University of Chester Faculty of Education and Children’s Services

Year 3 SBL Professional Development ActivitiesBA (Hons) Primary Education and BA (Hons) Early Years – Primary Education

Faculty of Education and Children’s Services

Year 3 School-Based Learning – Professional Development Activities

BA (Hons) Primary Education and

BA (Hons) Early Years - Primary Education

2017 - 2018

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University of Chester Faculty of Education and Children’s Services

Year 3 SBL Professional Development ActivitiesBA (Hons) Primary Education and BA (Hons) Early Years – Primary Education

This booklet has been created to support the bringing together of university and school-based learning. The school-based learning activities have been designed within the ITE Partnership to provide guidance to ATs and Mentors on the types of activities that ATs should engage in in order to meet, to a good or outstanding level, key aspects of the Teachers’ Standards. This set of activities is by no means exhaustive and as with all aspects of ITE Partnership school colleagues and ATs are encouraged to seek other related and bespoke opportunities for development in these areas. Feedback from mentors and ATs is as always very welcome and can be given either to the University Link Tutor, programme tutors or noted on the relevant SBL evaluation form.

Activities, and priorities for 2017/18, have been developed in consultation with ATs, tutors and school colleagues.

Induction to the school – Visit Day

Making the most of the first day

The first day of the placement should enable Associate Teachers to orientate themselves with the class/ classes and schools they will be based in, collecting key information and documents about the class/ classes, and about school policies and procedures. Opportunities for meeting the class teacher and Professional Mentor will greatly enhance this process.

Key information and documents to collect

Key Policies: e.g. Safeguarding and Child Protection (including PREVENT); e-safety; assessment policy; subject-specific policies (including those for your specialist area of interest); behaviour management; anti-bullying; equality (and diversity); marking and feedback.

School information: school prospectus and mission statement; roles and responsibilities of all staff; resources available in school and any procedures for booking them.

Class information:class list; details of any groupings; key assessment data and tracking information about children in class (including targets); information about children with additional needs (e.g. EAL; SEN and disability (access to IEPs or new proformas in relation to the 2015 SEND Code of Practice); medical needs); class timetable (including access to hall and other facilities, e.g. ICT Suite); topics/ areas to be covered during SBL (long and medium term planning and any related progression documents to support this); sketch classroom layout.

School routines: lunchtime arrangements; playground duty rota; staff meetings; staffroom protocol; clubs as well as any intervention classes/groups.

Key information and documents to share

Associate Teacher Profile; Y2 SBL Final Review; your targets/areas for development, training needs and priorities for Y3 SBL.

Age-phase enhancement and enrichment

Discussion should focus on requirements for this following the October PAT meetings in university.Training needs should be considered withProfessional Mentors, Class Teachers and ULTs, negotiating suitable arrangements for age-phase enhancement (experience across the age range of training, especially in age-phases not experienced since Y1 SBL) and enrichment (experience above and below the age range of training), taking account of prior experience during the Programme.

Over the 3 years of the Programme, Primary ATs should spend at least 5 days in EYFS and 5 days in KS3, and Early Years-Primary ATs should spend at least 5 days in lower KS2, and 5 days in EYFS 0-3. This experience should be clearly logged in the Professional Journey File.

Curriculum priorities

Associate Teachers have fully audited their curriculum teaching experiences and will be able to share this. This includes detailed consideration of which topics they have taught in core subjects as well as which foundation subjects they have taught.

Educational visits

Discussion should focus on opportunities to play a key role in the planning and risk assessment of an educational visit. During this process, the Associate Teacher can learn, from an experienced class teacher, the organisation involved, including risk assessment. If there is a residential visit during the placement, the AT is encouraged to attend.

Working with parents and carers

It is important that Associate Teachers feel well prepared for working with parents and carers once they have entered the teaching profession. Discussion should focus on the opportunities that can be provided, and where possible, Associate Teachers should be encouraged to be present at and participate in all consultations with parents. Additional guidance for this area is provided later in this Professional Development Activities booklet.

