AIBU re ECT expectations?

[greenwelly]

I've been teaching for 12 years with 5 in Y3. The other class teacher this year is an ECT. She doesn't understand that we have a SOW and we need to follow it. She's ignored all of the resources that I have which follow the SOW and keeps trying to offer me resources she has made. I don't want to be dismissive but they're really not up to scratch and she keeps offering them to me at 8.45.

I was completely willing to support her with the curriculum, SOW and resources. I genuinely don't mind that for the first few months while she gets herself into a routine and gets to grip with her class.

I expected to have a meeting every week where we look at the SOW and fill in any gaps if needed, but we're now on week 4 and she's only becoming more persistent in trying to do her own thing. She has told me that in her training school that the teachers planned from scratch each week and I think that's what she wants to replicate.

AIBU for not even considering it?

Are you the named mentor?
If she is refusing to follow the school systems, refer it to the induction tutor to have a word.

I don't think you're being unreasonable. Have you explained to her why the school has a SOW, and that the expectation is that she follow it?

Are you her mentor? If not, could you have a discussion, with her mentor present as well, and remind her that this is the expectation, and why it's a problem that she doesn't do that?

If that doesn't work, I guess your only option is to continue to follow the SOW with your class, and make sure you are doing the right thing. Presumably, if she isn't meeting expectations in terms of following long term planning/sequencing lessons, this will become a problem as she continues through the year? And so someone will pull her up on it?

Does it cause you any immediate problems if she does her own thing until say, half term?

No, I'm not her mentor. I will speak to him on Monday but he is new to the SLT and I am concerned that he may see it as me 'not letting her' have any input. I don't know him very well.

There will be no real impact on me if she does her own thing, but it's just not great.

I'd discuss it with the mentor at least, then you know where you stand. You could be generous and say you're happy to discuss e.g. the SoW for the upcoming half term with her, before half term, so she can have some input if she wishes. But stress you want to ensure consistency.

If you have specific concerns about the quality of her resources, I'd raise these too- not just "they aren't up to scratch" but if there are errors present or they don't provide differentiation etc.

You could phrase it sympathetically, and say that if she was trying to plan/produce less, she'd be able to produce better quality resources which would be useful to both you and her in the future?

And stress that you have offered support with planning and understanding the SoW etc, but she's not taken you up on this- if this is the case?

If her mentor has no concerns, then you know you just have to carry on doing your own thing, for now at least. But it might be that they do take some or all of what you are saying seriously, and act? And if there is a problem later on, you've registered your concern too.

Is the SLT person the mentor and the induction tutor? There should be two people involved in the process of supporting an ECT.

You could phrase it sympathetically, and say that if she was trying to plan/produce less, she'd be able to produce better quality resources which would be useful to both you and her in the future

This is exactly what I had hoped to do with her. She spent most of her training in Year 1, and the resources she's making aren't challenging enough. There are a few mistakes as well, and inexperienced things like having too many noisy activities at the same time.

She has sat with me and looked through the SOW and resources in depth, but repeatedly then come in the following day/week with all of her own things. I did make sure she knew the expectation was for her to use them and for us to do more or less the same things.

SLT is the mentor- not sure of all of the new terminology.

It's the mentor's job to make sure she's getting it right.
I would be inclined to formally minute your next meeting, including clear guidance about the scheme of work, and copy it to her, the mentor and the induction lead. Follow that up in the meeting after that so that it's clear that you've done your part and that she's not doing as expected.
I'm guessing you get no time to do this so don't spend ages trying to persuade her. Tell her and pass it on.

Thank you, that's good advice.

I would second what everyone has said regarding liaising with her mentor and the induction tutor. She should be following school planning, maybe with a bit of freedom to augment here and there, as it will really not help her if she gets to her first worktrawl or assessment and the coverage is not as it should be.
Writing a supportive but assertive email to outline the year group expectations as already set by the school, attaching the scheme of work and copying every one in is really good advice.

I've never heard of a primary with a SoW for everything. Do you mean things like White Rose or Power Maths or homemade resources that have been coated over time? Do the parallel classes literally teach exactly the same lessons normally? Is it a school/academy rule or is it just that way to share workload?

Some schools do this when there is more than one class in a year group / phase. In a previous school, the head's expectation was that all classes in the phase were having the exact same lesson at the exact same time. It got to the point where she wanted to be able to walk from one room to another and the lesson she sees just continue. In her mind, that was a must for consistency. It's also one of the reasons why I now work in a one-form entry without that level of micro-management.

OP
Is it that the SOW is a school policy thing or just something that happened with your previous year partner?