What are the Teachers’ Standards?
The Teachers’ Standards were created, according to the Department for Education, to “set a clear baseline of expectations for the professional practice and conduct of teachers, and define the minimum level of practice expected of teachers in England”.
They are statutory, which means that you must follow them in order to be allowed to teach, but they are also an excellent tool for reviewing your professional development and ensuring that you’re on the right track.
Being familiar with them can prevent you from making silly mistakes that could jeopardise your future as a teacher.
Read: Your NQT induction - what to expect
Advice: How to cope with moving from trainee to NQT
Related: Statutory rights for teachers
As a newly qualified teacher (NQT), you must provide evidence that you are meeting these standards throughout the year to pass your induction. This evidence will come from your day-to-day duties and from specific development activities that you will agree with your induction tutor, who will help you to gather and record this.
There are various templates for recording evidence for the standards available online, so you can find a way of keeping track that suits you. There is no statutory requirement to keep a portfolio of evidence, so noting or ticking them off after discussion is fine.
How do I achieve the Teachers’ Standards?
There are nine different standards relating to your job, and each one is explained and broken down into smaller chunks relating to the main standard. Here are some ways you can achieve and evidence a few of them:
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Keep on top of your marking. If you teach older pupils, this means marking books quickly and regularly, writing meaningful feedback and targets at the end of each piece of work, or keeping a record of verbal feedback, depending on what your school’s marking policy requires.
For younger pupils, make notes during activities, take photographs that record progress and update records regularly.
You can also demonstrate this standard during lesson observations by giving feedback to students throughout and encouraging them to reflect on their work.
Plan and teach well-structured lessons
Being up to date with your lesson planning and demonstrating that you are using student progress to inform future planning will provide a lot of evidence here. Having a “prior learning” box on your lesson planning template can be a good way to do this, especially for observation lessons.
Being able to demonstrate that you have set homework or given pupils ideas for out-of-class activities to consolidate their learning is also useful. Get pupils to record tasks you set in homework planners, if your school has these.
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Know your pupils. Familiarise yourself with any learning difficulties, behavioural problems or additional needs, and adapt your teaching accordingly. Remember gifted and talented and higher-ability children, too. A copy of your seating plan, which has been arranged taking needs into account, can be good evidence here.
Use what you know about your pupils to write clearly differentiated lesson plans that account for all needs. Use support staff effectively in lessons. This should be evident in lesson observations.
Keep individual education plans (IEPs) up to date and review them regularly.
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good, safe learning environment
Put school and class rules on display and demonstrate a way of managing and recording pupils’ behaviour. If there is a whole-school strategy in place, stick to it. This will be evidenced in lesson observations and in your record keeping (through making a note of detentions or other sanctions, for example).
Behaviour or reward charts are a good way of demonstrating behaviour management, but remember to note down any trends (if a child has been moved down the chart regularly, for example, make sure you record this).
Your school may have a policy for reporting behaviour to parents. Ensure that your communication with parents can be tracked.
Maintain high levels of personal and professional conduct
Always follow the school safeguarding policy. If you have any concerns about a child’s wellbeing that do not fall under this umbrella, discuss them with the school’s named person and follow their advice.
Treating pupils with dignity and respect should be obvious in your general conduct. Remember that there needs to be a clear boundary between pupils and teachers.
You must not undermine the law and you must be respectful and tolerant of differing genders, faiths and sexualities. Any conflicting views you have about this must not be aired at school, in public or on social media.
Remember the basics: be respectful, be punctual, be present and be kind.
WATCH: Department for Education’s Sally Coates talks about the Teachers’ Standards Review
Lisa Jarmin is an early years teacher and freelance journalist
