My University & Teach First Training Days
From lessons to sessions
Summer Institute (my 5-weeks of summer training from June-July) was just the start of my teacher training days. Throughout the school year, I had five university training days, which were full days of learning. We were just emerging from the pandemic, and the days were all virtual. I logged into the university portal from home and attended the online lectures and seminars.
The university days were once a month, from September to March, excluding December and February. They were always on a Wednesday, often between the 23rd and the 29th of each month. I was given all the dates at the start of the year and ensured that I put them in my school's shared calendar. I was kindly emailed each day's timetable ahead of time, as well as the lecture/seminar links, resources and presentation slides.
The training days included teaching on my assignment modules, Emerging Philosophy of Teaching and Learning (EPTL) and Leading Learning in Communities (LLIC), as well as subject-specific training that focused on reading, writing, maths and PE.
I also had training from Teach First (TF) throughout the year, which included full days as well as afternoon sessions. The two full training days were on a Saturday and focused on the modules that my university assignments were based on. The first Saturday session was in November, and the second was in March. They were both held virtually, due to the pandemic. The days involved some self-directed work, and I was emailed the timetable ahead of time. It was really helpful to get additional insight into the modules, and I left the days with a stack of notes and a head full of goals and ideas.
My other TF training sessions were part of my qualified teacher status (QTS) training and were subject-based. They were known as 'Communities of Practice' sessions and covered humanities, arts and STEM subjects. It was good to learn more about subjects that I didn't teach, such as music, RE, PSHCE, languages and computing. There were 10 sessions throughout the year, all covering a single subject. I was allocated to the Thursday group, and some trainees were allocated to the Wednesday group. The TF development leads (DL) co-led the sessions, which were held between 1pm-3pm, during the school day. They roughly occurred once a month or bimonthly. I didn't have sessions in October, December, April or July. It was a quick dash from lessons to sessions, but I managed to find a quiet room in school to log in from.
There was an online module that I had to complete before each session on the TF online platform. The DLs were very good at sending out reminder emails about each session, as well as Zoom meeting links. I was given all my training dates at the start of the school year and was able to put them on my school's shared calendar.
Because my training was online, I didn't meet my lecturers, development leads or fellow trainees in person, but I was in a WhatsApp group with trainees from my Summer Institute (SI) TF seminar group. We messaged each other with any queries we had and were able to support each other. During the sessions, we were always put into break-out rooms, and it was really nice to catch up with other trainees and hear about their experiences.
I learned a great deal from my training days, and I really valued being back in higher education and having the opportunity and ability to learn again. My lecturers and DLs were highly knowledgeable practitioners, and I knew that I was experiencing high-quality teaching from a team of educational experts. I always left each session with a tonne of notes that would improve my practice, support my learning and improve my assignments.
