Welcome to Inspire Learning NW

We hope that the end of term preparations are progressing well for everybody!

Exciting News from Inspire Learning NW!

We are thrilled to announce that Inspire Learning NW has been redesignated as your Teaching School Hub! This prestigious recognition highlights our unwavering commitment to excellence in education, innovation in teaching, and dedication to professional development across Wirral and Liverpool.

As a Teaching School Hub, we will continue to:
Foster Outstanding Teaching - Providing exceptional training and support to educators at all stages of their career, ensuring high-quality teaching standards across our network for the benefit of the children, young people and communities we serve.
Champion Professional Growth - Offering comprehensive professional development opportunities, again at all levels, to help teachers and leaders thrive in their careers and stay in teaching for the benefit of our children and young people.
Drive Educational Excellence - Collaborating with schools and partners to enhance student outcomes and share best practices.

Thank you to our incredible team, partners, and community for your continuous support and dedication. Together, we are shaping the landscape and future of education and inspiring the next generation of learners be they children, young people, teachers or leaders.

Here’s to more achievements and milestones ahead!

School Leader Satisfaction Survey - Please take a moment to complete this survey: Complete Survey Here

This newsletter focuses on providing advice for any school employing an Early Career Teacher next academic year (2024/25), identifies the steps required to register ECTs with an Appropriate Body for their statutory Induction and provides information about the range of National Professional Qualifications we offer.

Things to note:
If you are employing a teacher, who is in their first or second year of teaching, it is a Department for Education requirement that you provide them with a structured programme of Professional Development that follows the Early Career Framework (ECF).

As your local teaching school hub, we are very pleased to collaborate with University College London (UCL)  to be able to offer the ‘Full Induction Programme’ completely FREE of charge to eligible schools.

If your ECT is in their first year of teaching in the academic year 2024/25, then they will be a COHORT 4 ECT.

If your ECT is in their second year of teaching in the academic year 2024/25, then they will be a COHORT 3 ECT.

You will find advice and guidance in this newsletter about how to sign-up any new early career teachers (ECTs) and also the things you need to consider as a school in order to make the ECF programme as impactful as possible with your new teachers.

We are aware that schools may have teachers at various stages of their Induction journey. If your ECT doesn’t fit this pattern, please contact our team directly via  ecf@inspirelearningtsh.co.uk to discuss where they fit and how we can support their ongoing development / statutory Induction.

Registering ECTs for September 2024

Registering your ECTs for the academic year 2024-2025.
Key things to remember
Register your ECT, Mentor and Induction Tutor on the Government Portal Manage training for early career teachers . An email from DfE will have been issued to you recently advising on this. In the event you have not received this, there is an option on the portal to request access

Select your Appropriate Body (Inspire Learning Teaching School Hub NW). The system may well identify “Our Lady of Pity” as the lead school. This is accurate.

As a stand alone, this does NOT complete the registration of your ECT with the Appropriate Body. You will still need to do this separately. (See relevant section below).

Please click on this link to complete a ‘Confirmation of Intent’ form Confirmation of Intent Form , if EITHER: a) you have never worked with Inspire Learning TSH NW before or b) you did not work with us in academic year 2023/24, expressing your intention to work with us.

Upon receipt of your registration on the DfE portal, UCL will be informed by DfE of your intent to work with us and will issue a login to the learning resource platform ‘UCLeXtend’. This contains all materials required for the ECF programme with us. Login details will be provided via email to your ECT / Mentor / Induction Tutor. Please ask them to check spam / junk mail boxes as the first email often lands in there. Also remember that often these junk inboxes auto delete after 30 days. 

UCL will inform Inspire Learning TSH of your registration completion and Inspire Learning will, in turn, confirm your ‘Cluster Group’ and Facilitator contact details via our ‘Welcome’ email.

