SCITT trainee in the dept?

[Biscuitsneeded]

How does it work? What is in it for the host school/department/mentor? I find myself in a situation where we have a SCITT trainee (I wasn't consulted) and it's making rather a lot of work for me. Maybe I'm just being mean, and maybe we are all meant to be training and mentoring out of the kindness of our hearts... or am I having the wool pulled over my eyes? I'm not interested in furthering my career or having it on my CV - I'm in my 50s and love my classes, and am just interested in doing the job properly for a few more years before I can step down and do something less exhausting. I should be at a point where my experience and subject knowledge, and the effort I put into my relationships with my classes, mean that the job is manageable - but I'm having to do quite a bit to support the trainee who is very keen and willing but lacks a lot of subject knowledge. It's all quite time-consuming and I feel a bit taken for granted.

When are you expected to do the 20 hours of compulsory training?

I'm a mentor. I have an ECT1 at the moment - he is finding his feet but not strong if I am honest so taking up a huge amount of time.

This year, I am also delivering the SCITT subject knowledge sessions (x 10 days across the year).

I'm a HoD of a core subject so in some ways, the extra goes with my job. I'm late thirties so younger than you but I still find it very tiring mentoring. Especially for a trainee or very new ECT who isn't strong.

The subject knowledge stuff was given to me and sold as good development/good for the school and dept. All this may be true, but I get no time what so ever to do the planning of these training days. I also have a form group and have to run two extra curricular groups per week.

I've also been told, only since we came back in September, that I have to minimise cover on the days I have the trainees. So, what is actually now happening is I am using my PPA/management slots to deliver, teaching my classes while they observe me/others in dept.

I have one this Friday and should have 3 management periods. Now though, my day is;

Arrive, set up, make sure ECT1 who is attached to my form knows what he is doing with morning form as he won't look for himself.
Deliver to trainees through form P1 and P2, spend break with them and also set up my P3 lesson.
Teach my P3 lesson while they do a task/observe.
Back to them P4 to reflect and do more input.
Spend lunch with them.
Teach P5 while they observe.
Quick final debrief after P5 and then dash to CPD for 1 hour and 45 mins.

It's insane!

Sorry this has turned into a rant but I absolutely sympathise with you. I want to develop new entrants to teaching but the demands now are absolutely mad.

Realised my post wasn't very clear. I am not the official mentor, but the trainee needs to train in 2 subjects. Mine is very definitely the second subject, in that the trainee, although very hard-working and keen, just does not have the subject knowledge and it's not something that can be achieved overnight. Official mentor has attended all the SCITT training sessions and does the mentoring sessions, some lesson observations in their own subject etc. My gripe is that I haven't attended any training, wasn't consulted, but somehow this trainee is teaching some of my classes - all of which needs careful checking and co-planning as they do not have the skills - and I am then doing lesson observations (sometimes with main mentor present for official observation). None of this is the fault of the trainee, so I feel mean complaining, but they want a lot of my time, which I just don't have. Main mentor is young and ambitious and clearly wants this for the CV - me, not so much! I feel I just cannot say anything as it would certainly cause offence to the trainee to be told not to 'need' me so much. Today I was told that the trainee needs to deliver a lesson including something which was couched in terminology that means nothing to me. It probably would if I had been for the training! Mentor advised trainee to watch me do it in a lesson first. So now I have to find out what the hell it is, plan a lesson explicitly doing that (which won't be how I teach so it won't necessarily be any good) and then feed back on trainee doing something similar. I just feel annoyed that the main mentor gets the time out of school to attend the training, gets to put it all on the CV etc and yet it's making lots of unpaid and unacknowledged work for me!

Mentor advised trainee to watch me do it in a lesson first. So now I have to find out what the hell it is, plan a lesson explicitly doing that (which won't be how I teach so it won't necessarily be any good) and then feed back on trainee doing something similar.

Dear subject mentor,

Since I was not at the training, I cannot do x, because I have not been told how the training provider wants x to to be done.

Yes, that is what I would do if the mentor was anyone but my own HoD, with whom I need to maintain a decent working relationship...

@Biscuitsneeded since they KNOW you weren't at the training, it's even more ridiculous