New Professional Mentor Training Faculty of Education, Department of Secondary Education

Secondary Partnership Website

The PM Role: An Overview You will: Oversee students’ entire School Based Training experience; Play a key role in support package; Regularly liaise with the university Support the team of Subject Mentors; Ensure Subject Mentors are trained; Quality assure your school (Faculty QD process); Assume responsibility for the moderation of assessment.

A year in the life of a PM: Induction Phase – 8 days during which trainees begin to get to know the school, the department and the policies and procedures. Time should be split between the subject department and whole school observations; Block/Placement A (Part 1) – Mon to Thurs with Fri back in the University(Core). The focus is achievement of the Block/Placement A standards. 50% timetable; Block B/Placement B/Placement A (Part 2) – Mon to Fri with a focus on all of the standards. 60% timetable; Enrichment Phase – Approximately 3 weeks in length can take place in Block/Placement B school or another school setting.

Key Tasks: Arrange to Induct trainees into your school; Monitor SMs – keeping files, knowing the requirements, checking initial issues; Liaise with SMs regarding timetables; Tutorials with trainees Organise Professional Practice/Issues sessions in partnership with university plan; Select and confirm dates for PM (joint) observations; 1 joint observation (minimum entitlement); Ensure entitlement is met (on-going); Monitor trainee progression and moderate decisions; Support trainees and SMs with the completion of their sections of the Review 2a/b, 4 and 5a/b; Engage with the Quality Development process and MMU Partnership Tutor; Complete all review documents and return (on time) to Partnership Office as per Partnership calendar.

Induction of Trainees: Expectations Policies & procedures IT & Online access Departments Observation timetable Expectations set – time-keeping, dress, behaviour etc. Professionalism Procedures – staff briefing, photocopying, contacting parents, safeguarding etc. Arrange opportunities to see a range of other departments at work. Arrange opportunities to see examples of good practice in teaching and learning. Support SMs in the use of review docs to create a gradualised timetable. Ensure trainees’ are able to work with the department and observe the classes they will have on their timetable. Ensure SMs are aware of trainee entitlement and have read their handbooks.

Working with SMs: Use review docs to create a ‘gradualised’ timetable; Ensure trainees ‘settle in’ to their department (early); Observe the classes they will teach and obtained info; Ensure SMs have read their handbooks (“entitlement”); Ensure that all mentors keep an SM File (weekly SM meetings, weekly observation with formal written feedback, copies of reviews, record of meeting) Monitor the files during the placement (“entitlement”); Work with your team of mentors to develop their practice.

The Trainee Timetable: GRADUALISM

The Trainee Timetable: Block A/Placement A timetable (50% of 4 days); Block B/Placement B-Placement A2 timetable (60% of 5 days).

Creating the timetable: Use the trainee’s Subject Knowledge Audit (SKA); Use Reviews completed to date; Discuss the above with trainee to compile a timetable which meets needs, targets and entitlement; Adopt a gradual approach to subject knowledge and pedagogy development so as to meet the requirements of the Teachers’ Standards

Professional Practice/ Issues Weekly, school based PP session* (“entitlement”); Specialist input (You may lead some, but your main role is to organise); Provide a timetable of sessions in advance, remind trainees and follow up on absentee trainees; Quality assure sessions – use this to adapt future sessions and ensure relevance. *Session suggestions can be found on the Secondary Partnership website, as can an outline of University based Professional Practice sessions.

PM Observations: All trainees must be observed formally by their PM at least once during the Block/Placement A placement and at least once during Block/Placement B (B-A2) / . The observation should be joint (with either SM or UT) to ensure moderation of outcomes. Formal written feedback and verbal feedback should be given as early as possible and discussed with both trainee and SM. Use of agreed lesson observation proforma and Progress Indicator document

Review 2b and 5b Review 2b is completed at the end point of the first placement. It must: Acknowledge achievements to date. Map against the Teachers’ Standards. (Must be evidence based); Set targets for Block/Placement B. Review 5b is completed at the end of the final placement. Documentation should be signed and returned to: secondary.placements@mmu.ac.uk (core) or schooldirect@mmu.ac.uk ( SD)

Grading Trainees’ Reviews: All PMs must use the agreed Progress Indicator grading document (on Faculty website) for this process. The document maps the Teachers’ Standards against Ofsted criteria (O, G, RI, U). The grade should not be based on a one-off observation, but should reflect their overall performance to date during the placement. It is a moving target grade. The grades should be awarded having liaised with the trainee, SM, UT and having observed the trainee teach and seen their School Experience Files (SEF) and Record of Professional Development (RPD)

Ensuring Trainee Progress: Reviews: milestone assessments; No surprises; all involved; communication; Formative: opportunity to identify strengths and weaknesses; AROF (At Risk of Failure) = ‘Remediation’; RI to Good Procedures Good to Outstanding Procedures

On-going Considerations: How will you manage your time / workload most effectively? Try to balance time between trainees and SM team; Read the handbook and familiarise yourself with it – in particular make yourself aware of timescales and deadlines; Use the concise PM handbook for quick reference; Remediation – ensure you know the procedures – they need to be followed exactly and it is easier to familiarise yourself with it early on; Ensure that you attend read Partnership Mailings, Professional Mentor CPD meetings and Partnership events.

Contacts Karen Duffy Head of Secondary Partnerships K.j.duffy@mmu.ac.uk 07747 443583 or 0161 247 2333 Jane Martindale Assistant Head of Secondary Partnerships J.martindale@mmu.ac.uk 0161 247 2307 Beverley Ingham Core b.ingham@mmu.ac.uk secondary.placements@mmu.ac.uk 0161 247 6422 Adam Bowman SD Schooldirect@mmu.ac.uk 0161 247 2518