A Registered Charity (No 275082)

Promoting Quality in Teacher Education

Minutes of the meeting of the School Reference Group held at 11am on Wednesday 2 February 2022 via Zoom

Present

Jake Capper (Marvell College, Vice Chair)

Spencer Hennessey (Emmanuel College, Chair)

Nicole Lyons (Minster School)

Jackie Moses (UCET)

James Noble-Rogers (UCET)

Eileen Robinson (The Heath School)

Emma Rodrigues (Yorkshire Rose)

Brian Rock (Ebor Hope)

Jenny Wynn (Bishop Grosseteste University)

Andy Young (Archbishops Holgate School)

Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 October were agreed, other than that Spencer Hennessey, Jake Capper and Julie Greer had submitted apologies. On matters arising, it was reported that providers bidding to deliver iQTS pilots from September 2022 had been informed of the results, although these had not been made public.

UCET updates

UCET updates covered: the 1-2 November UCET conference that would take place in Stratford upon Avon, and the development of a new teaching qualification for the FE and skills sector.

Policy issues

The policy issues discussed covered:

The DfE review of the ITE Market. The deadline for the submission of round 1 applications for accreditation was 11am on 7 February. The number of applications that would be successful was thought to depend in large part on whether judgments are made solely on the extent to which Quality Requirement are met or whether other, possibly political factors come into play.

OfSTED ITE inspections, which had recommenced in January 2022. Reports had already been received of OfSTED inspectors making unfounded suggestions about non-compliance with the ITE criteria. UCET had supported providers faced with this issue and had secured confirmation from DfE that the views expressed by inspectors were incorrect.

ITE delivery issues

These covered:

The impact on placements and the delivery of ITE programmes of staff and student absences due to Covid. Difficulties were being addressed through the use of technology and remote working. Reference was made to DfE advice on how to address placement difficulties and the offer of targeted DfE support. DfE had decided not to reintroduce relaxations to the ITE criteria.

Recruitment to ITE programmes in 2022/23, where applications had generally fallen (especially in STEM subjects and MFL), although in many cases this only represented a return to pre-Covid levels. An increase in applications from some African counties was noted.

Teaching Schools Hubs

The approach to, and level of engagement with, ITE was reported to vary significantly from hub to hub. Many TSHs were reported to be working constructively in partnership with accredited providers (e.g. on mentor training) instead of seeking accreditation themselves.

Early Career Framework (ECF)

A lack of consistency in meeting the ECF entitlements of ECTs was reported, with the situation often difficult to monitor. Appropriate bodies should it was felt, have a role in making sure that ECTs receive their full entitlements, and that funding for the ECF was properly utilised. Concerns were expressed about the inflexible nature of the ECF, and with ECTs often having to repeat things that had already been covered during their ITE. The pressures being placed in schools would it was suggested either lead to schools withdrawing from ITE (e.g. because of the combined pressure of mentor resources, which was likely to increase with the new Market Review Quality Requirements) or decide not where possible to employ ECTs. Schools that were reliant on ECTs to meet their recruitment needs were felt to be under particular pressure.

SEND gateway

SRG members received a presentation on the SEND gateway, which was felt to be an invaluable resource for ITE providers and for teachers at all stages during their careers and which was linked to the SEND handbook. The resources supported teachers to recognise and address the needs of particular children through whole class teaching, while at the same time meeting the needs of all children in the class. Consideration was being given to the scope to host some or all of the resources on other websites (e.g. UCET and NASBTT) as well as on the NASEN site.

Items for information

The December UCET newsletter was noted.

Any other business

SRG members were informed about a forthcoming resource to be published in MIndEd towards the end of March.

Date of next meeting

18 May 2022.