For ECTs and Mentors

Is the ECF assessed?

No, the ECF is not an assessment framework. Induction Tutors will need to do the observation and monitoring required by the Appropriate Body to assess their ECTs progress against the Teachers’ Standards, but this is separate to the ECF programme.

Are ECTs still required to complete formal lesson observations to demonstrate the extent to which they are meeting the teacher standards?

Observations do form a part of the ECF programme, but this is always developmental and should not be the same as a formal observation that is used for assessment against the Teachers’ Standards. Observations that are part of the ECF programme are usually done by the mentor and there is no formal paperwork associated with them.  The induction tutor will usually carry out formal observations with written feedback as directed by the school or Appropriate Body.

How much time should mentors be allocated on their timetable for this role? Is one hour a week enough to do this successfully?

The UCL ECF programme has been written so that mentors can complete their sessions with their mentees within the hour. UCL have allocated 50 minutes for most of the mentor meetings, thus allowing a further 10 minutes per week for mentors to prepare themselves (for example, by reading the Research and Practice Summaries.) Mentors are free to distribute their allocated time across a week, where that assists their mentee’s development.

However, mentors also have to complete 2 hours of self-study each half-term and many feel that they need more time to prepare for the mentor meetings, so one hour a week would be a minimum requirement.

Should mentor meetings be timetabled into mentor’s timetable or is this to be done before or after school?

The Statutory Induction Guidance says that “ECT and mentor sessions are expected to be timetabled during teaching hours. In exceptional circumstances however, where schools require flexibility due to timetabling constraints, mentoring may take place outside of teaching hours but should always be scheduled within contracted time (see para 2.44).”

Is there funding for mentor time?

It is understood that a Mentor will spend an hour a week with their ECT in Year 1, which is what happened prior to ECF. The DfE are funding time off timetable for mentoring in year 2.  For more detailed information about funding, see the DfE website here.

Does an ECT have to have the same mentor for the two years of the programme?

It is up to individual schools to allocate mentors to ECTs. We believe there are advantages to keeping the same mentor for two years, but schools may have good reasons for thinking otherwise.  Mentors may change schools, or change role within school, which means they no longer have the capacity to mentor into the second year of the programme.

Does a mentor have to do the training again if they mentor for a second time?

No.

Can a mentor mentor an ECT in year 1 and year 2 of the programme simultaneously?

Yes, it is fine for a mentor to mentor a year 1 and a year ECT at the same time, providing that they

feel they have the capacity.  The two years of the programme are distinctly different, so the mentor

would have to have individual mentor meeting with each ECT.

Will it be possible to group ECTs for some of their mentor sessions?

The government funds a school on the basis of one mentor per ECT but schools can allocate more ECTs to the same mentor.  In that case, some meetings may be held together, but there will be times when the mentor needs to meet each ECT individually. School Induction Tutors may decide, in some weeks, to assemble all their ECTs together for a session, freeing up time for mentors. UCL discuss ideas for this in their handbook.

What happens if an ECT is struggling to keep up with the programme?

In the first instance, the mentor should be in dialogue with the ECT and the Induction Tutor.  Where the ECT is struggling with induction as well as ECF, the mentor should operate in liaison with the Induction Tutor. Amendments and support should be discussed with the Local Area Coordinator and TSH Berkshire. The UCL ECF approach provides Flexible Programme option for ECTs that are struggling to keep up, either because of difficulties in meeting the expectations of induction under Statutory Guidance or because of features such as a part-time contract.

Extend is difficult to navigate and materials are hard to find.

There are guides and videos on UCL Extend. If you need help or would like to arrange a teams/zoom meeting to have a demonstration/walkthrough, please contact Sue Watson, TSH Operations Manager at:- 

susanwatson@lgs.slough.sch.uk. 

How do I use Extend – it isn’t clear what I should be using it for?

Extend is mainly a resource area.  This is where the mentor meeting resources and the self-study materials etc can be found.  You also need to complete the end of module completion forms on the platform.  And that is all. 

If you miss a training session or online learning community, you need to watch a recording via Extend.  You need to do this individually from your own Extend account, as UCL use that to track attendance.

What evidence to I need to upload to Extend?  How do I evidence my progress against the teacher standards?  Where do I upload weekly tasks?

The short answer is that you don’t need to upload anything to Extend.  You don’t need to upload any records of mentor meetings.  UCL don’t require any evidence of meeting the teacher standards – the ECF is not an assessment framework.  You will need to complete the “End of Module Completion Form” on Extend.  Your Appropriate Body should advise you about the evidence gathering side of the process – that is nothing to do with UCL.

