Information for Early Career Teachers

It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome over 300 ECTs into Year 1 or 2 of the Early Career Framework, over the last few weeks.

Thank you for your commitment to developing and ultimately, contributing to improving outcomes for all children.

ECF training

Hopefully by now you should have all received your cohort information for ECF training for this term and beyond! 

ECTs and mentors in their first year of the programme will receive cohort information directly from the Area Lead listed below. Please use these contacts if you are missing training dates.

What is an Appropriate Body? 

We do know that when you join the teaching profession, there is so much to learn, not just about teaching, but the systems and processes that surround and support it.  The Appropriate Body plays a crucial role in the first few years of a teacher’s career but what is the Appropriate Body and what do they do? 

• The core function of an Appropriate Body (AB) is to ensure that schools provide adequate support to teachers at the start of their teaching career.  

•  The AB supports ECTs by addressing issues when they arise and work with school leaders to ensure ECTs receive their full entitlements.   

• An AB can also act as a mediator and offer confidential support to any ECT through the named contact at the AB.   

• Finally, an AB determines if an ECT has achieved a satisfactory completion of induction, using the headteacher’s recommendation as the key source of information. 

As an ECT, you have to complete a two-year induction process.  This consists of development and training (the Early Career Framework) and assessment (against the Teachers’ Standards).  There are two formal assessment points across the two years – Progress Reviews at the end of terms 1,2,4,5 and a Formal Assessment at the end of term 3 and a Final Assessment at the end of term 6.  Your first Progress Review will be in December.  There is always an opportunity for you to share your learning and reflections on YOUR induction on the review and assessment forms so do make sure these are always recorded.   

We use ECT Manager as the online platform for our Appropriate Body Service.  You should have received a log-in and password for this, if you have not received this please contact Cath O’Neill via email coneill@wpat.uk and Cath will help you access ECT Manager. There is lots of helpful information in the ‘Resources’ section of ECT Manager which will tell you more about the induction process. 

Roles and Responsibilities 

During the two year induction period there are key people in school who support ECTs, particularly the Induction Tutor and Mentor. It is really important to understand the difference between these two roles and how they will support you through your ECT years 

The Mentor has a really important role to play in supporting the ECT by meeting weekly (in Year 1) and fortnightly (in Year 2) for structured mentor sessions to provide effective targeted feedback.  This will be informed and supported by the seminars and self-directed study materials.  By working collaboratively with the ECT and other school colleagues, the mentor ensures that the ECT receives a high quality ECF based induction programme 

The Induction Tutor is responsible for looking after the whole induction process and ensuring that the school enables the ECT to access all their entitlements.  They assess the ECT against the Teachers’ Standards by carrying out regular progress reviews and assessments.  They also co-ordinate support and guidance for the ECT and take prompt action when an ECT may be having difficulties. 

The Mentor and Induction Tutor are two discrete roles with differing responsibilities and it is expected that the roles should be held by different individuals.   

If you have any questions about your statutory entitlements and your induction process do get in touch with your named contact Cath O’Neill coneill@wpat.uk 

For any questions about your training or the ECF offer from Generate Teaching Hub please contact ecf@wpat.uk.