Further support and information regarding ECF Programme:
The DfE website now has a comprehensive suite of guidance about managing ECTs. The link below will take you to a page that is regularly updated.
Induction, training and support for early career teachers (ECTs) - GOV.UK
Inspire Learning TSH website also offers ECF guidance

Registering your ECT with an Appropriate Body

After a very successful inaugural year as an Appropriate Body in 2023/24, we look forward to continuing this service into 2024/25 as the provider for Wirral and Liverpool schools as the Local Authorities exit the market.

It is essential that all ECTs are registered with an Appropriate Body (AB) to fulfil the statutory part of Induction. This should be completed before the start of the Induction period as statutory Induction CANNOT  be backdated. If this requirement is not complied with, schools risk the formal induction process being delayed by a term for their ECTs.

The Appropriate Body is the official authority that will oversee the ECTs’ statutory Induction against the Teachers’ Standards.

Inspire Learning offers Appropriate Body services. Please click here for full details of the service we can provide to you.

Registration for new starters in September 2024 is already open. You can access our ECT Manager page here .

Schools who already subscribe to our Service
Use your existing login credentials to ‘Register ECT’. You do not need to wait for the QTS to be awarded as our system will automatically confirm this once available and we will authorise your registration in due course once QTS has been confirmed.

Schools who are new to our Service
You will need to register your school using the yellow button on the right hand side of the homepage. This will allow you to set up your school and then, once we authorise your school registration, you will be able to register your specific ECTs.

Schools who are transferring their existing ECTs to our Service
The Local Authority has been in touch with you to provide details of what is required to effect a transfer. Inspire Learning cannot perform the transfer for you; it needs to be instigated by the school or Local Authority in ECT Manager and is only effective once all current Progress Reviews and/or Assessments are signed off by the Local Authority. Please prioritise the latter if it applies to you, your school or ECTs

Induction Tutor Training
As part of our offer, and as outlined in the statutory guidance, Inspire Learning TSH are holding **New** Induction Tutor training sessions. These will be on;
•  Tuesday 10 September 9-11am Wirral Venue
•  Thursday 12 September 9-11am Liverpool Venue
•  Tuesday 1 October 9-11am Liverpool Venue  

All new Induction Tutors (or those who had active ECTs last year, but were unable to attend) should  attend ONE of these sessions.

New Induction Tutors should sign up for one of these compulsory sessions here

We will also host Refresher Training for existing Induction Tutors this year. These will be on;-
• Tuesday 1 October 2-3pm Liverpool Venue
• Thursday 3 October 2-3pm Wirral Venue

All Induction Tutors who have attended our training during 23/24 are invited to attend this session where we will update on current guidance and advise of any changes to our operational practice and guidance.

Existing Induction Tutors should sign up for one of these compulsory sessions here

Making the ECF work in your school

After speaking with a range of Mentors and Induction Tutors, who have been working with us this year, we are pleased to be able to share some ‘top tips’ with you regarding how to make the ECF work for your school.

1. Ensure that the mentors have time to adequately prepare for the weekly meeting with the ECT - this is the most common recommendation from schools. Where Mentors are given adequate time to prepare, they are able to contextualise and adapt the ECF materials so they are as relevant as possible to the needs of the ECT and their emerging or ongoing needs.

2. Make sure that the ECTs and Mentors know the dates for facilitated meetings for the year and have these in their diaries. You will be able to find these dates on our ‘Module Map’, which has been sent out with this newsletter and is also available on our website. This year, the ECTs and Mentors who found the ECF to have a positive impact in school ensured that dates were planned in the diary and workload was managed carefully to ensure adequate time to think about and reflect on the content of the facilitated sessions. Several schools recommended that these sessions were built into the ‘directed time’ for ECTs and Mentors. These sessions are part of an ECTs entitlement within their statutory Induction and fall within the remit of an Appropriate Body (see below) to check. When answering the comment about “ECTs receiving their entitlement” as part of termly reviews, engagement in the ECF programme must be evidenced.

3. Where you have lots of ECTs in one school, conduct joint weekly meetings when the needs of all ECTs align. This allows Mentors and ECTs to work together and support one another collaboratively.