What is the role of the learning log/progress tracker? - Is it assessed or is it a private reflective journal? Does it have to be kept online or will our written notes suffice?  Do I need to upload it anywhere?

The learning log is a private, reflective journal – but it is optional.  You can keep it however you like. Handwritten notes are fine, or you can keep it electronically.  It is not assessed, and you don’t need to upload it anywhere.  If you don’t want to use it you don’t have to – some ECTs and mentors prefer to keep a record of their learning in a different way, using their own systems.

It would be useful to have templates for meetings and observations that then can be saved for evidence.

As above, you don’t need a formal record of meetings or observation for the ECF as there is no need to collect evidence of completing tasks for the ECF.  Your school or Appropriate Body may have templates or pro forma for you to use for formal observations (which are not part of the ECF).

It is not clear what should be happening each week. Could there be an email at the start of term with a reminder?

The module summary guide for each module outlines what should be happening each week.  You can download this from Extend in the “Module Guidance” section.  

There is also a notice on Extend each week of what should be happening that week:

The hub also sends out a bulletin at the start of each half-term with key dates and actions.

The materials and scenarios don’t relate to my setting.

Obviously, the programme as a whole has to be applicable to all phases and settings.  So there may be cases when scenarios or examples are from a different setting to the one you are working in.  In that case, try to think what that scenario might look like in your own setting.  Mentors should feel free to change the scenarios in the mentor meeting materials, to make them more relevant and facilitators have also been asked to be aware of this when delivering the training sessions, and to change the scenarios accordingly.  UCL have created specific ECT self study materials for special school settings and are working on materials for early years.  There are also now more phase and subject specific case studies for ECTs to choose from. 

ECTs would rather have the training sessions during the day.

We have discussed this with schools – the issue is getting ECTs out of school, especially if there are several ECTs in one school.  Headteachers have told us it would be difficult to release ECTs during the day.

Materials feel like a repetition of what was covered in the training year.

The Early Career Framework is virtually identical to the Core Content Framework, which ITE providers have to follow.  Obviously, ECTs’ experiences of their training year differ widely, especially over the past couple of years, so not everyone will feel this way.  We have made facilitators aware of this, and asked them to take it into account when planning sessions.  ECTs and mentors should also feel they can move away from the prescribed discussions in their mentor meetings, if they feel that they have already covered that.  Use the module audit to identify areas of the module that the ECT would like to work on, and focus your time on that.  Even if you do feel that you have covered the topic before, what new experience can you bring to it now?

There is too much content to get through in the time available.

Don’t worry if you don’t manage to get through every aspect of the programme in great detail.  You need to attend the training session and try to keep up with the self-study, but if you leave some out, or you don’t manage to do every activity in the mentor meetings, it doesn’t matter.  If you miss a mentor meeting for any reason (illness, trip, etc), don’t feel you need to go back and catch up.  Use the module audit to focus on the areas you do need to spend time on. 

The content of the mentor meetings is too prescriptive.  What happens if we need to discuss another issue that has arisen?

We know that there will be times when ECTs and mentors need to discuss something urgently that has arisen in the course of the week.  This is fine and if some of the mentor meeting topics don’t get covered, or are covered in less detail, that is OK.  As long as you are doing the majority of the sessions, it is fine.  You can also use the materials in a different order, if you really wanted to.

We’d like more notice of observations.

There are not many occasions when the mentor is asked to do a developmental observation.  In year 1 these are module 1 week 7 and module 3 around week 9/10.  The summary guide at the start of the module, outlines what you are expected to do in the course of the module.

These observations by your mentor should be separate to any formal observations which your induction tutor might do as part of your assessment against the Teacher Standards.  The ECF is not an assessment framework and mentors should not be carrying out observations which are part of the assessment.

We’d like to do more lesson observations.

You can do as many additional, developmental lesson observations as you like.

The practitioner inquiry in year 2 adds to workload and is not as valuable as other forms of CPD.

Keep the scale of the inquiry small. For an exploratory inquiry, ECTs should only be focusing on steps one and two of the inquiry cycle (ask and investigate). They only need to report back to their mentor on their findings. They do not need to complete any evaluation until they do the longer evaluative inquiry.

Use ‘naturally occurring data’ that can be collected within a lesson or series of lessons

Focus on something that the ECT will need to address regardless, as part of their day-to-day practice.

Some ECTs were unsure as to what evidence they needed to provide for their practitioner enquiry.

For Module 6 &7, the ‘final product’ is the structured dialogue ECTs have with their mentors, answering the questions below. There is no obligation to submit anything in writing.

For the longer inquiry in Module 8, ECTs should be encouraged to share their findings more widely through a poster, blog, or presentation but this is up to schools and is not compulsory.  Nor is it assessed.

