QMU School Based Educator Responsibilities

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Year 2 Placement Overview

School Experience Year 2

In year 2, students have two placements in the same school, one for 4 weeks, the other for 6 weeks.

Placement 1- 4 Weeks

The first placement is the time for the student to become familiar with being in the classroom, observe the class and the teacher and to learn the class routine.

Main activities: -

• Orientation 
• Introduce SBE and UBE via email
• Gather information for PDP 
• Complete Health & Safety checklist
• Individual and group support / teaching 
• Visit to nursery if possible  - please discuss with School Based Educator/school nursery
• Observe lessons across the curriculum, with a specific focus on literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing, and the expressive arts 
• Observe the class routines across the day and week  
• Observe the teachers approach to managing the class, groups and individual pupils.   
• Reflect on daily routines and procedures, why are they included, who do they benefit?
• Consider the examples of good teaching practice you have observed and reflect about why they were successful and what you have learned from experiencing them.

About your school 

Your first placement is about getting to know the school,

Here is the recommended list of school policy documents and procedures for you to find out about and include in your PDP notes:-

• Class timetable
• Individual child support plans
• School/class ethos and relationships policy (previously called behaviour management)
• School handbook
• School monitoring and tracking policy
• School improvement plan
• Health and Safety Policy (think first aid, accident reporting and fire procedures so you know what to do)
• Child Protection Policy (who do you report a concern to)
• Parent/Carer communication policy
• Staff attendance/absence policy
• Staff social media policy
• Structure of the school (is there a head of year/stage, deputes, principal teachers?  How does the school ‘fit’ together).
• When are school meetings.  If in agreement with the school, you are expected to attend these, and any in-service training. 
• Inter professional working – school policy on working with teaching assistants, parent helpers, other professionals who are involved in the class. 

Placement 2 - 6 Weeks

The second placement is when the student begins their teaching journey including planning lessons, teaching the lessons and reflecting on those lessons.

Main activities:-

• Weekly planning with your School Based Educator to arrange when and what you are going to teach.
• Complete weekly evaluation form and agree targets with SBE – pebble pocket signed and uploaded each week.
• Planning, delivering and evaluating single lessons, to small groups at first, including lessons in literacy, numeracy and expressive arts.
• Building up to planning and teaching a series of lessons to the whole class for one lesson a day in the final two weeks. This may be a series of lessons about a particular concept/topic in literacy and/or numeracy. 

Suggested teaching time per week

This is very much a rough guide and will depend on the student’s progress through the placement and should be negotiated, at least weekly, with the SBE and school.

Students should work towards the following planning, teaching and formative assessment of pupils along with self-evaluation/reflection on their progress: -

• Plan, teach and evaluate individual group lessons in literacy and numeracy 
• Plan, teach and evaluate single lessons in literacy and numeracy 
• Plan, teach and evaluate a series of lessons in literacy and numeracy (small group or whole class as appropriate for the stage of the placement).   
• Have regular experiences of planning, teaching and evaluating lessons in Expressive Arts (or another curricular area if unable to teach Expressive Arts).  
• Plan for diverse learners, making use of and adapting individual lesson plans where appropriate.  
• Use different ways to formatively assess learning, identifying next steps and different, varied ways of recording your findings.
• Where possible, students are encouraged to incorporate digital technology and outdoor learning into their planning 

Where possible, you should look for opportunities to engage in broader activities, such as creating displays and taking part in lunch time or after school clubs. You should also take advantage of the learning on any in-service days if you can, by negotiation with the school.

Year 3 Placement 

School Experience 3: 

Placement criteria: 

• Take whole class responsibility for one or more outcomes / experiences in literacy and numeracy. 
• Plan, teach and assess a sequence of science or technology. 
• Plan to teach across all curricular areas working within the SBE’s termly plan. 
• Your teaching should normally be whole class (your SBE can discuss with you what is best for your individual progress). 
• From Week 3 onwards have at least one observation per week carried out by your SBE.
• Build up to consecutive days of full responsibility

Here is a suggestion for pattern of teaching time, building up your responsibility (reflected in the placement overview). However, this is NOT fixed and your teaching should be negotiated with your SBE and school. You can also teach more than is suggested below – take the opportunity to gain as much experience as you can! 

