BEd (Primary) ProgrammeYear 1 School Experience

Subject Specialism WeekAutumn Term

2017Notes of Guidance for Student Teachers, School Based Tutors,

University Visiting Tutors & Mentors

ITE Placements Team

Plymouth University

Plymouth Institute of Education

Drake Circus

Plymouth

PL4 8AA

Tel: 01752 585324

E-Mail: ITEPlacements@plymouth.ac.uk

BEd (Primary and ECS), Autumn term 2017

Year 1, Specialism Week

Date DetailAssociate

Partnership Schools

Teaching

Partnership Schools

Prior to placement start date

Personal preparation meeting with Professional Tutor on campus

University visiting Tutors and Mentors may contact the school and arrange the Partnership briefing meeting one or two weeks prior to the school experience commencing.

n/a n/a

w/c:

6th November or 13th November 2017

A member of the university mentoring team will visit the placement school to ensure that the rationale and purpose of the specialism week is clear.

A member of the university mentoring team will visit the placement school to ensure that the rationale and purpose of the specialism week is clear.

w/c:

27th November 2017

School Experience Specialism Week begins

Student teachers are welcomed to the placement school by the SM / SBT.

Student teachers are welcomed to the school by the SBT nominated to be their point of contact for the placement.

The School Based Tutor will be required to complete a short report on each student teacher by Friday 1st December. A copy should be emailed to iteplacements@plymouth.ac.uk and a copy given to the student teacher

The completion of a short online evaluation is required from all Partners.

Introduction

Year One Specialism Week is a first introduction to school experience as the student teacher begins their ITE journey. This school experience placement is designed to develop an understanding of the school curriculum and the place of their subject specialism in that particular setting. This experiential opportunity will form the basis of their understanding of how the curriculum is crafted to meet the needs of the children and the school community. It will support their development and understanding of team work within the setting and the sharing of ideas and expertise. Experiences will be rich and varied and will form the basis for discussion and links with campus based learning.

Student teachers will immerse themselves in the classroom to which they are assigned. They will have a number of tasks to carry out during the placement as outlined in these Notes of Guidance and they will document their experience on the proforma provided. Student teachers will learn much from the School Based Tutor and the importance of this first week of school experience cannot be over-estimated in terms of the formative value that it offers.

The student teachers will work together and reflect together on a daily basis to support their thinking and to begin to develop links with their own specialist knowledge. They will also use their observations to develop key questions to support their future campus based learning in their specialist subjects. Their Daily Reflections on practice, all subject knowledge, focussed and general observations and the Teachers’ Standards will enable student teachers to begin to make connections and links which they can then record in a Review of the Subject Specialism Week.

There is no requirement during this week to complete any Professional Profiling, rather to begin to make the connections with everyday practice and the Standards. They will begin to formulate questions and observations which they will bring back to campus to share within their specialist groups, and focussed observations of classroom practice as modelled by the School Based Tutor.

Student teachers have been organised to work in pairs, so that they can reflect on and support each other’s practice. They will learn to review whole school approaches to delivering a wide and varied curriculum including subject specialisms.

They should discuss the timetable for the week and ascertain what their roles may be. There may be opportunities for student teachers to work alongside groups or individual children, to support group work, to work alongside the School Based Tutor or other adults in the classroom. They may have the opportunity to observe their specialism being taught elsewhere in the school.

Student teachers develop a responsible attitude towards the whole class/setting during this school experience ensuring that they follow established systems and procedures. This will

enable them to begin to develop an understanding of range of strategies and skills and gain confidence. These skills and confidence are best developed by working alongside an experienced colleague who will model good practice and the student teacher will be viewed as part of the teaching team.

Opportunities might include:

reading books, or engaging in other discursive activities, with the whole class;

greeting pupils at the start of the day and settling them down;

taking the register;

managing the transition between tasks, (eg moving from one activity to another including ‘tidying up’), before allowing the teacher to take over again;

practising stopping the class/setting, before either handing over to the teacher or continuing to give instructions;

be able to show initiative in dealing with the unexpected;

1. Information relevant to this placement

a. All student teachers will have attended a briefing meeting on campus prior to the placement commencing.

b. They are all required to contact the placement school via email as a means of introduction prior to the placement commencing

c. All student teachers are required to read ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, DfE, September 2016 and acknowledge that they have done so on the Safeguarding and Ethics form that they will bring to the school. The student teachers should meet with the Designated Safeguarding Lead on arrival and be made aware of the school’s safeguarding procedures. Both school and student teacher will sign the proforma and the student teacher must put in the front of their Practical Teaching File.The proforma for recording focused and general observations and reflections are contained within these Notes of Guidance.

d. Student teachers placed in KS1 classes may well be required to work with Reception age children.  Where this is the case it is essential that student teachers read the Notes of Guidance - Early Years (Section 10 of the Primary Partnership Portfolio) and take steps to ensure they are sufficiently prepared for working within the EYFS prior to starting the placement.   

e. Student teachers should implement the Learning Opportunities for English and carry out a focussed observation of mathematics as outlined further in these Notes of Guidance.