4. Be flexible with the ECF content. Although the ECF is a statutory framework, and feeds into statutory Induction, the way in which it is used by a school should be flexible and ensure that the needs of the ECT are met. The minimum requirement is that Mentors and ECTs show engagement with the programme via the facilitated sessions and online platform (UCLeXtend). Beyond this, it is up to schools to ensure that the way in which an ECT engages in the ECF meets their development needs - schools should approach this with flexibility, using professional judgement. Please bear in mind however that any comments on Progress Reviews and / or assessments for statutory Induction reference ECTs accessing their “entitlement”. Where ECTs or mentors do not access this, engagement data dictates ECTs are not in receipt of their entitlement.

5. Mentor engagement is tracked by DfE. Data around sustained engagement in the training is used by DfE to generate the payments made to schools to support mentor release to perform their role. Further details can be found here.

6. If your ECT has left your school, or does so in the future, please ensure the DfE portal Manage training for early career teachers is up to date and complete a Change of Circumstances (COC) form by clicking the link: Change of Circumstances Form

7. If your Induction Tutor changes, ensure you update the DfE portal Manage training for early career teachers with this information and complete this Change of Induction Tutor form

8. If your Mentor changes, please update the DfE portal Manage training for early career teachers and click on this link to complete a Change of Circumstances form

Congratulations Cohort 2 ECT’s

Year 2 September Starter's complete their ECF training this term

A huge congratulations to all the year 2 September starter ECT's who have now completed their ECF training programme with UCL and Inspire Learning Teaching School Hub.  It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with you all through your first two years in the teaching profession.  Through your ECF training you have laid the foundations for your career and through your year 2 Practitioner Inquiry projects you now have a deeper understanding of the importance of using evidence to inform and tweak your practice to ensure you are constantly improving as a teacher and positively impacting your student outcomes. We wish you all a very long, happy, successful teaching career.

Please remember that we are here to support your ongoing development and are available when the time is right for you to access a National Professional Qualification into a specialist area of development in your leadership journey. Register your interest here

Induction Conferences and Training

Please click on the link below which takes you to our ‘Module Map’, this can also be found within our website: Module Maps

Induction Conference Dates for September 2024 starters (Cohort 4 - 2024- 2025)
•  ECT C4 Induction Face to Face Liverpool  2.00pm -4.30pm
•  ECT C4 Induction Face to Face Wirral 2.00pm -4.30pm
•  ECT C4 Induction Face to Face Liverpool  2.00pm -4.30pm
•  ECT C4 Induction Face to Face Wirral 2.00pm -4.30pm
Please visit the Module Maps for further dates

Cluster Groups and Dates for Facilitated Sessions (‘Module Map’)

We are currently assigning schools to facilitated ‘Cluster Groups’ and we will issue this individualised information to ECTs / Mentors and Induction Tutors early September 2024 via a ‘Welcome’ email.

Now published! The dates for these cluster group meetings can be viewed within the ‘Module Maps’ section of our website for ALL cohorts.  Please click on this link:  Module Maps

Key information Summary

1. Ensure the correct Induction Tutor contact details are entered into the DfE portal Manage training for early career teachers.

2. Make sure that you have signed up your ECT on Manage training for early career teachers, with an Appropriate Body and completed a Confirmation of Intent form, if you haven’t already done so.

3.Look at: How to set up your school’s ECT training programme, a step-by-step guide on how to set up your school’s ECF programme correctly.

4. If you have employed an ECT who will be in their first year for the academic year 24/25, ensure they have a Mentor assigned and that there is a clear timeframe put aside for the weekly meeting to take place (every two weeks if the ECT is in their second year).

5. ECTs/Mentors; please check your junk email inbox in case the ‘UCLeXtend’ login email arrives there. 

6. Sign up to the Inspire Learning TSH mailing list here.

NPQ’s

Our reformed National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) have been created to complete the golden thread of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers, from the early stages of teacher development with the Early Career Framework (ECF) through to executive leadership. We offer our NPQ programmes in collaboration with University College London

All programmes are designed to offer the best possible support to teachers and leaders wanting to expand their knowledge and develop their skills, helping them to become more effective teachers and leaders inside and outside the classroom. The programmes are designed for current or aspiring leaders at all levels.