PDP: 

• Week 1 – Gather documentation outlined in PDP plus class list, pupil groupings (first names only) and class timetable. Covid risk assessment. 
• Each week make a copy of the class timetable and highlight your teaching responsibility for that week. 
• Sequence planner for literacy and numeracy from week 3 onwards. 
• Daily planner for each day to evidence your experience.
• Weekly evaluation with links to literature

Weekly Foci: 

Each week you will be asked to further develop your understanding on a specific aspect of teaching and learning. You should make explicit reference to this as one aspect of your weekly evaluation – e.g. what you learned about it, how you incorporated into your practice and planning, what your learning means for your practice going forward. You can develop your understanding via professional reading, discussing with your SBE and / or other school staff, observing other classes, reviewing university content, etc. Where possible try to have your daily planning and evaluations reflect these foci. 

Year 3 Placement Overview: 

Please note: these weeks correspond to full school weeks. The week of the February half term is not included. If you are in a local authority where the half term break is less than a full week you do not have to evidence the remainder of that week. 

Where possible, you should look for opportunities to engage in broader activities, such as creating displays and taking part in lunch time or after school clubs. You should also take advantage of the learning on any in-service days if you can, by negotiation with the school.

Week 1 

• Observe your SBE teaching across the curriculum, with specific focus on Literacy, Numeracy, Health and Wellbeing, Science, Technologies and PE. 
• Observe the class routines across the day and week. 
• Observe the teachers approach to managing the class, groups and individual pupils.  As part of this process, discuss how children learn and consider approaches to integrated learning. 
• [Note – these are ongoing tasks.  Ideally you will spend time observing experienced teachers throughout your placement when you are not teaching.]
• Gather school / class documentation as outlined in the 'Week 1' tab. 
• Complete all relevant health & safety and risk assessments. 
• Agree with SBE sequence outcomes to take responsibility for teaching, and begin sequence planning.  
• Support SBE with teaching of the class (e.g. taking a group). 

Week 2 

• Plan, teach and assess three individual lessons in literacy, numeracy and one other of science, technology or PE (three quarter days). This is a suggestion - you can do more!
• Assist SBE with teaching and learning when you are not responsible for teaching. 
• Discuss overview of teaching going forward with your SBE, looking at termly plans. 
• Review sequence plans (ensure you have given your SBE time to look at these in advance before discussing). Take feedback on board and adjust accordingly. 

 Week 3 

• Plan, teach and assess two quarter days and two half days. 
• Begin learning sequences. 
• Assist SBE with teaching and learning when you are not responsible for teaching. 
• Minimum of one recorded observation by your SBE. 
• Weekly focus: inclusive practice and pupil groupings. 

Week 4 

• Plan, teach and assess two quarter days and three half days. 
• Assist SBE with teaching and learning when you are not responsible for teaching. 
• Minimum of one recorded observation by your SBE. 
• Weekly focus: creativity. 

Week 5 

• Plan, teach and assess two half days and one full day. 
• Assist SBE with teaching and learning when you are not responsible for teaching. 
• Minimum of one recorded observation by your SBE. 
• Weekly focus: digital learning. 
• Midway review due by the end of the week. 

Week 6 

• Plan, teach and assess one half day and two full days. 
• Assist SBE with teaching and learning when you are not responsible for teaching. 
• Minimum of one recorded observation by your SBE.
• Weekly focus: questioning

Week 7 

• Plan, teach and assess 3 full days, two of which must be consecutive. 
• Assist SBE with teaching and learning when you are not responsible for teaching. 
• Minimum of one recorded observation by your SBE.
• Weekly focus: differentiation. 

Week 8 

• Plan, teach and assess 4 full, consecutive days. 
• Minimum of one recorded observation by your SBE.
• Weekly focus: planning and adaptations for diverse learners

Week 9 

• Plan, teach and assess 4 full, consecutive days. 
• Minimum of one recorded observation by your SBE. 
• Weekly focus: assessment. 

Week 10 

• Your teaching this week is by negotiation with your SBE. If you need to do more full days (e.g. if any absence has affected this) please do. Teach as much as you can in order to develop your experience as much as possible and take advantage of the time in school. You can also work on any areas you and your SBE feel you need more development in. 
• Final Report due by end of this week - please discuss this with your SBE as early as possible in the week to give them time to write it up. 
• Weekly focus - outdoor learning (a nice thing to finish on - Spring will be here, get outside!). 