2. Leave of Absence During School Experience Placement

The health and well-being of student teachers is paramount, and they should take care to remain well and appropriately rested during school experience placements. Inevitably,

a small percentage of student teachers will succumb to minor ailments when on placement which may require 24/48 hours rest and absence from school. Other leave requires greater consideration, and is not necessarily granted.

Illness during school experience

Student teachers who become ill during school experience must personally inform the school by telephone before the start of the school day, on the day that they become ill. They also need to inform the university by contacting the ITE Placements Team, Tel: 01752 585324 or ITEPlacements@plymouth.ac.uk. They should also inform their University Mentor/Visiting Tutor if they are due to visit on that day. If the illness persists a doctor’s note may be required.

Absence as a result of accidental injury or hospitalisation

Student teachers who cannot attend the school experience placement due to unexpected accidental injury or hospitalisation must personally inform the school on the day of their absence before the start of the day, and they should also inform both the Partnership Office and their University Mentor/Visiting Tutor as above. A letter from the doctor or hospital may be required.

Requesting leave of absence during school experience placements

Any request for leave of absence during a school experience placement must be gained from the Headteacher in the first instance, who will judge whether or not it is appropriate in line with school policy that is applied to all other members of the school staff. If the request is granted, the student teacher will then seek further verification from the Programme Leader by completing a Leave of Absence Form. This will be considered and may or may not be granted.

It is appropriate to seek Leave of Absence for:

planned hospital visits/appointments; school visits and interviews for first teaching posts; the funeral of a close family member.

It is not appropriate to seek Leave of Absence for:

an interview unrelated to securing a first teaching post i.e. a holiday job; an interview relating to a post within the university i.e. hall of residence manager; the funeral of a person who is not a close relative (each school will have specific

guidance on this); attending a wedding; traveling to a wedding abroad or at a distance; childcare issues.

As part of the Primary Partnership Agreement schools have the right to ask a student to leave for a range of reasons which includes matters of safeguarding, if they have concerns that the progress of the pupils in the school is being hampered by poor attendance, or disruption caused by unnecessary or unauthorised absence. The appropriate documentation and procedures can be found on page 37 of the Proformas document (14b) which can be found in the Primary Partnership Portfolio.

3. The Practical Teaching File

Student teachers should keep all documentation relevant to this placement in a Practical Teaching File that they will have shared with their Professional Tutor prior to the placement commencing. It should contain:

a. The name and details of the school including contact names, telephone numbers and email address.

b. A blank Safeguarding and Ethics proforma ready to be completed and signedc. Blank focussed and general observation formsd. Blank Reflection sheets

It is the student teachers responsibility to populate this file during the week with completed documentation that will support their future campus based learning both for the curriculum in general but for their specialist subjects, English and mathematics.

4. Mathematics and English

Student teachers should observe, reflect and comment on the teaching of English and mathematics during this placement on the observation and reflection sheets in these Notes of Guidance. In addition Student teachers should begin to consider the Learning Opportunities outlined below now and in their next school experience placement. They are designed to support the student teacher in observation and discussion of phonics or spelling and reading as modelled by our school Partners.

In mathematics student teachers should observe and record their observations on methodology, resources, addressing misconceptions and how mathematics is used across the curriculum and in their specialist subject where appropriate.

English Learning Opportunity

BEd English Learning Opportunities

Standard addressed: 3a, 3c, 3d, 4b, 4d, 4e, 8d

Part 1 Observe a phonics, early reading or spelling session

1. Use the ‘Supporting guidance for tutors OR student teachers when observing a phonics, early reading or spelling session’. If you are in Key Stage 2 you can observe a spelling or guided reading reading or writing session. If possible you might like to visit a Key Stage 1 classroom and observe a phonics or early reading session. Ask you tutor for support if you are unsure how to organise this. If you are in a Nursery or Foundation Stage setting, this will be less formal and may include Letters and Sounds Phase One style activities that develop phonological awareness, e.g. singing nursery rhymes, listening to sounds in the environment.

2. Discussion with teacher/ practitionerIf possible, discuss the phonics input/ teaching and planning with the teacher/ practitioner responsible and make notes about this discussion. Reflect upon the session/activities, thinking about the structure of the session, the teaching methods, the children’s engagement, the children’s learning, the opportunities for assessment, the phonics programme and use of resources, progression within the session and progression within the phase/ unit. Record your key insights in your weekly review. If you are in a Nursery or Foundation Stage setting, the practice may be less structured but you can still reflect upon the methods used, children’s engagement and dispositions to learning to read.

