Placement guidance | Information For Mentors | Education Placements

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Before the placement starts

We aim to send information to you with regards to the student/s who will be placed at your school 2-3 weeks before the start of the placement, if not earlier.

Once students know where they will be placed, they should make contact with your school, and email you as their Mentor to introduce themselves. If time and distance allow, they may ask to arrange a visit to the school before the placement starts. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they understand when and where to attend on their first day and research the journey details, so they are clear about how to get to their placement.

During the placement

During the placement, your student/s should:

Establish when to arrive and leave school each day, explain any personal circumstances that might be relevant to their attendance. This may include sharing a Reasonable Adjustment Plan (RAP) should they have one.
Attend staff meetings and CPD where possible. These are an important part of their training in becoming a teacher and attending will help them to feel part of the team in your setting.
Discuss the use of PebblePad with you and make sure you are connected to them on the system. You will need to add your contributions on a regular basis.
Agree a regular time for weekly meeting/s totalling 90 minutes with you and start working with you on a timetable for the placement; what they will be teaching and when, and what they will be doing when they are not teaching.
Review and refine their subject knowledge in collaboration with you.
Talk regularly with you about the children in your class.
Understand about any children with SEND and EAL needs, talk about barriers to learning and how these may be overcome.

The weekly meeting must be recorded on PebblePad, and together with the student you should:

Review progress against the previous week’s targets
Reflect on observations of others and observations of the student
Set targets based on the expected progress statements for the following week.
Add a mentor comment.

You or a colleague will formally observe your student once a week and this formal observation is recorded in PebblePad.

The university Lead Mentor will make an in-person visit to discuss your student’s Progress Review with you and your student. The university Lead Mentor and you will briefly observe your student teaching a lesson during this visit as well as discuss progress with them.

In the final week of your student’s placement, you will complete the Final Review in PebblePad which will record the progress your student has made. The university Lead Mentor will arrange a virtual meeting with your student and you to discuss this Final Review.

Schedules

Below is a weekly schedule guide of what is expected of Mentors while students are on placement.