Scholarship funding for Autumn 2024

From Autumn 2024, scholarship funding to cover the full NPQ course cost will be available, on a “first come, first served” basis, to teachers and leaders as per DfE requirements:
•  the 50% of schools with the highest proportion of students who attract pupil premium funding
•  16 to 19 educational settings identified as having high disadvantage

For the early years leadership NPQ, highly disadvantaged early years settings will also be eligible.   

Not all schools / individuals will qualify for scholarship funding however you will still be able to access the full range of programmes.  The costs of each programme can be found using the following link here

Further information from DfE on eligibility and payment can be found here:
CLICK HERE  for autumn 2024 funding details

Further information from DfE on eligibility and payment can be found here

Inspire Learning TSH NW is partnered with University College London to deliver the full suite of National Professional Qualifications, however funding restrictions have dictated the programmes we can offer for Autumn 2024. Further information is available on request via email .

UCL and Teaching School Hub Partners have drawn on their teacher expertise to design the following programmes to meet or contextualise local need:

Specialist NPQs

The following programmes are for those who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject or year, leading behaviour and/or supporting pupil wellbeing in their school, or leading the development of other teachers in their school.

Specialist programmes are 12 months in duration.

•  NPQ in Leading Teaching (NPQLT)
•  NPQ in Leading Behaviour and Culture (NPQLBC)
•  NPQ in Leading Teacher Development (NPQLTD)
•  NPQ in Leading Primary Maths (NPQLPM)

Leadership NPQs

For teachers looking to progress into senior leadership and beyond, the following NPQs build foundational knowledge to lead rapid improvement in a school, or lead on a trust’s key improvement priorities whilst all the time creating and embedding a culture that allows the school, staff and pupils to thrive.

Leadership programmes are 18 months in duration.

• NPQ in Senior Leadership (NPQSL)
• NPQ in Headship (NPQH)
• NPQ for Special Education Needs Co-ordinators (NPQSENCO)

Other programmes are available however will be led as national programmes directly with UCL

Benefits to participants:
Working with Inspire Learning TSH NW and UCL, participants will have:
•  Access to world-leading research, evidence informed practice and knowledge exchange.
•  An increased awareness and understanding of self as leader and of the behaviours needed to lead a school.
•  Increased leadership confidence to implement school improvement, drive culture and ethos, curriculum.
•  Teaching and learning, assessment and developing organisational effectiveness.
• Time to reflect on your leadership practice and to network with a wide range of                       school leaders.
•  Access to full coverage of the DfE’s NPQ qualification framework

Benefits to schools and colleges:
Working with Inspire Learning TSH NW and UCL, schools will:
•  Develop a strategic approach to leadership focused on improving pupil outcomes. •  Access programmes designed to enhance staff wellbeing, agency, recruitment, and retention within your organisation.
•  Engage in a joined-up approach to school improvement in your school and region.
•  Learn about how to lead the implementation of effective, sustainable change.
•  Grow leadership capacity built on evidence-informed practice that is responsive, agile and bespoke to your context.

Access to funding remains conditional on successful validation of participants’ registration information against Teaching Regulation Agency records, so you must ensure that the information supplied to your NPQ provider matches your teacher record.

You can check and update your record via the Teaching Regulation Agency Teacher Self-Service Portal

If you are not eligible for scholarship funding, you can still undertake an NPQ and should contact us 

How to register:

Register
Complete the DfE registration portal selecting UCL as your chosen provider.
Apply
UCL will then send registrants an application form to complete and return.
Begin
We will be in touch with your programme details after the cohort deadline.

Need more information?
Need more information? Full details of all NPQs can be found here

If you would like further information or support in selecting your programme, please feel free to contact us.