I recently wrote for Schools Week about a number of different, and unusual, situations, that trainees really ought to be exposed to. If trainees aren’t exposed to these situations during their training, I argued, it would make their first year with the ‘L-plates’ off, far more difficult.
I suggested that trainees should be exposed to: duties; delivering a briefing announcement; covering the isolation room; supporting at a parents’ evening; supporting school trips; doing last-minute cover; holding a parental meeting; leading a fire-drill; producing GCSE predictions; marking exam papers and doing data entry.
But am I right? There was a huge response to this article, with lots of different teachers sharing their stories. This launched me into a (mini) investigation. What have trainees been exposed to? What really helped them, and what didn’t? What do they wish they’d have been exposed to?
I’ve since spoken to a number of different trainees, and am using this blog to give them a platform to talk about their experiences.
Enjoy!
Kelsie Lee – Primary Education Graduate
It is encouraged for teachers to take a holistic approach to developing children’s learning. Therefore, the same approach should be taken to teacher training. As someone about to start their teacher training, I agree that taking on all of the new responsibilities as a trainee can be daunting. However, the excitement to be thrown into the deep end and get a well-rounded experience of what it will be like to be a qualified teacher completely outweighs the nerves. I agree that providing trainees with the opportunity to take on duties within their training year is the only way to reduce the stress of doing this alone when they qualify. Getting trainees to engage in break time duties is an effective way to encourage their development of secure student-teacher relationships. I believe relationships are a fundamental factor in not only supporting children’s academic development, but also their well-being. Connecting with children in this less formal environment constitutes better student-teacher interactions in the classroom, therefore making the trainee teacher’s experience much more positive and enjoyable. While completing my Primary Education degree, I gained valuable school experience by volunteering. One of the most exciting parts was the opportunity to assist on school trips. Partaking in a variety of school trips not only builds your experience in knowing how to effectively safeguard an entire class of children in a public setting, but it also offers the opportunity to further build relationships by allowing both the students and teachers to engage with each other in a more informal setting. School trips are also an integral part of the curriculum, hence trainee teachers should engage in at least one school trip during their training year.
Joe Jackson – Secondary PE
Firstly, I just want to make the point that in its current context – the complexity of school life for teachers, mentors, and teacher trainees’ – means that not all of these experiences will be possible. A trainee’s experience should be personalised as trainees’ will have a different experience during their training year to one another, and so it’s totally normal to have not done something other that other trainees have. You’ve still got plenty of time!
Moving on to discussing some of the suggestions in the article. I like the sound of scenario-based learning, especially as PE is a practical subject, and scenario-based learning is something I do with my own students that can have great success!
Since the start of my current school placement I’ve been penciled in on the break and lunch rota. This is in part due to a shortage of staff availability, however, I can say it’s been a useful experience in terms of helping to build positive relationships with students.
Delivering a staff briefing is not something I would of thought of, or even of jumped at the chance to do for that matter, but I can certainly see the benefits of it.
Covering the isolation room is probably the only recommendation I disagree with. A trainee’s confidence is so important and I can’t see this being a positive experience. All of the different schools I have worked or been on placement at have had a member of non-teaching staff assigned to this role. If a slot needs filling then it’s usually been covered by member of SLT.
As for parents evening, this is something I would highly recommend. It’s such a useful experience, even if it’s just sitting in on a couple of conversations between experienced teachers and parents. It’s not a common experience trainees are exposed to in their training year, but having attended two parents evenings as a trainee, one where I observed, and another where I led the conversation, I have to vouch for the opportunity as being invaluable.
Who doesn’t love a school trip? I’ve been on as many as I can!
Last minute cover is another involuntary experience I have faced. As long as you feel confident enough it’ll be fine.
Erin Burtenshaw – Secondary Geography
Out of the list, as a PGCE trainee this year, I have done parents evening, supporting school trips, and last minute (albeit voluntarily) cover.
With parents evening, I had watched 2 year groups before I felt confident enough to take the lead. I have now done a further 2 year groups parents evenings single-handedly whilst my mentor popped in and out. It has been really useful doing parents evenings as I have been able to address some concerns I had about children and actually saw quite a big improvement in some of their behaviours. I think personally as well, I am more confident in interacting with parents – however this was all done online and I haven’t yet had to interact in person.
