We understand that you have a colleague that is keen to complete their BA in Teaching and Learning (BATL) course in your school. We wanted to give you a further insight into the demands and requirements of the course as we know that this decision will affect your whole school, not just this one colleague. 

What are the minimum requirements for a trainee in school?

During weeks when there is no block placement, your colleague (the trainee) will be expected to be working in school for a minimum of 20 hours per week, either as a volunteer or employee. As this person is classed as a trainee in your school, we would expect that he/she would be included in staff conversations, staff meetings and training opportunities in your school to incorporate him/her into your school team. This is an important part of his/her transition from the role of TA to teacher, as well as allowing him/her to feel part of the team. During block placement and other intensive training placements, attendance is expected for full days and full weeks.

How will our trainee be supported on a weekly basis?

Once your trainee begins the course, he/she will need to be released from all usual duties on a Thursday afternoon. For most weeks, this will involve either attending university seminars or school placements. Seminars in university will run from 2-5pm, but there are occasions when meetings and tutorials will take place before or after that time, so your trainee would ideally be released from duties at lunchtime to allow for travel time to university, and the time to eat before the seminar begins.

On weeks where neither seminars nor placements are scheduled, the trainee should still be ‘free’ from other duties to allow for time to complete follow-up tasks from seminars or work on university assessment tasks. We would hope that this would always include the trainee being free from school trips or meetings on those afternoons too so that his/her focus can remain on university work for that afternoon per week. 

What are the expectations of the trainee each week?

During weeks when the trainee is not on block placement, there are no additional teaching demands given by university. The only time that we ask that the trainee leads a lesson will be once per half term, and these times will be indicated on the overview they will receive in September at the beginning of their course. These lessons should be observed by the school mentor and should focus on leading the whole class, or a group.

Training for the school mentor in making judgements about the lessons, and other elements of supporting the trainee during the two years of the BATL course will be given in September. Dates for the training will be sent into school nearer the time. 

Another important requirement of the course is that 15 minute weekly meetings take place between the mentor and trainee to focus on the trainee’s targets and directed tasks which are set to support and direct their training in the weeks the trainee is not on block placement. 

What work will the trainee need to do as part of the university course?

There will be assessments relating to the each modules taught. These will take varying forms of reflections, essays, presentations etc. but all will necessitate linking work and tasks completed in school with academic reading to extend and support the points being made. This may entail some practical work with children to inform the module assessment, so at those points, we ask that a conversation can take place between the trainee and the mentor to consider how this can be accommodated. Each week, a follow-up area for consideration will be given by the leading tutor for further thought or discussions, but these will not involve practical work unless it directly relates to the module assessment. 

What happens for our trainee during block placement?

There are two full-time block placements on the BATL course; one per year. These will take place in the first half of the Summer term in year 1 and in the second half of the Spring term in year 2.

Over the two years:

• The first placement will be done in a different school from the host setting. 
• The second year placement will take place in your school (the host setting).

Sheffield Hallam’s partnership team will allocate the placement to be completed in a different setting. 

During both placements, the trainee will relinquish all other duties usually undertaken as part of his/her role in school. In essence, he/she will be released from all TA duties to become a teacher in that school for the length of the placement. This is often a very difficult transition for everyone involved, so early organisation of the way this will work for your school is advisable.

A huge factor in this discussion will be funding. Sheffield Hallam give £500 to any school supporting a trainee’s placement. One of the most difficult discussions as a school will focus around payment for your trainee during placement: it is often fairer if this is discussed early in the year to allow the trainee to prepare for the situation during placement. 

Sheffield Hallam allocates all block placements to ensure equity across all our courses. By our team leading the work around placements we can ensure that all trainees are given a contrasting experience during their course and that we can validate the experience of the schools with which we work. Unless you are requested to, please allow us to place your trainee's placements. 

How else will my trainee gain the experience needed for this course?

We hope that you will accommodate your trainee on some occasions in observing in different classrooms within your school, and possibly in neighbouring schools that you link with, to widen their experience of age ranges, school practice etc.

Four specific weeks are allocated for ITAPs (Intensive Training and Practice) across the two years which are used for focus time in completing tasks and observations around focus areas. These will be shown on the year overview. In year 1, the 2 weeks focus on professional skills and managing behaviour and on Early Reading and Early Number. In year 2, the trainees focus on Inclusion practice and developing as a leader. Tasks will be completed in connection with these areas of study set by the module leaders. 

Induction day information and dates will be sent to the trainees in readiness for September. 

We hope this information is useful in helping you and your colleagues to prepare for supporting your trainee as part of the BATL course.

If you have any questions, please email batlenquiries@shu.ac.uk