Tackling early career teacher retention

The value of relationships: Tackling early career teacher retention

Date: 06 Mar 2019 Venue: Cambridge Assessment The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road Cambridge CB2 8EA
Time: 13:30 - 16:00
Type: Meeting Fee: Free

Suffolk & Norfolk SCITT, one of the country’s largest school-centred initial teacher training programmes, commissioned Relational Schools, in partnership with Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing and the Open University, to carry out a five year longitudinal research programme, exploring the impact of a trainee teacher’s social and professional relationships on their success as a trainee and thereafter as a teacher. The research is set against the backdrop of a national challenge in teacher retention, which is particularly acute for early career teachers.

Relationships influence the ways in which people cope with stress, access support and advice, learn, collaborate, and find fulfilment in their work. Understanding the relational factors that make it more likely that some people will leave a course or the profession enables earlier intervention in providing the right support and empowers trainees.

Relational Schools, a charity focused on improving the quality of relationships in schools, is working with the SCITT’s trainees to identify each individual’s most important and influential relationships. The partnership has also identified and trialled new relational management and training practices, using Cambridge Assessment’s Cambridge Personal Styles Questionnaire (CPSQ).

Learning points

  • Become aware of the scope and initial findings from the project.
  • Understand how teachers’ relationships can support their retention.
  • Appreciate the potential of assessment tools and management practices to increase support for entrants.

Who should attend?

Teaching school leads, research school leads, teacher education providers, academics, independent consultants and policy makers. All those working with schools, colleges and teachers who are interested in understanding issues affecting the profession.

Register to attend - please register by Friday 1 March 12.00

Speakers

Robert Loe - CEO Relationships Foundation

Dr Robert Loe, BA (Joint Hons) MA, PGCE, DFCOT, CEO Relationships Foundation

Dr. Robert Loe is the Founder and Director of the Relational Schools Foundation. Having studied Education at Cambridge University, he pursued areas of specialism such as schooling and exclusion, the family and community dimensions of social exclusion and school improvement and effectiveness.

A former teacher and senior leader, Robert now researches, writes and speaks on the importance of fostering positive relationships between key stakeholders in schools. In October of 2018, Rob was invited to become the new CEO of Relationships Foundation, the original charity that founded and incubated the schools’ project but also works across a range of public and private sector contexts internationally.

Anna Richards - Suffolk and Norfolk SCITT Executive Leader

Anna Richards, BA (Hons), PGCE with QTS, NPQH,Suffolk and Norfolk SCITT Executive Leader

Anna Richards has worked in a variety of primary and special schools. Before starting her current role in September 2017, she was the Suffolk and Norfolk SCITT PGCE Tuition Leader. Anna has actively led the sustained improvement of the Primary Tuition programme and has overseen the Secondary Tuition programme through a period of continued development. Before joining the SCITT team, she was head teacher of a West Suffolk primary school for five years.

Anna was part of the working party on Mentor Standards set up in response to the 2015 Carter review of Initial Teacher Training and has recently been appointed a trustee of National Association of School Based Trainers (NASBTT). Anna is committed to supporting school improvement across Suffolk and Norfolk through ensuring an on-going supply of high quality newly qualified teachers to local partnership schools.

Kate Sida-Nicholls, Suffolk and Norfolk SCITT Secondary PGCE Course Leader

Kate Sida-Nicholls, BA (Hons), PGCE, MA in Education, NPQSL,Suffolk and Norfolk SCITT Secondary PGCE Course Leader

Kate has worked for eighteen years in various schools in different roles across Suffolk, teaching mainly English but other Humanities subjects too. For the previous five years Kate led the Secondary SCITT Tuition programme with great success and is delighted to take up her new role from 1st April 2018 to lead both Secondary Salaried and Tuition programmes.

Publications and educational activity:
  • Founding Fellow of Chartered College
  • Member of Assessment Board for Chartered Teacher Programme
  • Member of the UCAS ITT Advisory Group
  • Published 'What if It Happens in My Classroom?’ a behaviour management book aimed at new and trainee teachers.
  • ‘Becoming an Outstanding English Teacher’ published by Routledge in August 2016.
  • Regular reviewer of books and book proposals for Routledge.
  • Currently undertaking PhD research into the retention of NQT teachers.

Alison Fox - Senior Lecturer Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University, UK

Alison Fox, BSc (Joint Hons), MSc, PGCE, MEd, PhD,Senior Lecturer Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University, UK

After training as a secondary school science teacher, Alison moved into initial teacher training and research about and for the support of beginning teachers, including their emergent development as school leaders. Over the last 18 years, she has been involved in Teaching and Learning Research Programme, Department for Education and National College for Teaching and Leadership funded projects related to teachers’ professional development and supports practitioner enquiry through her Masters and Doctoral supervision. She has been working with Relational Schools to develop and deploy a socio-mapping technique to support beginning teacher retention. Alison is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Lyn Dale - Assessment Psychologist, Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing

Lyn Dale, MSc Occupational Psychology, ILM Level 5 Coach, MBPsS, Assessment Psychologist, Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing

Lyn Dale is one of the designers of the Cambridge Personal Styles Questionnaire (CPSQ), and is responsible for its management within Cambridge Assessment’s Admission Testing unit. Lyn’s background is in occupational psychology and she has expertise in personality assessment and coaching. She has worked on a range of selection and development projects in schools, higher education and healthcare. Recent work on trainee retention includes a series of workshops to prepare medical students for clinical foundation years. She has been working with Relational Schools to use CPSQ to provide insight into personal styles that foster retention and to open up coaching conversations with trainee teachers.

The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road Cambridge CB2 8EA