What's the best thing about being an induction tutor?

"I’ve always been very passionate about teacher training and professional mentoring. So, I suppose at the core of it is the feeling that I’m doing something really valuable. I get an enormous amount of satisfaction from knowing the work and time I am putting in is having real tangible effects on the ECTs, and, by extension, their students. After observing lessons and being granular with the details, it’s great to know that my relentless geekery/experience in teaching and learning is valued, helping shape how an ECT will grow and teach in the future. When you see an ECT teaching a lesson, and they are in a “flow state” with all the skills, reflection, and expert judgement they have developed being deployed in concert for the benefit of the class, that’s the joyous bit for me.”

How do you use Steplab to support your ECT and mentors?

"As observations provide that half-termly detailed look at how ECTs are getting on, I like to think of Steplab as something which gives me an insight into the day-to-day. I use the Lead tab about once a week to quickly get an overview of what ECTs are focusing their self-study on, which can support the feedback and conversations that I might have with them after an observation.

From the focus Steplab has on the gradual accumulation and refinement of skills, you can also extrapolate and get a sense of how an ECT is in the round: how regularly they are engaging with self-study, how their drop-ins from their mentors are going, if they are achieving their weekly steps, and so on. Alongside the observations, action plan documents, and those informal conversations with mentors and ECTs themselves, Steplab provides a further point of insight and ensures I have the best possible understanding of how an ECT is getting on at any given point."

You have ECTs on both the old and new training programmes. How do you organise this to ensure all ECTs and mentors receive their full entitlements?

"Lots of this role is about being organised and prepared, and I think that’s true of this as well. Knowledge is power, really, so ensuring that you really know what ECTs are entitled to and when right from the outset is key. From there, you can coordinate and communicate effectively. For example, if there’s a department with two ECTs on different programmes, ensuring that senior leadership in charge of timetabling, the head of department and the mentors are all clear on what those differences are. It’s also important to avoid having mentors across both programmes, or it can be confusing. For me, a combination of clear upfront communication and organisation, ensuring mentor training is fully supported, and regular half-termly email updates for each ECT and mentor pair are most helpful."

How do you stay on top of being an organised induction tutor?

"With any additional role in a school, it’s always a balancing act – we’re all busy, aren’t we? As well as this role, I teach full time across all key stages and also teach two A level subjects, so I’m always spinning plates, wearing many hats, and juggling several piles of marking.

I think the most fundamental thing for me, though, has been finding a harmony between the demands of my teaching and the demands of the role. I like to view being an induction tutor as a series of half-termly cycles, so the key for me is planning ahead. I work out the tasks and then block out time I need based on that particular cycle. I normally get action plans reviewed within the first week of a half term, then set aside an “observation week” in my diary in order to prioritise time to observe, write up, and give feedback. The final week I block out a smaller chunk of time to upload any documents to ECT Manager before the next cycle starts. School work, like planning and marking, I can then prioritise as far as possible around those weeks so that the work usually balances over the cycle.

Of course, there are busier cycles, and it is certainly more challenging to manage, especially when the school calendar reaches a pinch point. Anticipating the work is the key – when you know what you need to do well ahead of time, everything feels more manageable."

How do you track the progress of your ECTs against action plan targets from the lesson observations?

"Lesson observations are the main checkpoints for me and, as far as possible, I try and observe a lesson where that progress will hopefully be clearly demonstrated. However, I’m careful to be mindful that observations are still one moment in time, and there are so many things an ECT will be doing to meet their action plan targets outside the classroom. As much as tracking progress in the lesson itself, a key supplementary part of the observation process for me is feedback. During that time, you can discuss in much more depth what else the ECT is doing, explore and understand why they made certain decisions, and so on. Observation and feedback together gives me a richer view of the steps taken, a more accurate assessment of progress, as well as allowing me to give more effective suggestions for future plans."

What advice would you give to a new induction tutor?

"I’ve been really lucky, it must be said – I have an incredible team of experienced and caring mentors and that really is the key. That said, I have learned a lot, and so my advice is this:

• Work out a routine for each cycle that works for you and your other professional commitments. Everyone does it slightly differently, and once you have worked out your own way of doing things that fits in with your other responsibilities, you will feel settled. The first term is the adjustment period.
• Choose your mentors carefully in conversation with leadership and heads of department. Although this can be challenging, what is efficient is not always what’s right. So much of a successful ECT induction period is the relationship between the mentor and the ECT, so think as far as possible about their dispositions as well as their experience. Are they the right fit for that ECT as an individual?
• Ask. Ask for enough time from your headteacher. It’s important you are able to give the time you need to the ECTs and for the profile of the job to be raised and recognised. Also, ask as many questions as you need to – none of them are silly when you are new to the role and the Julian TSH team is always on hand to help. If you can, reach out and ask other induction tutors within your trust or in other schools. It is a solitary job in some respects, so being able to network with other people is invaluable.
• Enjoy the fact you are doing this job. It’s an important job, with important responsibilities, but it’s also a unique position within the school and personally rewarding because the impacts are so tangible. The benefits to the ECTs, the students, the school and the profession are all clear, and as a professional you gain a wide range of really valuable experience. I think it’s great!"

What do you do to ensure that the senior leadership team and headteacher are up-to-date on programme changes and ECT progress?

"Senior leaders and headteachers are invariably extremely busy, so any communication needs to be efficient and purposeful. There is nothing worse than a pointless email.

Where things are ticking over as normal, I prefer to stick to very brief updates where necessary, or celebrating particular ECT successes. I also make sure that when it comes to timetabling for the following year, they are fully informed as to the entitlements, so that ECTs and their mentors get what they need. In other cases, such as reductions to induction applications, concerns, or any other issues, I report to them with regular concise emails in a chain, about what actions are being taken, by whom, when, and why. That way, they are informed, but also secure in the knowledge that I am on top of the brief and that everything is being taken care of."