Ofsted ITT Inspection Briefing Primary trainees, NQTs (ex-MMU trainees), Class Teachers, School Mentors

NB: please also familiarise yourself with the PP presentation on the MMU Faculty of Education website (in the Partnership section) entitled “Overview of changes to the Ofsted inspection of ITT”

Key points to note 1:

•The quality of ITT Provision at MMU within the university and partnership schools is being inspected

NOT individual people or individual schools;

•The inspectors will be interested to see how what we say we are good at/less good at is reflected in the attainment of trainees, and how school colleagues and MMU tutors have contributed to this;

•Therefore, it is helpful to think of our trainees/NQTs as representative of the quality and effectiveness of our programmes.

Key points to note 2:

•Because of the 2-day notice of Ofsted inspection, if you are involved (as a trainee, NQT, school tutor/class teacher or mentor) you will be telephoned on the Thursday of the week before the inspection and invited to a briefing at the MMU Didsbury or Crewe campus.

Please give this request priority as far as is possible so that everyone is fully prepared for the inspection the following week.

NB: Slides 6-10 of this presentation are aimed at current MMU trainees and current NQTs who trained at MMU in 2011-12 (however it will be helpful for all school colleagues who work with MMU trainees to read these too);

Slides 11-13 relate specifically to all Primary School colleagues who support MMU trainees and NQTs (ex-MMU);

Trainees/MMU NQTs:

What might I be asked to do? What can I expect?

You may be part of a group of trainees/NQTs invited to discuss your experiences during the course, or interviewed individually:

• How well have you been/were you supported in school by your mentors and MMU Tutors?

• In which areas have you made/did you make most progress? How do you know?

• Do/Did you know what to do to improve?• Do/Did you know who to go to with a problem? How were any concerns

or difficulties you encountered addressed?• How well has/did the course prepare/d you to manage pupils’ behaviour

effectively?• How knowledgeable do you feel about teaching pupils with special

educational needs?

Trainees/NQTs cont’d• How well prepared do you feel to teach pupils with EAL?• Are/were targets set for you useful? • In which ways has/did your knowledge of Phonics/Maths/Science

developed/develop? • Tell me about the impact of your teaching on pupils’ learning.• How effective was your induction to your school placements?• Which elements of the course have you found most useful?• How did you find the interview process?• How well informed did you feel about the nature of the course prior to

the start? • Did you undertake school experience prior to the course? • Which are the areas where you feel least prepared at the moment?/ felt

least prepared at the end of your PGCE? • What are/were the best features of the course for you? • Did you have/have you had support in writing job applications and

preparing for interviews?

Trainees and NQTs

You may be observed teaching part of a lesson or a whole lesson and discuss it with an inspector afterwards. It is important to note that the inspector;

• will not assess your lesson in the way a tutor or mentor would-he/she will be thinking about your lesson in terms of the overall “picture” they are trying to create about the quality of ITE provision at MMU and gathering evidence to support or contradict the claims we have made about our courses;

• will not give you a grade for the lesson but should give you some general feedback;

• may ask probing questions about the lesson and what you thought about it, but they must be courteous and respectful towards you, the pupils and school staff present.

NB: Please ensure the inspector has a copy of your lesson plan and any resources for the lesson; and that your teaching file is to hand for them to read if they wish.

You may be asked to provide your teaching files, to show evidence of the quality of your planning and evaluation, your developing subject knowledge, your schemes of work, your monitoring and assessment of the pupils you work with-any documentation that demonstrates your progress. Please ensure your files “speak for themselves”, for example, 1. Labelling sections for different year groups/classes2. Ensuring things are in a logical order (eg: lesson plans in order of date, evaluations are with related lesson plan, scheme of work/project with related lesson plans)3. Signpost key points-eg: response to targets, evidence of progress, evidence of impact on pupils’ learning, for the inspector3. Include examples of teaching resources, lesson observations by mentors, or MMU tutors, records of extra-curricular involvement-in short, everything you would normally be expected to do as part of the course, or part of your NQT induction.Ask yourself: does this file accurately reflect how I see myself as a committed, organised, professional, knowledgeable beginning teacher?

Some points to consider for NQTs and trainees

• Please do not use your involvement in the inspection to “get things off your chest” or raise issues for the first time (we hope you have told us already!)

• Please be professional, balanced and proportionate in your responses-remember (and refer to!) your university sessions as well as placement experiences (the inspectors will not separate these out!)

• Be honest• Help each other out if you can if you can see someone

is struggling with a question asked by the inspectors.

Class Teachers/School Mentors1. You may be observed giving feedback to the trainee following a

lesson; consider• how you involve the trainee in the feedback• target setting • how you judge and comment upon the impact of the student’s teaching

on pupils’ learning• what you are focusing on in the lesson observation and how this relates

to the progress of the trainee and their particular stage in their training.

The inspector will be interested to see how personalised the feedback is, how effective they think it will be for the trainee, how well you know the trainee, in terms of their strengths and areas for development, and that your judgements are appropriate.

2. Class Teacher/School MentorYou may be asked (individually or as part of a group of colleagues)• About your mentor training and how well you feel prepared for your role in

supporting MMU trainees• How effective is communication between MMU and you/your school?• How helpful are visiting MMU tutors in confirming your judgements (or

otherwise) about your trainee’s progress?• Are you confident in the judgements you make about trainees’ progress?• What are your trainee’s strengths and areas for development at this point (and

how do you know this)?• What are the areas they have made progress in in their most recent placement

(and how do you know this)? • What have you or other colleagues in your school done to help trainees , EAL,

and literacy? • Do you know who to contact if there is a problem (eg: with the trainee’s

progress or professionalism, or with a visiting MMU tutor?)• Do you understand the procedures for dealing with a failing trainee? • How do you challenge a high performing trainee?• How confident do you feel in using the new Teaching Standards to assess

trainees?

3. Class Teacher/School Mentor:Please have any records of your work with the

trainee to hand, for example:• RoLOs• Use of Grading Criteria• Interim Report• Final Report• Any other relevant documentation-eg: displays of

pupils’ work, evidence of assessment or marking of pupils’ work etc.

Class Teacher/School Mentor: you may be asked• How long have you been in this role?• What do you see as the key functions of your role?• What kind of training have you received? How well did this

prepare you for the role?• Do you feel confident in assessing the trainees?• How do you deal with problems that arise with the trainee?• Do you feel well supported in your role by MMU colleagues

(eg: visiting tutors who observe trainees)?

Finally, thank you for your attention. If you have any questions, please contact:

Elaine McCreery: Acting Head of ITT (e.mccreery@mmu.ac.uk ) tel:07970 549175 

Helen Scott: Head of Department for CPD & ITT Partnerships (h.scott@mmu.ac.uk) tel: 07825 696 883