General organisation

  • Arrange with your Professional Mentor or Class Teacher a suitable time each week to hold your ‘weekly review’ meeting (then remember to prepare for this each week, see PJF p.24), including target setting/review and how these impact on the weekly training plan;
  • With your Class Teacher, establish your responsibilities and activities for the first part of the placement (weeks 1-5), with reference to the activities in this PDAs booklet and your individual training needs.

Observation

  • Observe a range of both core and foundation subjects, including at least one Literacy lesson and one Numeracy lesson, taking on the role of supporting groups (remember to use LO1 to record observations of other practitioners).
  • From your observations and discussions with the class teacher make a note of the strategies used to manage children’s behavior andassessment for learning strategies.

Child Profiles

  • Two contrasting children should be selected as a focus for child profiles, in consultation with the class teacher. Regular reviews of progress in this activity should take place during weekly meetings.

Introductions (to whole class and parents)

It is important to plan some whole-class introductory activities very early in the placement, as part of the induction process.

For example, you could:

  • Read aloud to the class (‘story time’);
  • Run a circle time activity to ‘break the ice’;
  • Support with group activities as soon as possible;
  • Team-teach a lesson with the class teacher as soon as possible;
  • Write an introductory letter to parents and/orcarers during the first few days of the placement (a template for this, which you could adapt, is provided on the Moodle page for PR6914).

Arrange to plan in some of these activities for the week beginning 13th November 2017.

Understanding and responding to your needs

Remember to stay mindful and proactive about your own specific training needs in terms of the enhancement/ enrichmentpriorities that you have identified and discussed with your PAT. Do you need to negotiate time in another class? Your ULT can support you with this too if needed.

Induction to the school– First Week

making the most of the first5 days

The first 5 days of the placement are essential for building the foundations for a successful placement. In addition to the initial induction activities in the previous section, the following tasks are intended to support planning and preparation for the rest of SBL.It is also recognised that this period represents an ideal time to build relationships with the children in the class, observing the class teacher and beginning to teach groups and whole class sessions.

Medium Term Planning (TS4)

  • During the first 5 days, find out (from long and medium term planning documents), what topics/subjects will be taught in all curriculum areas for the current term and from January 2018.
  • Establish your involvement in the planning and teaching of the curriculum areas during the current and subsequent term.

Getting to know the children in the class/ ‘Pupil profiles’ (TS2, TS5, TS6)

  • Gain a detailed knowledge and understanding of the pupils in your class. Ask the class teacher if you can access assessment data, including summative data, about the children that you will be teaching.Add detailed baseline information for your child profiles. If you are not able to access data (due to data protection policy) have a dialogue about this process and record children’s current attainment on your own proforma.
  • Look at children’s books to identify prior learning, pupil progress, support strategies as well as marking and feedback procedures (and their impacts on pupil progress). Use your child profiles to provide additional evidence of this activity.
  • Find out how the needs of specific groups are addressed through planning, observations and communication with the class teacher.
  • When identifying your child profile pupils, look at progress over time, prior attainment, barriers to learning (if applicable) and make this the focus of one of your first weekly review meetings.Add appropriate material to your child profiles.
  • Find out about additional adults, their roles and any interventions being used to support children in your placement class.
  • Engage again with key policies (assessment,SEND) and arrange to speak to key leaders in these areas for advice and support.

Assessment – assessment narratives activity

Find out about school assessment policy and processes. Write a small report, using the template on Moodle PR6914. Reflect on how this is similar/different to practice during SBL2.

Teachers’ Standard ‘Under the magnifying glass’ – S8

The next section highlights a specific focus on Teachers’ Standard 8: ‘Fulfilling wider professional responsibilities’. The idea is that you identify areas from the following sub-sections of TS8 and how these could be explored and evidenced during SBL 3. There was a focus on this teacher standard during a recent PR6914 session.