Year 4: School Based Educator communication for 10 (11) -week placement in Semester 2

The purpose behind this final placement before probation year, is for the students to take on increasing responsibility for the class. Week one of placement the focus is on the student getting to know the class and the school, and it is up to yours, and the schools, discretion what this should look like, over and above the need for the student to be familiar with the school’s policy and procedures.  From week two onwards we would expect the student to be taking on the majority of the teaching for that class in the week - we are recommending that the student has a maximum class contact of 0.7 but this should include full day teaching.

Additionally, during the placement, we would like the students to arrange, via yourself, to visit the feeder high school for a day, with the aim being to shadow a first year class for the day. 

During their placement, the students will also be undertaking community based education and should be seeking to work on a weekly basis with a link agency working in the school, for example the family learning worker, EAL worker, parent as partners project, whatever the school’s current focus is on, or where there is opportunity.  The time to do this is during the 0.3 non contact time in this placement and should not come out of their teaching time.

There is a section on the student’s eportfolio (Pebblepad) for them to record their reflections and work on their community education experiences.

Recommended list of school policy documents and procedures (for week one).

The first week of placement is about getting to know the school.  This will include, in addition to getting the student getting to know the class, reading, discussing with someone, or having sight of:

• Term plan for the class
• Current class data (think about accelerated reader, curriculum levels, GL assessment data, complete maths – whatever the school has. You can not plan to meet the needs of all learners without knowing their starting point. 
• Individual child support plans
• School/class ethos and relationships policy (previously called behaviour management)
• School handbook
• School monitoring and tracking policy
• School improvement plan
• Health and Safety Policy (including first aid, accident reporting and fire procedures so they know what to do).
• Child Protection Policy (who do they report a concern to)
• Parent/Carer communication policy
• Staff attendance/absence policy
• Staff social media policy
• Structure of the school (is there a head of year/stage, deputes, principal teachers? How does the school ‘fit’ together).
• When are school meetings. If in agreement with the school, the students are expected to attend these, and any in-service training.
• Inter professional working – school policy on working with teaching assistants, parent helpers, other professionals who are involved in the class.

This list is by no means definitive as every school and local authority operates according to their community and their improvement plan objectives.

Weekly planning sheet

This year, we are asking our students to move to weekly plans.  This is more akin to what they will do in the probation year and reflects that the curriculum and lessons are interlinked, as opposed to discrete individual lessons.   You may use a different version, and you may prefer the student to use your version.  If this is the case then please ask your student to send a copy of this and discuss with their University Based Educator.  Weekly plans do not mean the student is preparing for each lesson/topic/day in less depth than in years 2 and 3, but rather reflects their growing knowledge and ability as a teacher in that we are not asking them to write your preparation for each part of the day in great detail.  This is also reflected in their portfolio submissions where we are asking them to reflect on the week as a whole.

Student absence from placement

Please read below in conjunction with Placement Absence – Guidance Appendix 7

Students are expected to comply with the attendance and reporting sickness policies of the school and must familiarise themselves with these policies within the first week of placement. If absence is before the start of a placement the student must contact the School Based Educator and ITEPlacement Email Address to report any sickness or absence.

Every student is required to inform the school and the University should they be unable to attend their placement on any given day. Students should:

• Contact the placement school, the Placement & Partnership Officer and report all absences via the Student Portal in the usual way
• If absent for more than one day students should contact both the placement school and the Placement & Partnership Officer on each day of absence
• If absent for more than 5 working days students must submit a medical certificate to the Student Portal and to ITEPlacement Email Address 
• When students return to school they should advise the Placement & Partnership Officer, via ITEPlacement Email Address 
• Any days missed due to absence must be made up at the end of the placement if the school is in agreement or by undertaking an additional This is to be arranged and agreed between the UBE and SBE and not led by the student.

IMPORTANT: Failure by students to inform the School Based Educator, and the University that they are not attending placement will be regarded as unprofessional behaviour:

A School Based Educator should only report unauthorised absences, but these should be notified to the University’s Placement & Partnership Officer -ITEPlacement Email Address as soon as practicable, and certainly within 48 hours.

