What is ECF?
The Early Career Framework (ECF) underpins an entitlement to a fully-funded, two-year package of structured training and support for early career teachers linked to the best available research evidence (DfE).
The ECF sets out two types of content:
- Within each area, key evidence statements (“Learn that…”) have been drawn from current high-quality evidence from the UK and overseas. This evidence includes high-quality reviews and syntheses, including meta-analyses and rigorous individual studies. In addition, the ECF provides practical guidance on the skills that early career teachers should be supported to develop.
- Practice statements (“Learn how to…”) draw on both the best available educational research and additional guidance from the Expert Advisory Group and other sector representatives (DfE)
Year 1: ETCs work through content at their own pace, revisiting or returning to strands in Year 2. They are also entitled to a 10% reduction in their timetable.
Year 2: ETCs have a 1-hour mentor meeting every other week. They are also entitled to a 5% reduction in their timetable.
Each Term ECTs explore a new strand:
- Term 1 ‘Behaviour’
- Term 2 ‘Instruction’
- Term 3 ‘Subject’
Our work at The Halifax Academy
Emma-Rose Geall is the Senior Lead Practitioner and Induction Tutor for ECF and ITT at The Halifax Academy.
In addition, Emma is a Facilitator for the Calderdale and Kirklees Teaching Hub, leading ECF Conferences to ECTs across the region and Best Practice facilitation NPQSL and NPQLTD
I am the Induction coordinator for our 10 x ECTs (8 x Year 1 and 2 x Year 2 ECTs across our Primary and Secondary Phase) within The Halifax Academy. I coordinate their development across the school, working with their ECF Mentors and ECF induction tutors.
ECTs complete self-study weekly (Learn that…) and then with their mentors agree on an area of foci (Learn how to…). ECF mentors then use ‘instructional coaching’ and ‘scripting’ to practice this step with ECTs before delivering it in the classroom, ECF mentors then conduct weekly pop-ins and discuss the implementation of this step with ECTs
Myself, Richard Shaw, Tom Wolstenholme, Nikki Sterndale, Idris Hafeez, and Wendy Birchall are ECF Facilitators, delivering the Ambition Institutes ECF programme to ECTs from across the region (co-ordinated by the Calderdale and Kirklees Teaching Hub). Calderdale & Kirklees Teaching School Hub is a delivery partner of Ambition Institute.
This half term
This half term we have delivered ECF Conferences to over 65 x Year 1 and 2 ECTs from a range of Primary and Secondary schools across the Calderdale and Kirklees region, allowing ECTs to network across schools.
Conference 1 (Year 1) delivered in September/October explored the ‘Science of Learning’ the ‘Power of effective teaching’ and ‘Habits of Planning’. Conference 3 (Year 2) explored how we support well-being as teaching professionals and how to implement change, building on Conference 2 (held last Spring) on ‘Behaviours for learning’ and ‘Principles of Responsive teaching’.
What's next?
Next half term we will follow up with the ECTs by hosting ECF Clinics, here we pick up some of the threads from the previous Conferences aided by lots of discussions and task-based learning. In Spring we will deliver Conference 2 to Year 1’s with a follow-up ECF Clinic in Spring and Summer.