Statutory Accreditation for Early Career Teachers (ECTs)
Every ECT must successfully complete a structured two-year ECT Induction Period that has two aspects:
- Statutory Accreditation through an Appropriate Body
- An Appropriate Body Professional Tutor will be allocated to each ECT and will be the main contact regarding this aspect of induction.
- Training – an accredited programme of high quality training based on the Early Career Framework
- An ECF Facilitator, from SCTSH, will be allocated to each school. They are responsible for leading and overseeing the training programme.
- SCTSH is working with UCL Institute of Education to provide training based on a high quality programme that was trialled during the early rollout of the ECF.
These aspects are entirely separate although for ECTs in your school, both will be delivered by South Central Teaching School Hub (SCTSH).
Entitlements of an ECT
During induction, the ECT must have a suitable monitoring and support programme that is tailored to meet their needs and includes:
- Training based on the Early Career Framework
- CPD that matches their needs e.g. opportunities to observe other teachers (“expert colleagues”)
- Regular high quality mentoring by a trained mentor
- Support and guidance from an Induction Lead (may also be called the Induction Tutor)
- Observations with written feedback
- Regular reviews of progress with clear targets to aid professional development
- Appropriate responsibilities (e.g. teaching within the subject or phase for which the ECT trained)
- 10% Non-contact time (over and above PPA time) in Year 1
- 5% Non-contact time (over and above PPA time) in Year 2
The Appropriate Body Statutory Accreditation Process
The Appropriate Body
- South Central Teaching School Hub is a partnership of a number of organisations across all phases that is approved by the DfE to lead all aspects of Early Career Teacher Induction.
Appropriate Body Professional Tutors
- We have a team of experienced tutors from partnership organisations, drawn from across all phases of education.
- Mid way through the Autumn term, an AB Tutor will be allocated to your school. They will contact you to ensure you have their details and so that you can ask any questions you may have.
- The AB tutor will also contact the ECT to arrange a virtual initial meeting with them.
- Ruth Leach is co-ordinating the team and is a point of contact at any stage.
The Appropriate Body’s role
The AB has a statutory role in induction to ensure:
- ECTs receive their statutory entitlements
- ECTs are fairly and consistently assessed
- ECTs are receiving a programme of mentoring and training based on the ECF
- Induction Leads / Tutors, Mentors and ECTs are well-supported should any concerns arise
Appropriate Body Professional Tutors will:
- Have an initial meeting with each ECT (remotely) to get to know them and to understand their context, ensure statutory entitlements are in place and answer any questions.
- Be a point of contact for the ECT.
- Maintain regular contact with the Induction Lead / Tutor to ensure understanding of, and adherence to, the induction process. This is also to ensure concerns are identified at an early stage so that appropriate support is put in place.
- Provide additional support where concerns have been identified with on-going follow up, as required.
- Read / moderate assessments (formal and informal) and track the ECT’s trajectory towards meeting the Teacher Standards.
- Carry out Quality Assurance visits to a proportion of schools
- Be an independent organisation that the Induction Lead / Tutor, Mentor or ECT can turn to for advice and guidance.
Download a copy of our Induction Lead / Tutor Guide for further information
You can also watch a recording of our Appropriate Body Services Webinar link.
If you have any questions, then please contact us.