Attendance must be monitored throughout the placement and all absences from placement must be recorded by School Based Educators(s). This has been added to the weekly evaluation to mark any absent days.

Problems on Placement

 If a student is experiencing difficulties on school experience or needs to discuss any aspect of the placement with a member of academic staff, they are advised to contact their University Based Educator initially. Students may choose to discuss problems of a personal nature with their School Based Educator, or to contact their Personal Academic Tutor (PAT).

However, if an incident occurs outside of normal working hours, where there is an urgent need to contact the University, please telephone: (0131)-474-0000. When prompted ask for reception.

Supporting Students at risk of an Unsatisfactory Placement

Whilst being relatively rare, an unsatisfactory outcome of school experience does happen and can be a very stressful situation for all concerned. One of the key aspects in managing this is early detection – the sooner a student’s performance can be identified as a cause for concern then the more opportunity available to the student to address the concerns (see Appendix 8 for Cause for Concern forms).

The student and the University Based Educator need to be informed whether their progression on school experience is a cause for concern at the earliest possible point of the placement.

• The word “unsatisfactory ‘and or cause for concern at this stage must be clearly used in this discussion
• All attributes/knowledge gaps where the student is not satisfactory must be clearly indicated to thestudent and examples must be given by the School Based Educator and related to the SPR
• School Based Educators must complete a cause for concern notification form and should also list the areas causing concern
• The UBE will complete the Cause for Concern Action Plan with the student

Whilst each situation will vary and requires to be handled appropriately, there are key aspects as how to best work forward. Honesty is paramount and requires both School Based Educator and student to be open within the learningrelationship. Clarity is important, make sure the student is very clear about areas of concern and they might bestaddress these. This will involve an action plan setting weekly goals/targets for the rest of the placement so that the student has an agreed plan to move things forward. The University Based Educator should support in this process and share the Cause for Concern Action Plan. In some cases, this might trigger an additional visit by the University Based Educator. A copy of this report will be held in the student‘s school experience placement file at the University.

Guiding principles:

• The student should be informed as soon as possible if their practice is a cause for concern
• The University Based Educator should be informed as soon as possible if student performance is causing concern
• The School Based Educator encourage the student to talk with their University Based Educator at theearliest opportunity
• Ensure that the student receives honest, non-judgmental feedback which focuses on the key areas causing concern
• Document these discussions have taken place on the weekly reflection record. Both School Based Educator and student should sign this
• Set weekly goals/targets with the student for the remainder of the placement – making these realistic and achievable. Both School Based Educator and student should sign this
• Schedule weekly feedback sessions indicating progress on the set goals/targets and document discussions on the weekly reflection record
• Encourage the student to use reflection as much as possible to allow them to assess their own practice – giving some focus to where things go well as well as those where practice has not been so good
• The School Based Educator should keep in touch with the student‘s University Based Educator to feedback on progress

If the student has not been able to achieve the necessary SPRs by the final report then ensure that all verbal, and written comments are in line with the SPR so that the student is left with a clear picture of where their practice did not meet expected levels.

We must ensure that all students maintain proper teaching standards whilst on placement. This is about safeguarding that our students are fit to practise so that public trust and confidence in teachers is maintained and the learning of our children and young people is protected. 

If the University becomes aware of an issue regarding a student’s health or behaviour which may have an adverse effect on the student and or school experience, a Fitness to Practise (FtP) Panel may be convened by the University. The Fitness to Practise (FtP) Panel has the delegated authority to impose a range of sanctions including requiring a student to suspend study or withdraw from the programme. If the outcomes of the FtP Panel prevent a student from starting or continuing with a school placement these will be discussed within the team and a recommendation made regarding their progress on the professional programme. See QMU’s Fitness to Practise policy

Exemplar of introductory student email:

Dear (University Based Educator),

My name is (student to insert name here), and I am undertaking my 4/6/10-week school placement beginning on (insert date) and I have been assigned to (insert name of school) in class (insert details).

My School Based Educator is (insert SBE name and include a brief description of their responsibility in school). I have copied them into this email for your reference.

I hope this information finds you well and I look forward to your forthcoming visit during my placement.

Sincerely,

(student to insert their name here)