A step-by-step guide to placements

Manage your preferences

The Leeds Beckett website is designed to enable you to manage your own privacy preferences. By clicking on 'Cookies' below you can manage what data the site collects about your browsing. This will only maintain if you are on your own device or using a synched version of your chosen browser. If you are using a shared or public machine without synching your browser then there is no need to change the preferences.

Our site is built with accessibility in mind and we seek to adhere to the WACG AA levels of compliance for digital accessibility. To support that we have provided instructions on managing animations below.

Cookies

Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies enable you to use all the different parts of leedsbeckett.ac.uk. Without them services that you have asked for cannot be provided. Necessary cookies can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
Analytical Cookies
Analytical cookies help us understand how people are using our websites, so we can improve them and provide a better user experience. We also sometimes get our approved partner companies to analyse how people are using Leeds Beckett Websites and they may set their own analytical cookies in order to do this.
Marketing Cookies
Marketing cookies allow us to provide you with online adverts that are the most relevant and useful for you.
For more information please view our Privacy Policy

Animations & Interaction

The Leeds Beckett University website occasionally uses animations to page elements and animated gifs to add impact to pages. If you wish to stop them from playing for accessibility purposes or for personal preference then please see the guidance below. Please note that browsers sometimes change how they operate, so please refer to your browser help files to find their latest information.
How do I turn off animations?

Chrome

Chrome users will need to use browser extensions. Animation Policy from Google will help you set your own preferences.

Microsoft Edge

There is currently no way to disable animations within Microsoft Edge. Users of Edge (Chromium) browser can install the Chrome extensions above and use them.

Internet Explorer

To stop animations on a single page you can just press the 'Esc' key. This will stop the animation on that page. If you wish to restart the animations you need to refresh the page. To permanently disable the playing of animated GIF images, open Internet Options > Advanced tab. Under the Multimedia section, uncheck the Play animations in webpage check-box, click Apply and Exit and then restart your computer.

Firefox

Type about:config in Firefox address bar and hit Enter to open Settings. Search for the image.animation_mode flag and change its value from Normal to None. Once you restart Firefox this will disable animations.

To enable you to meet the requirements for QTS, we have designed a programme of school placements that provide you with the opportunity to spend extended periods in at least two schools (phase placements), have wider experience of schools in a supported group context (holistic placements) and to develop some understanding of the key stages outside of which you are training to teach (higher and lower key stage placements.)

Before your placement starts

The Partnership Team will communicate with you about your placement as soon as possible.

Once you know where you will be placed, you should:

Contact your Placement School. This will normally be through the school office unless we have contact details for your Mentor. Email your Mentor to introduce yourself.
Take a look at the latest Ofsted report for your placement school. Bear in mind that this will not necessarily reflect your experience there but it will give you some insights into the background to your placement.
Arrange to visit the school if time and distance allows; this should make the first days of your placement easier.
Make sure you understand when and where to attend on your first day.
Research the journey details so you are clear about how to get to your placement.
Contact your Link Tutor (you will be provided with their contact details).

During the placement

Everybody is nervous approaching their first placement; this is perfectly natural; your Mentor should understand this. Building a professional working relationship with your Mentor (and with other staff at the school) will be a priority for you. Try to get to know the childrens’ names as soon as possible and understand and participate as much as possible in the life of the school. On a first placement children will understand that you are not their ‘proper’ teacher, but the more you adopt a teacher presence, the more you will begin to feel like and be treated like a teacher.

Establish with your Mentor when you will be arriving and leaving school each day, explain any personal circumstances that might be relevant to your attendance. This may include sharing your PREP plan and/or RAP should you have one.
Attend staff meetings and CPD where possible. These are an important part of your training in becoming a teacher and attending will help you to feel part of the team in your setting.
Discuss the use of PebblePad with your school Mentor and make sure they are connected to you on the system. You are responsible for making sure your PebblePad is complete and up to date, but your Mentor needs to add their contributions on a regular basis.
Agree a regular time for a one-hour weekly meeting with your Mentor. Start working with your Mentor on a timetable for the placement; what you will be teaching and when, and what you will be doing when you are not teaching.
Review and refine your subject knowledge in collaboration with your Mentor. Be proactive in developing this aspect of your teaching, it is important in building your confidence in the trust children have in you as a teacher. Always ask if you are unsure about the content you are teaching, it needs to be right first time.
Talk regularly with your Mentor about the children in your class. Get to know them as individuals from assessment data and increasingly, from your own experience.
Understand about any children with SEND and EAL needs, talk about barriers to learning and how these may be overcome.

