13/11/2023
Corinne Goldberg gained her QTS with e-Qualitas earlier this year, having enrolled on via Teaching Apprenticeship Programme. Having now begun her first year as an ECT, at the Primary School she was primarily employed in for the ITT year, Corrine looks back at the year to discuss the impact of her Second School Placement (SSP).
I have most enjoyed the deep-dives in each of the subjects. You've got all the of the expertise of the Subject Leads, and tutors - you can go and ask them questions. It is a culture and an environment where you have all the expertise and experience at your fingertips that you could need.
As part of the teacher training programme, so many doors and windows of knowledge are opening. Last term's focus was on assessment, which has been transformative for me. I am now able to look at what my children know, what they need to know and then adapt my practice based on the knowledge they've demonstrated. It's made me a better teacher, because I can adapt my practice to suit everybody.
Coming to e-Qualitas and going to the training days has given me the confidence to take lead in the classroom and when working with my support staff.
This has been a great, supportive programme because I get the freedom to come up with plans and then see them in action with my students. I couldn't ask for a better experience.
I'm really lucky at my school that I have a fantastic mentor and really supportive science staff, so I am getting on-the-job advice all the time. Talking to other trainees about what has worked is very useful, because they are at the same level of experience as me and their advice is great too.
Working in partnership with e-Qualitas has allowed us to put into place a system to support new members of staff in school. It's about focusing on developing individual teachers and supporting them through the teacher training programme.
The in-person training sessions have been great and have fostered a brilliant sense of community among trainees, who are from different parts of the country. We've had a lovely mix of practical and theory - enabling us to put into practice everything we've been discussing.
My subject knowledge has definitely improved from working with the Subject Leads; building my understanding of substantive disciplinary knowledge. I feel I am able to talk to the Subject Leads after each training session to discuss each training session in more detail. My subject lead has been so helpful with my learning sequences.
The workload on the training programme is demanding, though it is manageable.The training and communication that you receive from e-Qualitas makes the workload both acceptable and convenient. Thumbs up, I am looking forward!
My teaching skills have improved so much during the training year. My tutor and my mentor worked really hard with me, and I am really thankful for the efforts they made to make me the teacher I am today. My Subject Lead taught me so much, for example how to scaffold a lesson - making sure the whole class is engaged with tasks.
One of the most important things we do is appoint the right members of staff, with the right mindset and ability to form relationships with young people. The brilliant concept of the Teaching Apprenticeship Programme is that you can identify talent in members of staff currently within school.
