My Termly Reviews
Look at everything you've learned & just how far you've come
As part of the Teach First programme, I had two termly review meetings. The first meeting was towards the end of the autumn term, and the second was in the spring term. They were known as Termly Review 1 (TR1) & Termly Review 2 (TR2) and were held online with my Development Lead (DL) and mentor. The review meetings lasted around an hour and were a way of monitoring my progress and deciding on my next development goal. The reviews had to be completed within a specific two-week window, and booking them early ensured that I got the dates I wanted. Aligning three diaries can be incredibly tricky. My TR1 review window began in late November, and the TR2 window started in mid-March.
In preparation for my review meetings, I had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation (10 slides max) that showed my progress in Teach First's four curriculum areas: high expectations, behaviour management, classroom practice and curriculum knowledge. My DL gave me a template for my presentation and a detailed guide to help me complete the slides. She talked me through the specific content I needed and was always on hand to answer any questions.
I had to consider how all my learning had impacted my pupils' learning, and my slides had to include a reflective model to support my thinking. I chose to use Driscoll's Model of Reflection (What? So What? Now What?), which I thought worked really well. It was important that my slides included high-quality evidence for each area, which clearly demonstrated my impact. Some of my evidence included screen grabs from observation feedback, photographs of pupils' work and photos of work that I'd modelled for my class.
A couple of weeks before my review meeting, my slides had to be sent to my DL for moderation. She gave me some specific feedback on them, and I was able to improve my evidence. The changes were all simple tweaks, and they didn't create lots of additional work. The slides did take a little bit of thought and preparation, and I used my half-term breaks to work on them. I started TR1 in the October half-term and TR2 in the February half-term. Before sending my slides to my DL, I talked them through with my mentor, who was also able to advise me on any necessary tweaks or additions.
For TR1, my mentor and I logged into the meeting together from a classroom. After a bit of informal chat with my DL, she explained that the meeting would be recorded for moderation purposes, and we then switched to a more formal mode. I used my presentation to evidence my progress against the four curriculum areas, and my DL and mentor asked me a few questions.
At the end of the review, my DL and mentor both agreed that I was ‘on track’ for qualified teacher status (QTS) and were pleased with my progress. That was a positive outcome, and I was thrilled with all I'd learned during my first term of teaching.
TR2 went slightly differently for me. Prior to the meeting, I discovered that my mentor had stated that I was 'off track' for QTS, but my DL and tutor both stated that I was on track. It's incredibly rare for a trainee to be told that they're off track for QTS and for all three support roles not to be in agreement. The fact that my school and support roles were not aligned was a very unusual situation for Teach First and created a very uncomfortable environment for me. Teaching in a school that thought I was off track knocked my confidence and made me feel like I was a huge problem. We were going into TR2 with an extremely rare starting point, and a Teach First moderator decided to join the online meeting.
As the meeting was about to begin, my mentor excused herself, and my headteacher came into the meeting. I was indicated to leave, and my headteacher spoke with my DL and the moderator on her own. I didn't see my mentor again that day, and I ended up speaking to a colleague in another classroom. After a few minutes had passed, my headteacher left the meeting and told me that my TR2 had been postponed, as she wanted me to be in a better place for it. Having a review meeting terminated was a very unusual situation, and it was a shame that I wasn't able to showcase my slides and deliver my presentation.
My training school had very high expectations, and they wanted me to improve in this area. Numerous teachers told me that if I could teach at my school, then I could teach anywhere, which I found very interesting. I was a TV producer with no previous teaching experience, trying my very best to be a school teacher. I was still learning and developing, and the pressure of such high expectations was having a negative impact on my mental health. Those who cared about me hated seeing me so upset and wanted me to leave my school.
The spring term was quite a stressful and unsettling time for me, and I felt that my qualification was hanging in the balance. I continued to show a huge amount of resilience and regularly recorded myself teaching. I'd already done so much work towards my qualification, from the application process through to the summer training and beyond, and I was not going to leave empty-handed.
Thankfully, it was all going to be just fine. Because my school wasn't aligned with my other support roles, my case went to the Teach First Assessment Board (another very rare occurrence). After observing my teaching videos, feedback from my support roles, and my presentation slides, the board confirmed that I was on track for QTS. They said that I didn't need to have a TR2 meeting, and it was really encouraging to hear how supportive they were. On track for QTS means that a trainee is developing in their teacher training, and I was definitely on track. Sometimes schools can create their own interpretation of 'on track', and it's important to remember what it actually means.
By my final QTS assessment meeting (in June), my school believed that I'd turned things around and was on track. This was good to hear, but it was sad to know that I'd gone through the darkest time of my life. I'd been in a very hostile and uncomfortable environment, and it didn't have to be that way.
During my time as a supply teacher, I had some fantastic feedback from the schools I visited. Many of them praised my high expectations and wanted me to join their teaching staff. After my very first supply job, I was invited to interview for a full-time teaching position, which was really encouraging :). I'm thankful that I persevered throughout my teacher training and showed my strength of character and resilience.