Your weekly Mentor meeting must be recorded on PebblePad, and you should:

Review new implementation and progress
Reflect on observations of others and observations of you
Consider what to implement in the following week and set targets for the following week.
Have your Mentor add a comment.

You will be formally observed by your Mentor (or a colleague) once a week and this formal observation is recorded in PebblePad. You should arrange to be observed in a variety of lessons at different times of the day. This will help you get a fuller picture of how you are doing and give you more ideas for your development.

Your Link Tutor will make an in-person visit to discuss your Progress Review with you and your Mentor. Your Mentor and Link Tutor will briefly observe you teaching a lesson during this visit as well as discuss progress with you. This is intended to be a supportive process to help you make the most of your placement.

In the final week of your placement your Mentor will complete the Final Review in PebblePad which will record the progress you have made. Your Link Tutor will arrange a virtual meeting with your Mentor and you to discuss this Final Review.

Timetables

Time period	Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
From weeks 1-2	Meet virtually with your Link Tutor and arrange the Progress Review visit. Access important school policy documents. Establish with your Mentor when you will be arriving and leaving school each day, explain any personal circumstances that might be relevant to your attendance. This may include sharing your PREP plan and/or RAP should you have one. Discuss the use of PebblePad with your school Mentor and make sure they are connected to you on the system. Understand about any children with SEND and EAL needs, talk about barriers to learning and how these may be overcome. Investigate different aspects of the school environment and take opportunities to observe other teachers, break-time duty, school trips etc. Attend staff meetings/briefings.
	Start completing your Holistic tasks.
	Introduce yourself to the class and get involved as a TA.	Introduce yourself to the class and get involved as a TA. Depending on your readiness, start some small group teaching.	Introduce yourself to the class and get involved as a TA. Depending on your readiness, start some small group teaching or whole class teaching.
	Start having one-hour weekly meetings with your Mentor in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Start working with your Mentor on a timetable for the placement; what you will be teaching and when, and what you will be doing when you are not teaching. Start taking informal feedback. Assess your subject knowledge, discuss and jointly action plan for your development.
From weeks 3-4	Continue to observe your Mentor and others teach, and work as a classroom assistant.
	Start to build your timetable towards the target of 50% leading teaching (10% PPA, 20% supporting as a TA and 20% observing). (For Primary, focus mainly on the core subjects and for EYFS, the seven Areas of Learning).	Build your timetable towards the target of 60% leading teaching (10% PPA, 15% supporting as a TA and 15% observing). (For Primary, focus mainly on the core subjects but including some foundation subjects).	Build your timetable towards the target of 80% leading teaching (10% PPA, 5% supporting as a TA and 5% observing). (For Primary, focus on core and foundation subjects and for EYFS, the seven Areas of Learning).
	Continue to have weekly meetings with your Mentor in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Undergo one recorded observation per week and upload to the weekly meeting in PebblePad.
	Review pupil progress data. Refine your use of Assessment for Learning (AfL).	Develop your use of AfL. For example, through improving your questioning. When opportunity arises, engage with summative assessment.	Develop your use of AfL. For example, through improving your questioning. Where appropriate, be regularly marking and giving feedback. When opportunity arises, engage with summative assessment.
	Start preparing lessons and share the school’s planning.	Plan your teaching with support.	Plan more independently and where appropriate contribute to the planning of others.
Roughly halfway through the placement	The Progress Review is the gateway to the second half of the placement. You, your Mentor and the university Link Tutor will review your progress towards expected progress for each phase. If there is any concern at the Progress Review that you will not have made the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards by the end of the placement, an intervention will be put in place. By the Progress Review, if all the Core Areas are stated as ‘Made expected progress’ or ‘Making expected progress’ it is assumed that, as long as you stay on the expected trajectory, you will pass the placement or meet the Teachers’ Standards.
Rest of placement	Continue to prepare lessons and share the school’s planning. Where appropriate start planning teaching sequences on your own.	Plan your teaching with support, expanding your repertoire of subjects.	Largely plan independently and contribute to the planning of others.
	You should be leading teaching 50% of the time (and for Primary, mostly core but where possible including some foundation subjects and for EYFS, the seven Areas of Learning).	You should be leading teaching 60% of the time (and for Primary, mostly core but including some foundation subjects).	You should be leading teaching 80% of the time.
	Continue to have weekly meetings with your Mentor in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. You should become increasingly proactive in setting and planning to achieve challenging targets. In phase 3, the weekly discussions should now be based around the Teachers’ Standards and set weekly SMART developmental targets should also relate to these.
	Undergo one recorded observation per week.
Final Review	The Final Review provides a summative statement of your achievement against the expected progress statements (phases 1 and 2) or the Teachers’ Standards (phase 3).
After the placement is completed	Complete the student placement survey sent out by the placements team.

