This year we will see the first batch of early career teachers (ECTs) move into the second year of the new Early Career Framework (ECF).

These second-year ECTs will also be joined by a new batch of ECTs in staffrooms all across the country. Faced with double the number, it makes sense that senior leaders will be reflecting on how the first year went, and perhaps even considering if changes could be made.

After all, many experts have raised concerns about the structure of the programme and the inflexibility of the provider-led delivery option.

According to the Department for Education, analysis of its platform data shows that just 5 per cent of schools have gone down the core materials route.

Why so few? Many wouldn’t have considered using just the core materials as an option because of the perceived time, workload and paperwork burden. After all, if a school opts for core, it’s down to the school to create the materials provided for the full induction route.

However, to ignore this route would be a mistake because it has the benefit of total flexibility with your busy school calendars, and is a much more bespoke package for your ECTs and mentors.

Early Career Framework: using the Core Induction Programme

With the core option, you have the adaptability to make it work for the individual needs of your ECTs and mentors.

Time is, as ever, in short supply and with the option of an “off the shelf” programme, the prospect of designing your own may not appeal.

However, the core programme really does not take as much time as it perhaps appears and it has numerous benefits, which is why we decided to use this route starting our ECF delivery last year.

Training clinics

The first thing to know is that even on the core option, the training materials are provided (and DfE-approved) and, as a school, your job is simply to ensure that these are followed and delivered. 

A one-day conference and six one-and-a-half-hour clinics is not too far from what we were delivering for newly qualified teachers before the ECF was introduced anyway, so it’s not actually as much of a change as you may think.

The quality of clinics was reported as variable, but this is something you can overcome through the core induction programme by delivering it using expert staff in your own schools. 

To share the burden, we have partnered with local schools to take turns with the delivery of after-school clinics. This has reduced the workload attached to the planning and delivery of these clinics while still allowing us to feel confident that these clinics will still meet our high standards.

Most importantly, unlike with the full induction route, we can timetable these to be bespoke to our schools’ needs, and fit them into our school calendars without clashing with part-time days, school productions, parents’ evenings, sports fixtures or the myriad other after-school commitments. 

Working with other schools has also allowed us to create an informal local network of ECTs, too; something that has been appreciated by both our ECTs and ECT mentors alike.

Best of all, these clinics have all been delivered in person across the schools and have meant we have avoided online training burnout (and the temptation for ECTs or mentors to surreptitiously have their screen off and check their emails or plan for the next day whilst half listening!)

Staff have really enjoyed the informal catch-ups around these meetings and benefited from visiting another school - “water cooler moments” are not to be underestimated.

It is true that the core induction route does cost a little bit more in the initial outlay, as schools must pay for their appropriate body (AB) to fidelity-check their provision.

In practice, this involves the AB checking the ECF is being covered and that ECTs and mentors are receiving their entitlement. A clear plan and overview document will make this process easy.

There is a cost attached, and the amount charged for the fidelity check varies significantly between ABs. 

However, the good news is that this cost is mitigated in several ways. Firstly, the funding from the DfE is slightly higher. More importantly, the cost of cover for mentors and ECTs is significantly reduced as you can plan when this training happens.

With cover becoming an ever-increasing challenge in the post-pandemic educational landscape, this has made a significant difference.

Planning and delivering training for ECTs and mentors on your own schedule avoids creating additional cover, as well as the calendar clashes so many colleagues have found frustrating.

Mentoring 

Perhaps the biggest difference when moving to the Core Induction Programme, however, is taking on the responsibility for creating resources for the mentoring of ECTs and delivering the training.

This could appear daunting but it is actually a great opportunity to work with colleagues to help embed a coaching and mentoring ethos in your school. 

Mentors vary in experience from those new to middle leadership through to highly experienced mentors who have been the go-to mentor for the past 15 years.

Given these challenges, how do schools meet these varying needs in mentor training when they have such a range of different levels of experience? 

The short answer is, the full induction programme cannot do this as well as you can. You know your staff, you know their experience and you can provide mentor training to match this. You are also able to direct time to self-study and pre-reading ahead of training.

Mentors are entitled to 36 hours of training over the two years they are a mentor and this can be broken down into two sections straight away. 

Firstly, there is the practical: the overview of the paperwork and training materials and understanding the processes, pedagogical knowledge and expectations of the ECF. 

The second area looks at the qualities of a mentor: what do we want them to be able to do well? Spend time plotting out what you want this training to look like and what you want mentors to feel confident in doing. 

Begin your training plan for your mentors by asking some key questions of yourselves. What do you want them to know? What are the practical need-to-knows of the ECF? What pedagogical knowledge do they need to have? What are the core skills of being an excellent mentor? 

This approach could include: 

• Knowing the difference between a mentor, a coach and a line manager (and understanding the clashes that can occur when you wear more than one hat).
• Looking at contracting at the start of a mentor relationship to help the mentor and mentee understand how they work.
• Knowing the difference between mentoring, instructional coaching and coaching.
• Knowing how to coach using the GROW model as well as knowing when it is appropriate to coach or mentor.
• Knowing how to set appropriate targets.
• Redefining what observations and high-quality feedback should look like.
• Knowing how to have difficult conversations.
• Looking at your use of language in feedback and mentor conversations, and understanding the psychology behind conversations using Eric Berne’s transactional analysis model.

In our schools, mentors work in groups and more experienced mentors are paired with new mentors to help coach and support each other. As part of mentor training, senior leaders have sat in on mentor meetings and provided feedback and coaching. 

Further support is provided by the induction tutor co-observing and planning feedback and coaching questions together with the mentors. This has allowed the induction tutor to provide personalised training and support for each mentor, while also getting to know the ECTs really well in the process - very useful for assessment writing!

Setting up a core ECF programme

For leaders contemplating the switch, I would recommend that they consider the following things first:

1. The benefits of being able to cross reference your plan with your school calendars and staff timetables to avoid clashes and the creation of additional cover.

2. Do you have the capacity to provide experts to deliver mentor sessions on all of the necessary topics? It is likely there will be staff in your schools already, and there is also the option to use your budget to buy in training from providers.

3. Can the school form a collaboration with other local schools? It could include cross phases and will allow the sharing of the workload of delivering the training while also creating excellent networking opportunities for both the schools involved and the individual ECTs and mentors.

Creating the best ECT experience matters

We know that investing in teachers at the start of their careers is not only the right thing to do but also an important recruitment and retention tool for schools - the core induction route allows schools to be more involved in this process while overcoming some of the challenges and frustrations of cover, lack of personalisation, calendar clashes and online learning.

As the second year of the ECT gets underway, perhaps it will be something to consider using in the years ahead.

Siân Cumming is assistant head and induction tutor at The Mountbatten School, a secondary school in Hampshire