Time period of student placement	Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
From weeks 1-2	The university Lead Mentor will contact you to introduce themselves and arrange the Progress Review visit Complete school-based Mentor logistical training. Familiarise yourself with PebblePad. Allow student access to important school policy documents, for example, safeguarding and behaviour management. Ensure they know who the DSL is. Establish when you expect the student to arrive and leave school each day. Allow student freedom to investigate different aspects of the school environment and offer opportunities to observe other teachers, take part in break-time duty, school trips, etc. Discuss the class with the student, helping them to understand about any children with SEND and EAL needs, talk about barriers to learning for pupils in the class and the adaptive teaching approaches employed by you.
	Introduce your student to the class and direct them to supporting the learning of Individuals and small groups of pupils.	Introduce your student to the class and allow them to teach up to 20% and co-teach and support you in the other 60%.	Introduce your student to the class and allow them to teach up to 40% and co-teach and support you in the other 40%.
	Your student should have 20% non-contact time to include the observation of a range of expert colleagues. The student should share their action plan for this phase with you. Start having 90-minute weekly meetings with your student in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly developmental targets. Nb, this does not need to be in one 90-minute block i.e., it could be 3 x 30-minute meetings. These targets should be: Simple, small-step and where possible, SMART ~3 Core Areas per week against the most relevant but have a comment in in each area Based on the expected progress statements Reviewed the following week Start working on a timetable for the placement; what your student will be teaching and when, and what they will be doing when they are not teaching. Start to give your student informal feedback. Assess your student’s subject knowledge, discuss and jointly action plan for your student’s development. Share any questions or concerns with the student’s university Lead Mentor.
Weeks 3-4	Continue to allow your student to observe you and others teach and support learning in the classroom.
	Help your student plan and teach 30-40% of the timetable across the week and work under your direction for the other 40% Help your student plan and teach English in one week and Mathematics in the other week. Planning and teaching small groups counts as teaching time. In EYFS, help your student plan for all areas of learning including SSP and Mathematics. Allow them to gain experience of planning for child-initiated learning and plan for the learning environment.	Help your student plan and teach up to 40% of the timetable across the week and co-teach and support you in the other 40%. The student should be focusing on the core subjects and one or two Foundation subjects per week	Help your student plan and teach up to 80% of the timetable across the week. The student should be covering the full curriculum range. In EYFS and KS1, they should plan and teach sequences of SSP lessons.
	Your student should have 20% non-contact time to include the observation of a range of expert colleagues. Continue to have 90-minute weekly meetings with your student in which you discuss progress towards expected progress statements in the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Carry out one recorded observation per week and upload to the weekly meeting in PebblePad.
	Talk regularly with your student about the children in the class. Help them to develop their use of Assessment for Learning (AfL) through questioning, observation and the marking of work.	Talk regularly with your student about the children in the class. help them to use assessment data and make regular use of AfL in their teaching. Help them to develop their understanding of adaptive teaching approaches and the barriers to learning pupils might encounter. When opportunity arises, allow them to engage with summative assessment.	Talk regularly with your student about the children in the class. Allow them to use assessment data and make regular use of AfL in their teaching. Help them to develop an understanding of adaptive teaching approaches and the barriers to learning pupils might encounter. Allow them to engage with summative assessment and attend parents evening if possible.
	Help student to start preparing lessons and share the school’s planning.	Student should be planning their teaching with support.	Increasingly student should be planning independently and where appropriate contributing to the planning of others.
	Share any thoughts / concerns with the university Lead Mentor.
Roughly halfway through the placement	The Progress Review is the gateway to the second half of the placement. You, your student and the university Lead Mentor will review the student’s progress towards expected progress for each phase. If there is any concern at the Progress Review that the student will not have made the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards by the end of the placement, then a support plan must be put in place. The Progress Review is the last opportunity to do so. 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 they stay on the expected trajectory, the student will make the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards.
Weeks 5-6 (Phase 1) and 5-8 (Phases 2 and 3)	Student should be planning and teaching a 40-50% timetable across the week and work under your direction for the other 30-40%	Student should be planning and teaching a 60% timetable across the week and co-teach and support you for the other 20%	Student should be planning and teaching an 80% timetable across the week.
	Student should teach the curriculum of the host class. They should plan and teach a short sequence of English in one week and Mathematics in the other week. Planning and teaching small groups also counts as teaching time. They should plan a discrete SSP lesson each day they are teaching. They should teach or support one or two Foundation subjects per week. In EYFS, they should plan for all areas of learning including SSP and Mathematics. They should gain experience of planning for child-initiated learning and plan for the learning environment under your guidance.	Student should teach the curriculum of the host class. They should plan and teach a sequence of English and Mathematics lessons. In KS1 classes, they should plan and teach sequences of SSP lessons. They should focus on teaching Science and PE and any of the Foundation subjects they have not yet planned and taught where possible.	Student should teach the full curriculum of the host class, focusing on the Core and Foundation subjects and all EYFS areas of learning. In EYFS and KS1, student should plan and teach sequences of SSP lessons.
	Your student should have 20% non-contact time to include the observation of a range of expert colleagues. Continue to hold weekly meetings with the student in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets with the student. Students 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. Carry out one recorded observation per week. Share any questions or concerns with the student’s university Lead Mentor.
Final Review	The Final Review provides a formative assessment of your achievement against the expected progress statements (phases 1and 2) or a summative assessment against the Teachers’ Standards (phase 3).
After the placement is completed	Complete the Mentor placement survey sent out by the placements team.

Below is a weekly schedule guide of what is expected of Mentors while students are on placement.

