Induction Tutors
Information for induction tutors for term 6
We know that the role of the induction tutor is busy and varied. We thought it would be useful to map out details a few ‘tasks’ which will/may require your attention in the coming few weeks before the end of the summer term.
- Formal Assessments
As an Induction Tutor using our Appropriate Body (AB) service, you will be fully aware that the formal assessment reports for your ECTs who started on 1.0 FTE contracts in either September 2022 or September 2023 are due to be submitted in early July.
We thought it may be helpful to remind you of what will happen and when, together with the actions that should be completed ahead of the submission of these reports. This process is of course separate to any CPD programmes or coaching that are being followed, although this will of course, feed into the writing of the end of year reports.
All alerts for the release of these reports will be generated automatically through our online AB service, ECT Manager and will come to you via email. Your reports are also recorded from within ECT manager for ease of use. The recommended timeline of actions for this task is below:
- As soon as possible this term, a more formal observation of your ECTs should be timetabled by the Induction Tutor in order to feed into your judgements and commentary into the formal assessment reports;
- Following the observation, a 1:1 meeting should be timetabled with each ECT by the Induction Tutor in order to discuss, agree and finalise the formal report. It would be useful to meet with the ECT’s mentor prior to this meeting so they can feed in their knowledge of how the ECT has done this year and their progress against the teacher standards;
- Formal assessment reports for both ECT1s and ECT2s (who started on 1.0 FTE contracts in either September 2022 or 2023) were released to you (as ITs) via ECT Manager on Monday 3rd June.
- Completed reports (including a digital signature from the head teacher who must be registered on ECT Manager) are due for submission on or before close of play on Monday 1st July 2024 although there is little variance based upon original registration dates.
- Progress Reviews
For those of you who have other ECTs in schools where a Progress Review report is requested (rather than a formal assessment), dates and timings will vary depending upon their contract details and start date. Once again requests for such reports will be automatically generated through ECT Manager.
Thank you for your continuing support of mentors and ECTs, and if you have any queries or require any further information about the processes/schedule as outlined above, please don’t hesitate to contact either the central team or your designated AB quality assurance officer, your QAO. Our email address for specific AB queries is: [email protected]
- ECT Manager changes
Please make changes on ECT Manager where you have current ECTs on fixed term contracts due to end on 31st August 2024 (or before) who you now know will be remaining with you in the new academic year. These contractual changes can be made quickly and easily online. A reminder has been sent out about this already.
- New ECTs’ registration
Don’t forget to register any new ECTs using the 3 step registration process – you will need to let us know in all three places to ensure induction is registered with the DfE and the appropriate body for each new ECT. We have been told that the DfE portal has been streamlined to make things easier to navigate and use this year.
These are your 3 steps to registration: check details are added to:
- via the DfE portal, noting that for the registration of ECTs starting in September 2024, this portal opens on 24th June 2024
- for the Five Counties giving us some background information; and
- for the AB on ECT Manager (your ECTs will need to have QTS before registration so may need to wait until these details have come through)
- Changes to mentorsIf you have any changes to mentors who are working with ECTs, please ensure you also add their details to the relevant places – do this at the end of the school year to ensure current mentors do not lose access to their work and links to their ECTs before the end of July.
- Add the new mentor via the DfE portal, and link your ECT and mentor together – it is recommended you do this at the end of term.
- If you are using Ambition as your lead provider, ensure that when the new mentor has been added to steplab (this takes a couple of days from registration on the DfE portal), they have onboarded and are linked to the correct ECT (you can link them if they are not)
- Email us at Five Counties, letting us know your school name, the name of the old and new mentor (and their email addresses) and who they are paired with if your mentors and ECT pairings are changing.
- Change the linked mentor on ECT Manager
As always, if you need assistance with anything mentioned above, please contact your dedicated QAO or the AB Service Administrative Team via the helpdesk in ECT manager, or via email [email protected]
6) Training and support:
Five Counties IT drop in sessions
We still have a couple of IT training sessions to go before the end of the school year which may be useful, particularly if you have an ECT who may need their induction period reducing or extending, or if you are new as an IT or needing a refresher on the IT role. These are taking place as follows:
Overview of the induction process for new and experienced ITs |
The sessions are led by Caroline Jones (Appropriate Body Quality Assurance Officer) and Paul Clark (facilitator and Induction Tutor) and commence at 4.00pm. Each session input lasts for around 20 minutes, and is followed by a Q&A session. To book a place at one of the sessions please use visit our webpage
Ambition’s Steplab support
For those of you working with Ambition Institute as your lead provider, they will be hosting an early Registration and Onboarding webinar for Induction Tutors on Tuesday 25th June, 16:30 – 17:30. This session has been designed to ensure that ECTs, mentors, and induction tutors can seamlessly register and onboard onto Ambition.
In the webinar they will:
- Outline the roles and responsibilities of the delivery partner (Five Counties), lead provider (Ambition) and Appropriate Body .
- Guide ITs through My Ambition account set up and the onboarding process.
- Provide an overview of Steplab, demonstrating its features and navigation.
- Address questions throughout the session and an FAQ document will be shared afterwards.
By hosting this webinar before the summer holidays, they hope to give you plenty of time to prepare for the new school year.
All Ambition induction tutors will be sent an invite or you can use this link
7) Five Counties End of Year Survey – Appropriate Body Service:
In an effort to improve our expanding Appropriate Body Service for 2024/25, we would be extremely grateful if you would complete our end year survey on or before Wednesday 26th June. This survey is just about our AB service and is not connected to Ambition, EDT or programmes connected with either. The completion of this survey should take no more than 2 to 3 minutes: thank you in advance for doing so.
As always, thank you so much for your continuing support of ECTs and mentors this year.