Please bear in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of things you must do, but instead useful guidance on what constitutes good evidence of ‘fulfilling wider professional responsibilities’.

A focus on S8 ‘Fulfilling wider professional responsibilities’

Make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school

  • Supporting school at Parents’ Evenings, etc. – ask if there will be opportunities to do this during or after the placement;
  • Leading staff training sessions (see EAL PDA);
  • Developing and contributing to development of medium term planning, policiesetc.;
  • Engaging in extra-curricular activities – planning/leading/organising – to include lunchtime or after- school activities, residentials, whole school events, home/school events, clubs, fairs, community and charity events;
  • Developing a whole school area – allotment, etc.;
  • Involvement with governors; PTA;
  • Sports teams;
  • Choir;
  • Assemblies;
  • Whole school events – fetes, fayres, plays etc.;
  • Playground duties;
  • Organising a visitor to school or planning a visit;
  • Offer to lead school wide activities in specialist subject.

Develop effective professional relationships with colleagues, knowing how and when to draw on advice and specialist support

  • Changing practice in light of feedback from lesson observations;
  • Taking responsibility for own CPD;
  • Being prepared to participate in trials, new pedagogies e.g. team teaching/lesson study, etc.;
  • Playing active part in staff meetings/ INSET;
  • Team meetings/ focus sessions;
  • Multi-agency working;
  • Lesson study;
  • Seeking support when appropriate;
  • Email messages (tone…);
  • Evidence of team leadership/ collaborative work on specific projects;
  • Maintaining confidentiality in and out of school;
  • Demonstrate both independence and team work, in the classroom and around the school/setting as a whole;
  • Arrange meeting with the subject leaders/co-ordinators to support targets for own professional development;
  • Observe specialist teachers/staff according to need;
  • Evidence in weekly review of being proactive when seeking advice and engaging in professional discussions;
  • Use specialist skills to share with school colleagues.

Deploy support staff effectively

  • Lesson observations;
  • IEP/ Intervention;
  • Feedback from TAs/support staff (either lesson based or in support staff meeting);
  • Pupil progress/ assessment;
  • Planning evidence and book scrutiny;
  • Team meetings;
  • Engagement in planning;
  • Comments on school review documentation;
  • Use TA proforma to inform and gain feedback;
  • Discover detail of TA roles, and skills in order to deploy them effectively;
  • Negotiate work with the TAs;
  • Converse with the TA;
  • Use C/T as support staff;
  • Give TA/CT ‘Post it Notes’ to record pupils’ responses and assess participation.

Take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development, responding to advice and feedback from colleagues

  • Acting on feedback – what’s changed?
  • Regular reflection on practice e.g. journal, further professional study, leading a staff group, disseminating new learning to colleagues;
  • Observation of teachers in school and putting new learning into own practice;
  • Showing and sharing good practice;
  • Cross-phase and cross-school moderation;
  • Contributing own targets for development;
  • Requesting CPD;
  • Being thoroughly up to date with pedagogy and practice;
  • Proactivity in preparation for weekly reviews linked to the Teachers’ Standards;
  • Carefully monitor own progress in setting and achieving challenging targets;
  • Seek advice from teachers for specific curriculum areas for appropriate teaching and learning opportunities;
  • On planning, indicate focus areas for improvement;
  • On planning, give observers targets to ensure a clear focus;
  • Focussed observations and discussions with colleagues;
  • Research;
  • Reflective comments after observations, in reviews, self-evaluation;
  • Reflections on lesson plans;
  • Identification of next steps for CPD / targets;
  • Asking to go on courses, post course evaluation evidence of application → proactive;
  • Visiting other key stages, classes and schools.

Communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievements and well-being

  • Reporting;
  • Parents evenings/ days;
  • Parent feedback/ parents’ meetings/ 1:1 conversations with parents;
  • Parent voice;
  • Open-door sessions;
  • Following up actions/ concerns, giving hard messages, celebrating successes etc.;
  • Home/School liaison – diaries, etc.;
  • Written reports including all SEN documentation, as required;
  • Newsletters;
  • Giving letters and information out on time – team approach;
  • Responsibility for contacting parents outside of timetabled parents’ meetings;
  • Be available and communicate at the start and end of day;
  • Attend parent meetings;
  • Contribute to whole school events;
  • Talk to parents at the end of extracurricular activities;
  • Send home celebratory postcards for effort/achievement/success;
  • Make sure that you respond appropriately and in keeping with school policy regarding sick or injured pupils;
  • Write a letter at the start of the placement to introduce yourself to parents/carers, having negotiated with CT (suggested template on Moodle PR6914).

BEYOND INDUCTION –Week 3 and Beyond

ESSENTIAL Professional Development Activities

  1. Age-phase enhancement

To help ensure your breadth of training over the 3 years of the programme, it is important to gain experience outside your base class during the placement. Your ‘Priority Needs Document’ should be shared with your class teacher and/ or Professional Mentor at the start of the placement to ensure that a programme is planned to support your needs. Your ULT will also monitor this and refer to it when completing QA Form C during the ULT visits.

  1. Transition

Associate Teachers should have a good knowledge and understanding of the age phases immediately before and after the ones they are training to teach. Where possible, the following should be completed during Y3 SBL, but they could instead be completed after its scheduled finish, during the enrichment week in March (19th-23rd).

For Primary ATs: plan to spend 1-2 days in a secondary school that the placement school feeds into and 1-2 days in Reception. Some suggested activities are below, with further ones on Moodle PR6914:

Observe teaching and support learning for groups of children;

  • In KS3, observe, support and if possible teach 1-2 Mathematics lessons;
  • Find out about transition and transfer arrangements between primary and secondary school;
  • In EYFS, observe, support and teach phonics

For Early Years-Primary ATs: plan to spend 1-2 days (equivalent) in EYFS 0-3 and 1-2 days (equivalent) in lower KS2. Suggested activities are below, with further ones on Moodle PR6914:

  • Observe teaching and support learning for groups of children;
  • In lower KS2, observe, support and teach a series of Mathematics lessons
  1. Dissertation

A broad overview of your dissertation should be included on your ‘Priority Training Needs’ document. This should be discussed with your class teacher and/ or Professional Mentor early in the placement, so that a minimum of 2 days (equivalent) of your ‘directed time’ over the duration of the placement can be planned to support this.

  1. Core curriculum

English/ Literacy

Prior to SBL 3

Essential Task: reflect on the ‘Subject KnowledgeConfidence Audit’ and the ‘Teaching English Experience’ record that you completed at the end of SBL2. Use these to help you set initial SBL 3 targets/areas for development very early during the placement and during subsequent weekly reviews.

Throughout SBL3

  • Update and reflect on your ‘Teaching English Experience’ record. Use this to identify and target gaps in coverage as part of your weekly review.
  • Update your Subject KnowledgeConfidence Audit (hard-copy in section 3 of your PJF.) Use this to identify and target gaps in your subject knowledge as part of your weekly review.

English SBL Focus 1:Teaching Reading

Focus 1A: Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) as the prime approach to word-reading and spelling. (Evidencing TS 3d - by the interim review point)

As you know, Teachers’ sub-standard 3d relates to your ability to demonstrate your SSP subject knowledge. You cannot achieve an overall ‘Outstanding’ for TS 3 without ‘Outstanding’ for TS 3d (likewise for ‘Good’). The pure subject knowledge element of S3d can be evidenced in part by university-based evidence such as your articulation of phonemes test certificate and your SSP terminology test score, but your understanding of the pedagogical element of subject knowledge is significantly enhanced in school. It is from your SBL, therefore, that much of your evidence for S3d will come.