The following supporting documentation can be found within the proforma section of the Primary Partnership Portfolio:

Student Phonics Tracker (provision grid). This is for student teachers to complete themselves and keep in their PDPs along with their core and foundation subject tracker.

Supporting guidance for tutors OR student teachers when observing a phonics, early reading or spelling session. This guidance is to be used by tutors to help them to complete a Lesson Observation Form. It will also enable tutors to give English subject-specific feedback following an observation of a phonics, early reading or spelling

session.

The following resources may support your development in phonics teaching:

DfE Website for phonics information.: https://www.gov.uk/search?q=phonics

Goouch, K. And Lambirth, A. (2010) Teaching Early Reading and Phonics: Creative approaches to early  literacy Sage Publications

Independent review of the teaching of early reading – download at: https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/0201-2006PDF-EN-01.pdf

Letters and Sounds – Principles and Practice of High Quality Phonics

National curriculum for English (2014) Statutory requirements and Appendix 1 and 2

Part 2 Record a ‘critical incident’ in the teaching of reading (for your Year 1 English assignment)

Critical incidents in teaching can lead to greater critical reflection and understanding (Tripp, 2012).

We would like you to consider an event that you observed in the teaching of reading that surprised and possibly perplexed you. The vast majority of critical incidents are not at all dramatic or obvious: they are straightforward accounts of very commonplace incidents that simply prompt a line of enquiry. For instance you may observe a teacher reading aloud, or engaging children in shared or guided reading or teaching word reading or reading comprehension in a way that impressed or interested you. Perhaps you observed and then tried a reading activity with the children which went better than expected or a significant decision was made that paid off/didn’t pay off?

1. Give a short account of the incident. It is important that the account of the context and content of an incident is focussed in order to draw meaning from it, and that there is enough substance to analyse later on.

2. Give your initial responses to the incident.

3. Were there any issues and dilemmas raised by this incident?

4. Keep the evidence from your critical incident safe and bring it along to your first English seminar.

5. Specialist Subjects

As potential specialist subject leaders or leaders in the field of Early Childhood Studies (see additional guidance in the Primary Partnership Portfolio), student teachers should negotiate the opportunity to discuss the role as fully as possible with appropriate colleagues in school. If possible student teachers should attempt to address the following:-

aspects of whole school planning;

the contribution their specialism makes to the whole curriculum;

how resources are used to support teaching and learning;

the management of resources and equipment throughout the school;

how developments in the specialism relate to the whole school development plan.

In addition the student teachers on this placement should complete the Subject Specialism Evaluation Sheet included in these Notes of Guidance.

6. The 3 Rs of the Behaviour Curriculum – Routines, Responses and Relationships

In this placement student teachers are expected to begin to develop their knowledge and understanding of the impact of well-designed and consistently implemented behaviour policies and strategies. Throughout the 3 year programme they will have input through campus based training and each school experience placement so that they will build their knowledge of effective behaviour management on a range of strategies that they observe, see modelled and practice. In this placement where possible they will begin to make links between effective behaviour strategies and the impact on pupil progress.

7. Self- Review and Learning Conversations with Peers and Partners

The Self Review Assessment for Learning document is a valuable aide memoire for student teachers at all stages of their professional development in order to support their own, continuous learning and can assist Learning Conversations with peers and School Based Tutors.

Learning Conversations may be conducted between peers and/or with the School Based Tutor. They are respectful in terms of both delivery and content and should be both positive supportive in terms of asking questions about the teaching and learning that has taken place.

8. Focussed Observations

Student teachers may conduct focussed observations during the week for a variety of teaching and learning. In all instances they must observe professional etiquette in:

a. Discussing and agreeing with the person being observed andb. Following it with a learning conversation with the person with agreed outcomes.

9. General observations

These will be general anecdotal observations and questions that arise during the student teacher’s time in the classroom and should form the basis of questions that they may wish to ask the School Based Tutor, a subject specialist within the school or their subject leader back on campus. They may discuss these general observations as part of a learning conversation with their peers or act as an aide memoire to carry out further research on return to campus based learning. The observations will be professional and respectful.

10. Reflective Practice

The student teacher must reflect on practice throughout the week and it is essential that each student teacher takes the opportunity to discuss matters with her or his partner and the School Based Tutor as well as reflecting independently. All student teachers will show sensitivity and respect to the views of others and be responsive to the direction and views of the School Based Tutor.