Time period	Phase 1	Phase 2
From weeks 1-2	Meet virtually with your Link Tutor and arrange the Progress Review visit. Access important school policy documents. Establish with your Mentor when you will be arriving and leaving school each day, explain any personal circumstances that might be relevant to your attendance. This may include sharing your PREP plan and/or RAP should you have one. Discuss the use of PebblePad with your school Mentor and make sure they are connected to you on the system. Understand about any children with SEND and EAL needs, talk about barriers to learning and how these may be overcome. Investigate different aspects of the school environment and take opportunities to observe other teachers, break-time duty, school trips etc. Attend staff meetings/briefings.
	Start completing your Holistic tasks.
	Introduce yourself to the class and get involved as a TA.	Introduce yourself to the class and get involved as a TA. Depending on your readiness, start some small group teaching or whole class teaching.
	Start having one-hour weekly meetings with your Mentor in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Start working with your Mentor on a timetable for the placement; what you will be teaching and when, and what you will be doing when you are not teaching. Start taking informal feedback. Assess your subject knowledge, discuss and jointly action plan for your development.
From weeks 3-4	Continue to observe your Mentor and others teach, and work as a classroom assistant.
	Start to build your timetable towards the target of 60% leading teaching (10% PPA, 15% supporting as a TA and 15% observing). (For Primary, focus mainly on the core subjects, and for EYFS, the seven Areas of Learning).	Build your timetable towards the target of 80% leading teaching (10% PPA, 5% supporting as a TA and 5% observing). (For Primary, focus on core and foundation subjects and for EYFS, the seven Areas of Learning).
	Continue to have weekly meetings with your Mentor in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Undergo one recorded observation per week and upload to the weekly meeting in PebblePad.
	Review pupil progress data. Refine your use of Assessment for Learning (AfL).	Develop your use of AfL. For example, through improving your questioning. Where appropriate, be regularly marking and giving feedback. When opportunity arises, engage with summative assessment.
	Start preparing lessons and share the school’s planning.	Plan more independently and where appropriate contribute to the planning of others.
Roughly halfway through the placement	The Progress Review is the gateway to the second half of the placement. You, your Mentor and the university Link Tutor will review your progress towards expected progress for each phase. If there is any concern at the Progress Review that you will not have made the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards by the end of the placement, an intervention will be put in place. By the Progress Review, if all the Core Areas are stated as ‘Made expected progress’ or ‘Making expected progress’ it is assumed that, as long as you stay on the expected trajectory, you will pass the placement or meet the Teachers’ Standards.
Rest of placement	Continue to prepare lessons and share the school’s planning. Where appropriate start planning teaching sequences on your own.	Largely plan independently and contribute to the planning of others.
	You should be leading teaching 60% of the time (and for Primary, mostly core but where possible including some foundation subjects and for EYFS, the seven Areas of Learning).	You should be leading teaching 80% of the time.
	Continue to have weekly meetings with your Mentor in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. You should become increasingly proactive in setting and planning to achieve challenging targets. In phase 3, the weekly discussions should now be based around the Teachers’ Standards and set weekly SMART developmental targets should also relate to these.
	Undergo one recorded observation per week.
Final Review	The Final Review provides a summative statement of your achievement against the expected progress statements (phase 1) or the Teachers’ Standards (phase 2).
After the placement is completed	Complete the student placement survey sent out by the placements team.

