 extended training sessions to experienced mentors and staff who are interested in becoming a mentor.

We will focus on the modules that will:

Improve feedback

Assist with Target setting

Accuracy in Summative Assessments

Professional Values

One of our key aims is to expand the number of trained mentors so that there are at least two in every curriculum area and to train for succession.

Partnership Promotion school

In Summer 2002 we were nominated by one of HEIs to become a Partnership Promotion school.

The ideas behind this programme were to:

Increase Capacity of trainees into the profession through extending the number of schools involved in ITT as well as encouraging schools already involved to see the benefits of taking more trainees.

Improving quality of teaching and learning through the use of mentors, trainees, and ASTs.

Market Opportunities to illustrate that ITT can equal improved teaching and learning as well as offering CPD opportunities for staff involved.

The birth and development of Model E.

Wakefield is a small LEA but had 4 of its key schools nominated as Partnership Promotion Schools. At the regional meeting in December we worked as a team together with the HEIs and LEA to produce a new model – Model E. The main difference between this model and others is that it is working in close collaboration with the LEA as well as the HEIs.

As far as we are aware at this stage we are the only group who has made this type of link.

WAKEFIELD LEA

Outwood Grange College

Minsthorpe Community College

Ossett High School

Cathedral High School

123

4

5 6

789

11

1314 15

16

10

1217

1819

20

21 22 2324

25

2627 28

29

30

31323334

LEEDS

UNI

TASC

UNI

LEEDS

MET

UNI

Model E

What have we achieved so far?

The 4 schools are following the same plan as developed by Janet Blackburn at Minsthorpe Community College.

We have trialled the TTA materials within our own schools and these have been well received. This has the advantage of ensuring that all of our own staff understand the focus and processes involved in training teachers.

We have carried out an audit with our partner primaries and link schools to establish what involvement they have with trainees.

We are then offering to work collaboratively with the schools to help them see the main advantages of being involved in the training of teachers.

If the partner schools agree to sign up to the Partnership then the Lead School and linked HEI will:

Work with them on 4 training sessions which will:

explain all of the key issues involved in training teachers.

will train the potential mentors.

help them to see the advantages of improvement and raising achievement that trainees can bring to their school.

work with the partner school to write a training policy.

develop an action plan and support the partner school in achieving its aims.

offer to facilitate network meetings to provide opportunity for involved schools to share their ideas and experiences.

Where is all of this leading?

We believe we are a centre of excellence and wish to share our good practice and ideas with others.

Within college and outside of it we have always had COLLABORATION at the centre of our agenda.

We firmly believe in involving all staff and their expertise and regularly use them to train or lead others. This includes Support and teaching staff at all levels.

We keep SELF REVIEW high on our agenda

We make sure our ideas and developments are co-ordinated and coherent.

We use leadership at all levels

We fully utilise ICT within the college and look to develop its use and understanding for all colleagues.