Recently for supporting school trips, as part of geography GSCE fieldwork, I helped take my year 10 class to the coast. I initially thought I would feel like a ‘spare part’ or take a back seat on the day, however quickly realised that I would be fully submerged in the fieldwork, as well as behaviour management. I found it such an eye opening experience, and feel like I found my ‘teacher voice’ on the trip. I also feel my year 10’s have more respect for me now.
I have once covered a year 7 lesson. It was useful to realise that the class valued relationships, and even though they had prewarning not to misbehave and their class teacher was trusting them to behave, they still misbehaved. It has to be one of the most memorable lessons I had taught, and one which really tested my behaviour management. I took away that next year, implementing routines and expectations early on it crucial.
I regularly assist on break duty with a colleague, however they were the main person in charge. I feel like I do have some authority there and would feel confident in doing it next year.
The thing I feel I would’ve benefited from the most, which I haven’t done, is marking and producing marks for GCSE. I feel that this is an area I definitely need to obtain experience in, and will be spending my summer unofficially marking and looking at exam papers and questions. This will help me with my year 11 class next year.
Rebecca – Primary
I agree with a lot of the suggestions and have actually done many of them myself. A couple have been requirements of the course, such as break duties and parents evenings, which I feel have helped me in terms of professional development and improving my confidence going into my ECT year. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to support a school trip but this is upcoming – my training partnership explores this and the role of risk assessment as part of our in house training. In terms of last-minute cover, none of the schools have required trainees to do this and the only type of last minute I have experienced is that where my mentor has been sick and I have had to work alongside a TA or supply teacher. Something I haven’t experienced yet that I feel would be beneficial, but is difficult to fit into small teaching placements, is the summative assessment and data entry experience and leading a fire drill line up.
However, I feel that my training provider and schools have provided me with plentiful experience. I’ve also been fortunate to have had experience within a special school and a PRU as part of a full enhanced experience week.
Georgia Philips – Secondary English
In my placements, I have been lucky enough to have fantastic mentors that have encouraged me to get involved in the wider school community and have created opportunities for me to do so. I have been involved in break duty (in my first placement) and have attended parents evening multiple times (in my second placement). Experience communicating with parents at parents evening, though daunting at first, has been invaluable and the insights I have gained about pupils from these conversations have enhanced my practice further.
However, I have not experienced the other ideas mentioned. Covering the isolation room and experiencing last minute cover are two ideas that stood out for me. Considering that both of these ideas are related to behaviour management, something that most trainees worry about, this could be good practice. Data and exam marking are also two ideas that I think would really benefit trainees.
I have definitely been exposed to and have gained valuable experience in different settings, but this is not standard for all trainees and is reliant on your mentor taking initiative.
Leonie Mercer – Secondary English
I am a second year QTS undergraduate. My course involves 3 teaching placements over the course of 3 years. I am training to be a secondary school English teacher.
Upon reading the article, I can say I have done break and lunch duties. These have taken place with my mentors rather than solo. I have also attended parents evening alongside my mentors.
Break and lunch duties provide opportunities to see the children outside of class and see them around their peers. This especially helps for seating plans! Moreover, parents evening provided the opportunity to learn more about the students I will be teaching as my placement this year is only 8 weeks long, so prior knowledge of the students can only be gained through talking to my mentor and seeing their feedback on parents evening.
I have not made a briefing announcement but do see why these would be beneficial! I have also not contributed to a school trip or provided last minute cover. As a trainee you have to be with another member of staff in the classroom at all times, regardless of DBS checks.
Though I have not led one, I have witnessed several fire drill practices as children love to set those off on purpose to postpone examinations! It’s the new trend!
Flynn Powell – Secondary PE ECT
I have long believed that there is somewhat of a disconnect between the demands and foci of ITT and ECT 1. Naturally, ITT programmes are focused heavily upon classroom pedagogy and somewhat neglect the other aspects of the role of a teacher. I had this exact discussion with a PGCE student at my school last week who asked what the new challenges were going to be when he moved into ECT 1. Our discussion mostly focused on pastoral responsibilities as well as knowledge required for career progression. We detailed a series of preparatory steps that the PGCE student should take, outside of their course requirements, in order to best prepare themselves for ECT 1.
