The Role of the Induction Tutor
Who should be the Induction Tutor?
The headteacher/principal should identify a person to act as the ECT’s induction tutor, to provide regular monitoring and support, and coordination of assessment.
The role of the Induction Tutor
The induction tutor is expected to hold QTS and have the necessary skills and knowledge to work successfully in this role and be able to assess the ECT’s progress against the Teachers’ Standards. This is a very important element of the induction process and the induction tutor must be given sufficient time to carry out the role effectively and to meet the needs of the ECT.
The induction tutor will need to be able to make rigorous and fair judgements about the ECT’s progress in relation to the Teachers’ Standards. They will need to be able to recognise when early action is needed in the case of an ECT who is experiencing difficulties.
It may, in some circumstances, be appropriate for the headteacher/principal to be the induction tutor. The induction tutor is a separate role to that of mentor
The induction tutor is expected to conduct a progress review with an ECT in each term where a formal assessment is not scheduled.
There are key differences between formal assessments and progress reviews. As your Appropriate Body we can help ensure that induction tutors hold these distinctions in mind and do not follow unnecessarily burdensome processes for progress reviews. For example, if an ECT has already evidenced how they met a particular Teachers’ Standard as part of their wider professional development, it is not necessary to have them repeat this in full and it is more than sufficient to refer to this existing evidence.
Depending on how far into induction the ECT has progressed, more or less detail may be suitable:
- Term 1: it is probably most helpful to concentrate on the teacher’s personal and professional conduct and how well the relationships are working.
- Term 2: it is probably most helpful to consider how likely the teacher is to require additional support and consider their progress across each of the Teachers’ Standards, helping to ensure that there are no surprises when they have their first formal assessment in Term 3.
- Terms 4 and 5: for teachers who have been consistently on track to meet the Teachers’ Standards, these reviews can afford to be the lightest touch and focus on anything that has emerged to derail progress.
Please visit our FAQ & Webinar Recordings page for more information.