What do schools need to do when they’ve appointed a new Early Careers Teacher?
It may be the first time that your school has ever appointed an Early Careers Teacher (ECT), or you may not have appointed one since the change from Newly Qualified Teacher induction to ECT induction – given that Local Authorities will no longer support any ECTs from September 2024, how are they now supported? What do you, as a school, need to do?
ECTs are entitled to a two-year induction period at the start of their teaching career – this must be based on the Early Career Framework (ECF).
There are four key things that you will need to do
Appointing an Appropriate Body
The key role of an Appropriate Body is to quality assure the induction of ECTs.
They check that your ECTs receive their statutory entitlements, such as mentoring throughout their induction period, make sure formal assessments conducted by an Induction Tutor are fair and appropriate, and validate the recommendation made by the school at the end of their induction.
If you are choosing to deliver the training element of induction in school, rather than using a Provider-led programme, your Appropriate Body will also check that your training covers the full depth of the ECF.
Your Appropriate Body can also give advice if your ECTs are serving a reduced or part time induction, or if they encounter any issues with progress during the course of induction.
Who can act as Appropriate Body?
Training School Hubs (TSHs) now provide Appropriate Body services to schools; this change was made by the DfE to try to bring consistency to the induction process, by reducing the number of Appropriate Bodies from over 300 to around 85.
The DfE’s desire is that schools use the Training School Hub that serves their geographical area as Appropriate Body – in Lambeth’s case, this is London South Training School Hub (LSTSH); they are based in Southwark, and serve Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham.
However, schools are under no obligation to use their ‘natural’ Training School Hub as Appropriate Body – as previously, schools can come to an agreement with any Appropriate Body they wish to work with.
If an ECT undertook their Initial Teacher Training (ITT) through an accredited ITT provider who is also an Appropriate Body, you cannot appoint that Appropriate Body for that teacher.
Nominating an Induction Tutor
Induction Tutors monitor and support your ECTs.
They conduct regular progress reviews and two formal assessment meetings with ECTs during the two-year induction period - one at the end of Year One and one at the end of Year Two.
Induction tutors also need to use the DfE Portal to give details of your Induction Mentors, ECTs and training options to the DfE; this will ensure that your school receives the correct funding to support induction and training.
Who should be nominated?
Schools must choose someone who holds Qualified Teacher Status and has the ability to assess ECT progress against the Teachers’ Standards.
Schools commonly choose someone in a senior leadership position, such as an Assistant Head.
Schools should try to choose someone who is not also an Induction Mentor, as the two roles have quite separate and different responsibilities.
Schools can only have one registered user at a time for the DfE Portal.
Choosing an ECF-based training programme option
Schools have to provide ECTs with an ECF-based training programme as part of their induction.
These three options are – and these are given in the order in which schools should consider their suitability:
Use a Provider-led training programme
Lead Providers work with delivery partners such as Multi-Academy Trusts and Teaching School Hubs to deliver training directly to your ECTs and Induction Mentors.
Provider-led programmes are fully funded by the DfE, so there’s no cost for eligible schools, and they are ‘turn up, learn and go’; there’s no planning for schools.
Providers may need to use face to face sessions as part of their training, so contact them to check where they’re based before signing up.
There are currently six Lead Providers:
Something schools may wish to consider when selecting Appropriate Body and Provider-led training options is that it may be easier to use the same Training School Hub for both Appropriate Body services and a Provider-led training programme; that way, there is less likelihood of any confusion over the ways in which different Training School Hubs work.
As said earlier, LSTSH are the Training School Hub serving the Lambeth borough area; they currently work with the UCL Institute of Education Provider-led programme.
Other London Training School Hubs also using the UCL programme are East London TSH, Teach West London, Thames South TSH and Wandle TSH.
Central London TSH, London District East TSH and North West London TSH work with the Ambition Institute programme, and the Harris City Academy Crystal Palace TSH work with the National Institute of Teaching programme.
Deliver your own training programme using DfE-accredited materials
The DfE-accredited materials available for schools to use include Induction Mentor session guidelines and self-directed study materials.
You can choose materials from one of the following suppliers:
* Ambition Institute
* Education Development Trust
* Teach First
* UCL Early Career Teacher Consortium
Your Appropriate Body will check your training programme to make sure it covers the full depth of the ECF.
Designing and delivering your own training programme
Lastly, you can choose to design and deliver your own two-year training programme covering every ‘learn that’ and ‘learn how to’ statement in the early career framework.
You can use DfE-accredited materials for reference; these include mentor session guidelines and self-directed study materials.
Talk to your Appropriate Body for advice on next steps, as this will be a big undertaking and shouldn’t be undertaken without support.
Your Appropriate Body will check your training programme to make sure it covers the full depth of the ECF.
Whichever option you choose, schools should avoid changing your training option part way through induction.
When an ECT joins a school with some of their induction already complete, it is advisable to consider allowing them to continue following a Provider-led training programme using the Lead Provider they have been using for their induction to date.
Nominating an Induction Mentor
Induction Mentors make sure that your ECTs receive a high quality induction.
They meet regularly with them to provide support and feedback and take prompt, appropriate action if their early career teacher is experiencing difficulties.
If you use a Provider-led training programme for your ECTs, Induction Mentors may also be asked to observe your ECTs; this is for professional development purposes and must not be used for formal assessment.
If you use a Provider-led training programme for your ECTs, Induction Mentors will be given 36 hours of training over the two years of induction; schools receive funding for 36 hours of mentor time off timetable if mentors attend this training.
Induction Mentors can only do this training and receive funded time off timetable for this training once - however, they can keep being a mentor as many times as they like; Induction Mentors can continue their training even if their ECT transfers school or withdraws part way through their induction.
Who should be nominated?
You should try to choose Induction Mentors who have the skills to provide mentoring for specific phases and subject areas.
Schools should try to choose someone who is not also an Induction Tutor, as the two roles have quite separate and different responsibilities.
We hope this gives schools some information about what they need to do when appointing an ECT.