Time period of student placement	Phase 1	Phase 2
Full time phase 1 weeks 1-5 Full time phase 2 weeks 1-4 Part time phase 1 weeks 1-8 Part time phase 2 weeks 1-9	The university Lead Mentor will contact you to introduce themselves and arrange the Progress Review visit. Complete school-based Mentor logistical training. Familiarise yourself with PebblePad. Allow student access to important school policy documents, for example, safeguarding and behaviour management. Ensure they know who the DSL is. Allow student to get involved in activities such as breaktime duty. Attend staff meetings/briefings Agree the student’s teaching timetable Outline the demographics of the class, including any children with SEND and EAL needs, talk about barriers to learning and the adaptive teaching approaches employed by you.
	Introduce student to the class and get them to support you in the classroom and observe teaching. Start giving informal feedback.	Introduce student to the class and get them to support you in the classroom and observe teaching. Depending on your student’s readiness, allow them to start some small group teaching or whole class teaching. Start giving informal feedback.
	On PebblePad, help the student to start completing the weekly meeting sections with developmental targets. These targets should be: Simple, small-step and where possible, SMART ~3 Core Areas per week against the most relevant but have a comment in in each area Based on the expected progress statements Reviewed the following week Assess your student’s subject knowledge, discuss and jointly action plan for your student’s development. Share any questions or concerns with the student’s university Lead Mentor. Continue to allow your student to support you and observe teaching.
Full time phase 1 weeks 6-9 Full time phase 2 weeks 5-10 Part time phase 1 weeks 10-19 Part time phase 2 weeks 10-20	Start building your student’s timetable towards the target of 60% leading teaching (with 20% non-contact time). This is pro rata for part time students. Students should be planning using LBU full lesson plan proforma and preparing their own lessons/adapting from schemes where used. They should be teaching Core Subjects (they may also teach other subjects where they already have experience or confidence). Help your student to review prior learning of the class/unpick class records.	Start building your student’s timetable towards the target of 80% leading teaching (with 20% non-contact time). This is pro rata for part time students. Students should plan using the LBU full lesson plan proforma. They should plan more independently and where appropriate contribute to the planning of others. They should start teaching Core Subjects (they may also teach other subjects where they already have experience or confidence). Help your student to review prior learning of the class/unpick class records. Where appropriate, student can be regularly marking and giving feedback. When the opportunity arises, student can engage with summative assessment.
	Meet with your student for 90 minutes per week (biweekly for part time students) to discuss the Core Areas, their teaching, progress and new professional objectives. Nb, this does not need to be in one 90-minute block i.e., it could be 3 x 30-minute meetings. Continue to set SMART developmental targets each week on PebblePad. Carry out one formal observation per week. Student will upload lesson plan and observation form to each weekly meeting on PebblePad.
	Arrange for student to have time in a Lower Key Stage each week (EYFS for 5-11 / Nursery for 3-7).	Arrange for student to have time in a Higher Key Stage setting ideally through the school's transition day – High School for 5-11 students, a Key Stage 2 setting for 3-7 students.
	Share any thoughts/concerns with the University’s Lead Mentor.
Roughly halfway through the placement	The Progress Review is the gateway to the second half of the placement. You, your student and the university Lead Mentor will review the student’s progress towards expected progress for each phase. If there is any concern at the Progress Review that the student will not have made the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards by the end of the placement, then a support plan must be put in place. The Progress Review is the last opportunity to do so. If four or five Core Areas are marked as ‘not making expected progress’ your placement will be terminated. By the Progress Review, if all of the Core Areas are stated as ‘Made expected progress’ or ‘Making expected progress’ it is assumed that, as long as they stay on the expected trajectory, the student will make the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards. Please note, for phase 1, the Core Area expected progress statements change after the progress review.
Full time phase 1 week 7 onwards Full time phase 2 week 10 onwards Part time phase 1 week 11 onwards Part time phase 2 week 13 onwards	Your student should teach a 60% teaching timetable (with 20% non-contact time, mostly core but where possible including some foundation subjects). This is pro rata for part time students.	Your student should teach an 80% teaching timetable (with 20% non-contact time, mostly core but where possible including some foundation subjects). This is pro rata for part time students.
	Your student should continue to plan all lessons using LBU full lesson plan proforma, reflecting upon children’s learning and planning appropriately.	Your student should continue to plan all lessons and reflect on children’s learning and plan appropriately. If your student’s planning and teaching is going well, and through a conversation with you and/or the university Lead Mentor, the student may choose to use either: The simpler Leeds Beckett proforma (available on PebblePad) The school’s own existing lesson plans, if they annotate/adapt them to make them their own. Students on all phases of placement are expected to produce a LBU full lesson plan for each lesson where they are formally observed (i.e., their one weekly observation and their observation during the Progress Review visit).
	Continue to have 90-minute weekly meetings (biweekly for part time students) with your student in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Your student should become increasingly proactive in setting and planning to achieve challenging targets.	Continue to have 90-minute weekly meetings (biweekly for part time students) with your student in which you now discuss the Teachers’ Standards and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Your student should become increasingly proactive in setting and planning to achieve challenging targets.
	Continue to formally observe your student once per week. Your student will upload this lesson plan and observation form to each weekly meeting on PebblePad. Share any questions or concerns with the student’s university Lead Mentor.
Final Review	The Final Review provides a formative assessment of your achievement against the expected progress statements (phase 1) or a summative assessment against the Teachers’ Standards (phase 2).
After the placement is completed	Complete the school-based Mentor placement survey sent out by the placements team.