Reflections upon situations
1. Break and lunch duties – This may be useful but more so depending on the personality of the student teacher. If they are a confident individual, the transition can be quite simple, however more anxious student teachers would definitely find this of use. Something which I do think is key for student teachers is being able to go from duty to their lesson and still ensure a smooth start. Testing organisational skills via break/lunch duties as an ITT could be a valuable exercise
2. Deliver a briefing announcement – Absolutely something that should be done. I so vividly remember the feeling of butterfly’s and adrenaline when having to make a briefing announcement as an ECT 1, so preparation for this is valuable.
3. Covering the isolation room – This is a must as an ITT student as it provides an understanding of students from an enormous range of backgrounds/motivations. It can also provide opportunities to develop pastoral qualities and build relationships with challenging students. Shadowing expert colleagues as well can be beneficial.
4. Parents evening – This is so important as an ITT student as you do not want to experience parents’ evening for the first time when you’re on your own as an ECT. It forces you to think deeply about the capabilities of the student in front of you, as well as developing your mental agility/interpersonal skills when faced with challenging parents/questions.
5. Supporting school trips – In loco parentis is an extremely nerve-wracking feeling for most teachers, so having the opportunity to practice is important. The number of considerations that trip leaders must make, that are not even touched upon in ITT is enormous, so developing your skills on the job is a fantastic opportunity.
6. Last-minute cover – This is very dependent on the student teacher. For confident student teachers that need challenge, this can be a great exercise in pedagogical capabilities. Conversely however, for less confident individuals, this is a sure-fire way of making them feel even worse about their effectiveness as a teacher. For these students, shadowing expert colleagues would be a better exercise.
Amber Hadley, Primary Trainee
I am fortunate enough to have completed a short specialist placement in a SEND school, and believe it is an opportunity every teacher trainee should have the privilege of experiencing. I have a huge passion for SEND anyway, and have always been an ally for children with SEND, but this placement was particularly eye-opening and has propelled my interest even further, such that I have ambitions to complete my SENDCO qualification. Regardless of whether or not a placement in a specialist school would make you feel this way, how advantageous and beneficial to have it in your repertoire!
I started doing break and lunch duties from the offset, right at the start of my first ever placement, and this extended to going out on duty at the start of the school day. It is a brilliant gateway to getting to know your students and more about their lives outside of the classroom. For example, do they attend any after school clubs? Who do they play with? What are their hobbies? Also, it allows you to meet students you don’t otherwise teach, which is absolutely lovely. As a trainee, I felt this allowed me to embed myself more into school life, and get to know children whom my colleagues taught. They would then see me inside school and know who I was. It was so touching to be able to build relationships with all children. It is something I think all trainees should do.
I am also lucky that I have supported four school trips during my teacher training, which from my own conversations with other trainees, seems quite a high number. I have supported with a trip to the farm, to the local care home, a local village walk, and to the local church. Four very different trips, but all enriching in their own way. It can be easy to under-estimate what goes into prepping for such trips. The risk assessments can be vast, as can health and safety precautions put in place. Most trips will inevitably involve crossing a road, so I got to be a lollipop lady for a few seconds, to ensure children all safely crossed the road amidst high levels of traffic! Then, there is the crucial headcount. After being assigned my group of children, I was probably doing a headcount every minute! Whether this was because I was still a trainee and therefore extra-anxious about the headcounts I don’t know, but you can never be too cautious. For me personally, something changes when you’re outside of the classroom with students. Again though, this is something I think all trainees should do. It’s increased my appreciation for school trips. Days later, children will still be talking about their trips; they have the power to excite children that much. Trips are essential for social and cultural capital too, and providing equity of opportunity. You don’t always know which children would or wouldn’t get to experience these trips otherwise.
Trainees should have the chance to mark examination papers, as I have done. At some point in your teaching career, you are going to mark test papers, so doing this under supervision to start with is a good way to go. You can familiarise yourself with mark schemes, and be part of the moderation process, as well as fostering an understanding of how these tests feed into the wider cycle of learning.
One thing I haven’t done, that I would have been grateful of, would have been to attended a formal parents evening. For one reason or another, I was never on placement when the parents’ evenings were happening. A such, this is something I will face for the first time as an ECT. I am sure closer to the time it could be somewhat daunting. My teacher training has covered working with parents at some length though, and I have been very proactive in having multiple conversations about working with parents on placement. I would recommend having these proactive discussions to alleviate any concerns you may have, or to answer any pressing questions.
Overall, trainees should have as much of a ‘real’ experience when training as possible, which would ideally involve exposure to all of the scenarios mentioned in his insightful article.
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