Early Career Framework

Help your Early Career Teachers (ECTs) thrive with our Early Career Framework programme, which will be delivered in partnership with Teach First. From September 2021, ECTs will benefit from two years of DfE-funded training. This will give extended support to teachers at a critical time in their career, and is designed to fit in with the day-to-day realities of teaching. It is structured to help ECTs to integrate theory, practice and feedback.

Registrations are now being taken for Easter 2023 starters - please email [email protected] for further information and guidance

The DfE's digital portal is also now open for registrations and you can access this HERE. They have made a number of improvements to the system, following issues experienced by schools last year, and hopefully the system will be easier to navigate.

The DfE have produced a number of new guidance documents and you can also access a step-by-step guide to setting up your school's early career training programme. Schools who do not have, or do not expect to recruit, any ECTS only need to complete step 1 of this process.

If you have any questions, or require any support, please email [email protected] or call 0116 2689727.

Benefits

Early career teachers benefit from:

a structured two-year package of support, training and resources  
flexible online and face-to-face training modules 
access to expert resources
one-to-one careers coaching 
a mentor, identified by the school, trained by us
free membership to the Chartered College of Teaching

The school benefits from:

face-to-face and online training for a middle leader to become a great mentor, designed in partnership with Deans for Impact
a network of mentors to share best practice 
free membership and resources from the Chartered College of Teaching for your early career teacher and mentor 
training for a Senior Leader to introduce the package to your school

Everyone benefits from our:

Experience - Teach First have 15 years’ experience of helping new teachers get better faster and LeLTSH have 10 years’ experience of providing excellent CPD for all staff, including NQTs and mentors
Expertise - Evidence and research led training
Flexibility - Online learning resources that fit around teachers’ timetables
Tailored approach - Subject- and phase-specific support from specialists
Connections - get connected to a network of thousands of teachers, leaders and schools.

Programme

Delivered through a mix of face-to-face and online modules, the programme is structured to help early career teachers integrate theory, practice and feedback.

Year 1

Rooted in research and expertise, and backed-up by a range of tailored resources, Year 1 of the programme consists of six modules:

Creating powerful learning environments.
How pupils learn.
How to plan and teach lessons.
Supporting every pupil to succeed.
Assessment and feedback.
Planning a coherent curriculum.

Each module includes self-directed study materials containing expert guidance, research and examples of best practice.

Programme members will join online training sessions to discuss theory and their own experiences with small groups of peers and experts. They’ll also get access to coaching sessions to support them to put the theory into practice with the support of their mentor.

Year 2

In Year 2, teachers will:

engage in subject/phase-specific learning and development 
develop their autonomy of learning
choose from a range of career development modules; (including implementing research in the classroom, understanding the role of a career leader, understanding the role of a mentor and understanding the role of a middle leader).
continue to benefit from instructional coaching sessions with their mentor

For mentors and schools

Mentors will get face-to-face and online training to develop skills in:

assessing teacher progress
providing effective feedback
using deliberate practice to accelerate progress
how to provide further challenge to high performing ECTs

They’ll attend webinars to complement the six modules being undertaken by their ECTs so they can tailor and align their support accordingly.

Mentors will also have the opportunity to learn from experts. Through half-termly webinars they’ll discover the best ways to reflect on their practice and develop their instructional coaching skills. And through Teach First’s network of 1,000 partners schools they will have opportunities to shadow outstanding practitioners and subject leaders.