ASTs - another great idea bites the dust.

So, yesterday I went on an outreach day. Since having attained AST status in 2001 I have been to dozens of schools and worked with many different teachers from trainees, returning teachers, teaching assistants, classroom teachers, middle and senior leaders, advisors, tutors- oh yes, and children; lots and lots of them!

It was with great sadness that I drove away from the school I worked with  as this was the last outreach I shall do as an LA AST.

Why?

One word- funding.

Funding for ASTs ceased three years ago, the end of the year marks the end of my role. My LA safeguarded until the end of the year and I have continued to support schools across the area during this time.

  I think of the schools I have worked with; would they have paid independent consultants ? Probably not with their ever diminishing budgets.

So, there must be something new to replace ASTs? Yes, of course- excellent teachers. Oh, no, they aren't funded for outreach work.

What about leading practitioners?
No funding for those.

Ah, SLEs, that looked promising; but they are to support school leaders. what is an SLE?

So, who is out there to support  classroom teachers now? The LA? Hmmm, perhaps not...

Of course, we are all supporting each other now in our clusters/federations/academy chains.

Or are we?

I became an AST as a career choice; I love being a teacher and don't want to lose sight of that.  Becoming an AST has given me the opportunity to develop my skills as subject leader, as teacher, coach and mentor.  Each outreach role I have undertaken has been successful.  I am sure that my experiences are replicated across the country by many other ASTs. And now, with a new curriculum and assessment without levels, no one out there to offer support. Publishers clamouring to sell their wares. The strength of ASTs was in their classroom role. Teachers doing the job with the understanding to offer support realistically.  To say that ending this role is to miss a trick is a massive understatement.

So where next? Well, I am looking into seeing if I can continue to offer support to schools I have built links with; not as a consultant, but as a class teacher, doing the job, but keen to work with others as well.

I'd live to hear from teachers (ASTs or others) who have managed to continue their role creatively. I'm fortunate that in working part time I have some flexibility to not affect my class time ...

Watch this space!

Training teachers

This week's ukedchat is going to focus on - 'What should be taught to the next generation of trainee teachers?  http://ukedchat.com/

I am particularly looking forward to this as I have a trainee working with me in my class and do some tutoring sessions for the GTP and SCITT in the county.

School based training is where teachers learn the skills of working with others, with classroom management to name but two. However, as a class teacher I find my time being stretched to the limit (and beyond) as I try to support and guide my trainee as well as maintain a teaching role.

I'm not sure what the answer is- more funding to allow teachers who are involved with trainees to be able to fit in their feedback/paperwork in directed time would be a bonus. The strength of training in schools is that the person central to the training is actually doing the job on a day to day basis as opposed to the lecturer who knows all the theory (and may still teach  children to some extent) but is not immersed in the same way.

The pedagogy of learning , at the time of my training seemingly boring, but now often referred to, is as important as spending time in the classroom and ideally trainees need to spend their time both in college and in school. The SCITT course I am involved with http://www.dttpscitt.co.uk/ will be changing next year to 24 weeks in school. This is 2 more weeks than at present which will require a big change to the timetable.  Inevitably, some of the centre-led training will go . On a personal level I am saddened by this as I have led a DT session for the last 4 years. Feedback often indicates that the sessions from practising teachers are especially useful as they can share so many aspects of the subject.
I applaud the importance of the extra time in school, but wonder how this will impact on the overall experiences for the trainees.
So , Thursday's ukedchat I am hoping will provide some useful insight into effective training.

Mentoring trainees.

Less than three weeks now before my trainee finishes with us. After an interesting lesson today thought would reflect on the mentoring process.


I have been involved with trainee teachers for the last 15 years, with BEd, PGCE, GTP and SCITT. The role has evolved over the years and it is immensely rewarding.


Working with a trainee has made me evaluate my own teaching style and made me much more aware of the importance of teaching lessons with good pace. Being an effective mentor is crucial to support trainees through the nerves and the odd disastrous lesson! Spending time talking about lessons I have taught has really helped to build good relationships with trainees. In fact I have used video to good effect - the trainee will video me and we will watch it together and discuss the lesson, concentrating on questioning for example. This will be followed by the trainee being videoed and a similar discussion taking place. The idea not being "Watch me to see how marvellous I am" but "Let's look at this lesson and identify what works and what could be done differently/improved". Once the initial fear of the camera is overcome this is a very powerful tool indeed.


An effective mentor must be an effective teacher first and foremost, and have bags of enthusiasm. A mentor forced into the role is not the way to go.The amount of teaching experience is not key- a teacher in their 2nd or 3rd year of teaching can be a great role model for a trainee and the process can be useful for both.


Being a mentor has certainly improved my own teaching, as well as shown me a wealth of different approaches, resources and ideas. I hope to be able to continue as a mentor next year, but restructuring in the school leaves that somewhat uncertain at the present time. There are so many more positives than negatives.

Trainee teachers

I have been writing the end of year report for the trainee teacher who has been based at my school since September. As part of a SCITT scheme, we have trainees for their Autumn/Summer placements or the Spring one.
I have been involved with this particular SCITT since 2002 and love it. To any teacher who has never worked alongside trainees, I can't recommend it highly enough.
I really admire those entering the profession via a PGCE as it seems an impossible amount to pack into a year. I did a four year B.Ed (back in the late 80's!!) and at the end of it felt that there was still so much to learn. Several of my colleagues came into teaching after other careers and found the PGCE route the most suitable for them.
Anyway, I digress, back to the trainee teachers...
Yes, there is a heck of a lot of work involved; I would be lying if I said otherwise,but it is well worth it. This year my trainee (I know there has been much animated discussion over the term trainee on twitter; it's the agreed term on the SCITT I work with having replaced student teacher!)  has really blossomed and it has been an absolute delight seeing the change over the year. She is only with me for three more weeks after half term and will be missed by all.
Having a trainee in your classroom really helps you to think about your practice deeply and having the opportunity for professional discussions about lessons is priceless. As a newbie to teaching there is a fair amount of support which dwindles as the career progresses. I feel lucky to be in a school where we all work very closely and peer mentoring is something we want to develop further, but the day to day discussions of classroom practice have certainly enabled me to constantly look at how I teach.
I am in the middle of writing a (very long) report and loving the fact that I can comment on all the progress that has been made. The next few weeks give a chance to consolidate and build on progress made and give me time to observe my class at work which tells me so much about them that I sometimes miss.