Below is a weekly schedule guide of what is expected of Mentors while students are on placement.

Time period of student placement	Phase 1	Phase 2
Full time phase 1 weeks 1-3 Full time phase 2 weeks 1-2 Part time phase 1 weeks 1-3 Part time phase 2 weeks 1-3	The university Lead Mentor will contact you to introduce themselves and arrange the Progress Review visit. Complete school-based Mentor logistical training. Familiarise yourself with PebblePad. Allow student access to important school policy documents, for example, safeguarding and behaviour management. Ensure they know who the DSL is. Allow student to get involved in activities such as breaktime duty. Attend staff meetings/briefings Discuss the student’s teaching timetable with them and consider any opportunities for them to observe the teaching of post-16 lessons. Outline the demographics of the class, including any children with SEND and EAL needs, talk about barriers to learning and the adaptive teaching approaches employed by you.
	Introduce student to the class and get them to support you in the classroom and observe teaching. Start giving informal feedback.	Introduce student to the class and get them to support you in the classroom and observe teaching. Depending on your student’s readiness, allow them to start some small group teaching or whole class teaching. Start giving informal feedback.
	On PebblePad, help the student to start completing the weekly meeting sections with developmental targets. These targets should be: Simple, small-step and where possible, SMART ~3 Core Areas per week against the most relevant but have a comment in in each area Based on the expected progress statements Reviewed the following week Assess your student’s subject knowledge, discuss and jointly action plan for your student’s development. Share any questions or concerns with the student’s university Lead Mentor. Continue to allow your student to support you and observe teaching.
Full time phase 1 weeks 3-6 Full time phase 2 weeks 3-10 Part time phase 1 weeks 4-11 Part time phase 2 weeks 4-12	Start building your student’s timetable towards the target of 60% leading teaching (with 20% non-contact time). This is pro rata for part time students. Students should be planning using LBU full lesson plan proforma and preparing their own lessons/adapting from schemes where used. They should be teaching Core Subjects (they may also teach other subjects where they already have experience or confidence). Help your student to review prior learning of the class/unpick class records.	Start building your student’s timetable towards the target of 80% leading teaching (with 20% non-contact time). This is pro rata for part time students. Students should plan using the LBU full lesson plan proforma. They should plan more independently and where appropriate contribute to the planning of others. They should start teaching Core Subjects (they may also teach other subjects where they already have experience or confidence). Help your student to review prior learning of the class/unpick class records. Where appropriate, student can be regularly marking and giving feedback. When the opportunity arises, student can engage with summative assessment.
	Meet with your student for 90 minutes per week (biweekly for part time students) to discuss the Core Areas, their teaching, progress and new professional objectives. Nb, this does not need to be in one 90-minute block i.e., it could be 3 x 30-minute meetings. Continue to set SMART developmental targets each week on PebblePad. Give informal feedback to the student and ask them to share their planning with you as appropriate. Allow student to get involved with a form/tutor group and participate in activities, for example, signing planners. Share any thoughts/concerns with the university Lead Mentor.
Roughly halfway through the placement	The Progress Review is the gateway to the second half of the placement. You, your student and the university Lead Mentor will review the student’s progress towards expected progress for each phase. If there is any concern at the Progress Review that the student will not have made the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards by the end of the placement, then a support plan must be put in place. The Progress Review is the last opportunity to do so. If four or five Core Areas are marked as ‘not making expected progress’ your placement will be terminated. By the Progress Review, if all of the Core Areas are stated as ‘Made expected progress’ or ‘Making expected progress’ it is assumed that, as long as they stay on the expected trajectory, the student will make the expected progress or meet the Teachers’ Standards. Please note, for phase 1, the Core Area expected progress statements change after the progress review.
Full time phase 1 week 7 onwards Full time phase 2 week 11 onwards Part time phase 1 week 12 onwards Part time phase 2 week 13 onwards	Your student should teach a 60% teaching timetable (with 20% non-contact time). This is pro rata for part time students.	Your student should teach an 80% teaching timetable (with 20% non-contact time). This is pro rata for part time students.
	Your student should continue to plan all lessons using LBU full lesson plan proforma, reflecting upon children’s learning and planning appropriately.	Your student should continue to plan all lessons and reflect on children’s learning and plan appropriately. If your student’s planning and teaching is going well, and through a conversation with you and/or the Lead Mentor, the student may choose to use either: The simpler Leeds Beckett proforma (available on PebblePad) The school’s own existing lesson plans, if they annotate/adapt them to make them their own. Students on all phases of placement are expected to produce a LBU full lesson plan for each lesson where they are formally observed (i.e., their one weekly observation and their observation during the Progress Review visit).
	Continue to have 90-minute weekly meetings (biweekly for part time students) with your student in which you discuss the Core Areas and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Your student should become increasingly proactive in setting and planning to achieve challenging targets.	Continue to have 90-minute weekly meetings (biweekly for part time students) with your student in which you now discuss the Teachers’ Standards and set weekly SMART developmental targets. Your student should become increasingly proactive in setting and planning to achieve challenging targets.
	Formally observe your student once per week. Your student will upload this lesson plan and observation form to each weekly meeting on PebblePad. Share any questions or concerns with the student’s university Lead Mentor.
Final Review	The Final Review provides a formative assessment of your achievement against the expected progress statements (phase 1) or a summative assessment against the Teachers’ Standards (phase 2).
After the placement is completed	Complete the Mentor 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 a support plan to be put in place. For all but undergraduate phase 1 who have a virtual visit, this is an in-person visit and should follow this format:

Timeline		Activity
Before the visit	On PebblePad: In the Core Areas section complete the tables within each Core Area Check the student has been completing their attendance In the Progress Review section, complete the table, and the comments underneath
During the visit	5 minutes	Meet the university Lead Mentor at reception and take them to the classroom (not applicable for undergraduate phase one)
	20 minutes	Observe the student teaching with the university Lead Mentor (not applicable for undergraduate phase one)
	15 minutes	Meet with the university Lead Mentor alone. You should: Lead the discussion and give your opinion on how the student is doing. Discuss the progress being made against the Core Areas. At this stage, they can be still as ‘Making expected progress,’ but there needs to be consideration of whether the student will make expected progress by the end of the placement. If there is any doubt that the student will not make the expected progress in any Core Area by the end of the placement a support plan should be put in place. The Progress Review is usually the last opportunity to do so. If you have marked the student as ‘Not making expected progress’ for up to three of the Core Areas, support plan must be put in place. If four or five Core Areas are marked as ‘not making expected progress’ the student’s placement will be terminated.
	15 minutes	Meet with the university Lead Mentor and student. Lead giving feedback on the lesson, the university Lead Mentor will contribute where appropriate. Evaluate the progress the student is making with the university Lead Mentor. If a support plan is necessary, complete this with the university Lead Mentor, to which the student will agree. Set a time and date to review the support plan. Set a date and time for the Final Review meeting.
	5 minutes	The student will escort the university Lead Mentor back to reception (not applicable for undergraduate phase one).

The Final Review meeting is an important quality assurance check and Lead Mentors will have to be sure from what they see and hear that the student has 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 you should have completed prior to the meeting (even though you might not necessarily have shared this with the student 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: The attendance record is complete. All weekly meetings are up to date and complete. This includes there being a lesson plan and observation feedback form uploaded each week. In the Core Areas section, all expected progress statements are ticked ‘Made expected progress’. In the Final Review page, each of the Core Area boxes is ticked as Made expected progress and comments are completed.  The subject development table for this phase is completed.	For UG phase 3 or PG phase 2: The attendance record is complete. All weekly meetings are up to date and complete. This includes there being a lesson plan and observation feedback form uploaded each week. In the Core Areas section, all expected progress statements are ticked ‘Made expected progress’.  In the Meeting the Standards section for all Teachers’ Standards: They are ticked ‘Yes’ You have provided a statement of how your student had met the Standard Your student had provided a statement of how each strand of the Standard has been met, including examples the part 2 section is ‘Met’, and your comments completed. In the Final Review page, you have ticked each of the Met boxes and comments are completed. The subject development table for this phase is completed.
During the meeting	5 minutes	The student will discuss their placement, progress and contribution.
	20 minutes	You will run through: The Core Areas, indicating how your student has made expected progress. Or, a sample of the Teachers’ Standards, indicating how your student has met each one. Your student will explain how: How the weekly meetings show they have made expected progress in each Core Area. Or, how their statements support that they have met the Teachers’ Standards. If expected progress has been made/the Teachers’ Standards met, congratulate the student.
	5 minutes	If appropriate, consider targets for the next phase of the student’s training/ECT transition. The university Lead Mentor will detail anything that is still outstanding on PebblePad that requires completion.