For induction tutors:

What do I do if the ECT leaves part way through the programme?

Please tell us if an ECT leaves, finishes induction early, goes on maternity leave or long term sick leave, or is returning from mat leave or other long term absence. 

Please also inform your local area coordinator and update the information on the DfE portal.  We will complete the relevant forms for UCL, depending on the situation.  You will also need to tell your Appropriate Body, making sure that you complete any paperwork they require you to do before the ECT leaves.

What do schools do if an ECT joins part way through the programme?

ECTs can join the programme in September, January and April.  Any ECTs who join at other times of the year (for example after the half-term in October and February) must wait until the start of the next term to join the ECF programme.  You can register them with an Appropriate Body as soon as they begin induction with you and the AB will advise what you should do until the ECF programme commences.  You will need to register any new ECTs (and mentors) on the DfE’s online portal.

ECTs starting partway through the programme will join in with an existing cluster.  So, for example, ECTs starting in January will begin on module 3 and those starting after Easter will begin at module 4.  They do not need to go back and “catch up” modules done earlier in the year – they will come round to those modules later in the programme. 

You will also need to register the mentor on the DfE online service.

Please email Sue Watson with the details of the new ECT and mentor, copying in the local area coordinator.

What if the new ECT joining has previously started the ECF with a different lead provider?

The DfE’s preference is for ECTs to continue with the programme of the provider they began with. So, for example, if an ECT joins you at Easter and they had previously worked with a different hub using the Teach First programme, ideally they should continue with that programme.  However, in practice, it is unlikely that schools will want to operate two different programmes at the same time, so you can indicate on the DfE online service that you want the ECT to join the UCL programme.  The DfE pass the ECT’s details onto UCL who will register them on the programme and create an Extend log in for them.

Because lead providers may cover the ECF content in a different order, the mentor should look at the module audits with the new ECT as they may need to go back to previous UCL modules if those areas have not yet been covered.  For example, an ECT joining after Easter in year 1 will start on module 4 of UCL’s programme, which is assessment.  But if they have already covered assessment in their previous programme, it may be more useful for them to look at one of UCL’s earlier modules, which they haven’t covered.  In this case, mentors and ECTs might need to look at the “flexible programme” resources on Extend to fill in any gaps.

What do I do if a mentor changes part way through the programme?

If the mentor changes partway through the year, please let TSH Berkshire and your local area coordinator know and update the DfE portal. 

You will also need to register the new mentor on the DfE online system and link them to their ECT.

We have a part time ECT – what do they do?  

Depending how part-time your ECT is, they can either choose to try to keep up with the main cohort, or spread their learning over a longer period of time.  For example, an ECT who is 0.8 might choose to attend all the sessions with the main cluster, and keep up with the main programme.  An ECT who is 0.5 might choose to spread a module over a whole term, rather than half a term.  In this case, they may not be able to attend live sessions with the cluster, but should watch the recordings of training sessions on UCL extend.  Part-time ECTs could also use the flexible programme materials, which have reduced content for each module.  Please let your local area coordinator know if you have a part-time ECT and how they plan to work through the programme.

You may also want to talk to your Appropriate Body about the length of the induction period for your part-time ECTs.  Technically, part-time ECTs should have a longer induction period, as they should do a length of time equivalent to 2 full years, but Appropriate Bodies can agree a reduced period with the school and the ECT.  That is up to the Appropriate Body, and not related to the ECF.

I have agreed a reduced induction period for an ECT.  What do they do?

In some cases, you will have ECTs who have agreed a reduced induction period with the Appropriate Body.  Therefore, they may only be doing one or two terms induction.  The mentor and ECT should look at the module audits and this should help the Mentor and Induction tutor decide which modules are the most relevant for the ECTs.  This may mean that in some cases they may do different modules to the main cohort.  In this case, they should watch recordings of the relevant training sessions on Extend.

What do I do if my ECT or mentors can’t attend a training session?

Local Area Coordinators aim to send the training schedule out in early July.  Please check this against any school dates and let the local area coordinator know as soon as possible if there are any unavoidable clashes, such as Parent’s Evenings.  Where possible, the Local Area Coordinator will try to find a different local cluster for ECTs and mentors to join, in line with UCL’s policy.  In the event that there is no suitable alternative live session for ECTs or mentors to join, they should watch a recording on UCL Extend.  ECTs and mentors should also inform the facilitator if they are unable to attend, as a courtesy.

Are ECTs with QTLS eligible for the programme?

ECTs have to have QTS to be eligible for the funded ECF programme.  ECTs with QTLS are not eligible.