The Progress Review is important as, should it be required, this will be the last opportunity for an intervention to be put in place for you. This is an in-person visit and should follow this format:

Timeline		Activity
Before the visit	On PebblePad: In the Core Areas section ensure your Mentor completes the tables within each Core Area Check attendance is complete and up to date In the Progress Review section, ensure your Mentor completes the table, and the comments underneath
During the visit	5 minutes	Your Mentor will meet your Link Tutor at reception and take them to the classroom.
	20 minutes	Your Link Tutor and Mentor will observe you teaching.
	15 minutes	Your Link Tutor will meet with your Mentor to discuss your progress. If any of the Core Areas are marked as ‘Not making expected progress,’ an intervention will be put in place.
	15 minutes	You will meet with your Link Tutor and Mentor to discuss the lesson and your progress. If an intervention is necessary, a student support plan will be jointly completed with you, your Link Tutor and your Mentor. You will set a date for the Final Review meeting.
	5 minutes	You will escort your Link Tutor back to reception.
After the visit		If you have not done so already, add your comments to the Progress Review page on PebblePad.

The Final Review meeting is an important quality assurance check and Link Tutors will have to be sure from what they see and hear that you have achieved the requirements to progress to the next phase or to meet the QTS Teachers’ Standards. This is a 30-minute meeting in which the main focus is Final Review which your Mentor should have completed prior to the meeting (even though they might not necessarily have shared this with you before the meeting).

This is a Microsoft Teams meeting and should follow this format:

Timeline		Activity
Before the visit	On PebblePad:
Before the visit	For UG phases 1 and 2 or PG phase 1: Your attendance record is complete. In the Core Areas section, all expected progress statements are ticked ‘Made expected progress’ by your Mentor and the comments underneath the table are completed. You have uploaded one appropriate piece of evidence for each Core Area. In the Final Review page, each of the Core Area boxes is ticked as Made expected progress by your Mentor and comment is completed. The subject development table for this phase is completed by your Mentor.	For UG phase 3 or PG phase 2: Your attendance record is complete. In the Core Areas section, all expected progress statements are ticked ‘Made expected progress’ by your Mentor and the comments underneath the table are completed. In the Meeting the Standards section, all Teachers’ Standards are ticked ‘Yes’ by your Mentor and the part 2 section is ‘Met’, and the comments completed. You have uploaded one appropriate piece of evidence for each Teacher Standard. In the Final Review page, each of the Met boxes is ticked by your Mentor and the Mentor comment is completed. The subject development table for this phase is completed by your Mentor.
During the meeting	5 minutes	You will discuss your placement, progress and contribution.
	20 minutes	Your Mentor will run through the expected progress statements/a sample of the Teachers’ Standards, indicating how you have met each one. You will explain how your submitted evidence supports having made expected progress/met the Teachers’ Standard.
	20 minutes	If appropriate, consider targets for next phase of your training/ECT transition. Your Link Tutor will detail anything that is still outstanding on PebblePad that requires completion.
After the meeting		If you have not done so already, add your comments to the Final Review page on PebblePad.

Division of timetable

Students benefit from a balance of classroom activity including:

teaching themselves either the whole class or small groups,
helping the classroom teacher (Mentor) by acting as a teaching assistant (TA)
observing experienced teachers.

We suggest the following division of activity for each phase:

Undergraduate

Placement type	Phase 1 (Single placement)	Phase 1 (Paired placement)	Phase 2 (Single placement)	Phase 3 (Single placement)
Teaching	50%	30%	60%	80%
Helping in the role of a Teaching Assistant	20%	40%	15%	5%
Observing expert colleagues teaching	20%	20%	15%	5%
Marking and preparation	10%	10%	10%	10%