11. Beyond the School Day

Student teachers are expected to:

discuss their work and progress with the School Based Tutor;

continue to analyse and reflect on significant issues or events, including looking at children’s work and books to develop an understanding of pupil progress and how marking supports target setting; also how misconceptions are addressed.

participate fully in the life of the school; eg. where appropriate, attending staff meetings or INSET; participating in extra-curricular activities at lunchtime and after school.

12. Assessment of School Based Work

A satisfactory experience will be evidenced by the student teacher’s ability to:-

reflect and learn from their time in school;

evidence this learning and progress in their Practical Teaching File which they will then use on campus to support their specialist subject and wider curriculum learning.

Evidence of work in school will be shared with Professional Tutors at the University and contribute to Professional Development Profiles.

The School Based Tutor is required to complete a report form. This should be shared with the student teachers before they leave. The Checklist in the Notes of Guidance should also be signed by both School Based Tutor and the student teacher. A copy of the report can be found in the report section of the Primary Partnership Portfolio and online via www.plymouth.ac.uk/poppi. The report should be completed electronically and emailed to ITEPlacements@plymouth.ac.uk.

Review for BEd 1 Subject Specialism Week

Name: …………………………………… School: …………………….. Yr Gp: ……………

Identify at least 3 significant ways in which your practice has developed this week.

How do you know?

Identify at least 3 key learning events for you this week.

What was your impact on the children’s learning?

How are your daily reflections going to impact on your progress, what have you learned about yourself and what targets will you set yourself before your next school experience placement?

Date: ………………………………….

Subject Specialism Evaluation Sheet

Name: ………………………… School: ……………………… Specialism: ………………….

Were you able to observe your subject specialism being taught, if so in which year group?

Was your specialist subject taught discretely, within a cross curricular theme or topic or in some other way?

Was your specialist subject taught by someone who had ITE subject specialist training, or a general ITE background?

Was your specialist subject taught by a specialist who wasn’t an ITE teacher i.e. a coach or specialist?

How often is your specialist subject taught – daily/weekly/half termly – and for how long?

Are the skills and knowledge relating to your specialist subject revisited across each age-phase and developed to ensure pupil progress?

Please give an example of good or outstanding practice modelled specialist subject that you feel will influence your development and progress.

What constraints are there in schools in your particular specialist subject?

Daily Reflection for Specialist Subject Week

At the end of each day, and following a Learning Conversation with your student partner and/or School Based Tutor give some careful thought to the actions, events and outcomes of the day and how they have impacted on your thinking and development.

Use these daily reflections and answer the key questions to support your review of Subject Specialism Week.

MONDAYWhat have I seen or heard that will influence my practice and why?

What was the impact of the teaching I observed on children’s progress?

Which of the Teachers’ Standards might this relate to?

TUESDAYWhat have I seen or heard that will influence my practice and why?

What was the impact of the teaching I observed on children’s progress?

Which of the Teachers’ Standards might this relate to?

WEDNESDAYWhat have I seen or heard that will influence my practice and why?

What was the impact of the teaching I observed on children’s progress?

Which of the Teachers’ Standards might this relate to?

THURSDAYWhat have I seen or heard that will influence my practice and why?

What was the impact of the teaching I observed on children’s progress?

Which of the Teachers’ Standards might this relate to?

FRIDAYWhat have I seen or heard that will influence my practice and why?

What was the impact of the teaching I observed on children’s progress?

Which of the Teachers’ Standards might this

relate to?

Focussed Observation form for BEd Year 1 Specialism Week

Please negotiate with the School Based Tutor if you would like to focus on and observe an aspect of the teaching and learning in the classroom. This observation does not invite comment but should be a record of what you observe under the following headings. Any questions that arise or queries that you may have that require clarification should be addressed in a professional Learning Conversation at some point afterwards – usually at the end of the day.

I would like to observe:

The following good practice was modelled:

The impact on children’s learning and progress was:

The impact on my progress and development is:

Record any questions overleaf:

Questions:

Checklist for the BEd Subject Specialism Week for all Partners

1. Practical teaching file prepared and shared with Professional Tutor

2. Introductory contact made with the school – confirmation of arrival time sought

3. On arrival, Safeguarding and Ethics proforma shared and signed

4. Student teachers aware of all housekeeping matters

5. Safeguarding and Ethics Proforma visible in front of file

6. Timetable for the week in file

7. Student teachers participation in classroom activity clearly highlighted and understood

8. Opportunities for observations or discussions about subject specialism timetabled

9. Focussed observations negotiated and carried out

10. Daily Reflection completed

11. Subject Specialism Evaluation completed

12. Review of Subject Specialism Week completed

13. Report completed by the School Based Tutor, shared with the student teachers and emailed to the ITE Placements team

Signature of student teacher: …………………………………………….. Date: …………..

Signature of School Based Tutor: ………………………………………… Date: …………..