Extract from Guidance to accompany the Standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) TDA, 2007

Rationale

Good communication is central to working with children, young people, their
families and carers, and with colleagues across the workforce of the school and the wider children’s workforce. Teachers communicate effectively with children and young people within and beyond the classroom, in order to build rapport and secure learning and well-being. They also communicate effectively with parents and carers to support them in their role as educators. Recent school reforms mean that teachers now need to work effectively with an increasingly diverse range of colleagues, all of whom are supporting the development of children and young people.

Teachers do not work in isolation; the education and well-being of learners are increasingly the collective responsibility of a network of professionals and other support staff, who work together to ensure that needs are met. Teachers understand how other adults, both in the classroom and beyond, can contribute to teaching and learning. They are aware of the roles of colleagues across children’s services, and they know when and how to liaise with and seek help from them.

Scope

This standard requires trainees to demonstrate that they understand the important roles that colleagues, parents and carers can play in promoting learning and the ways in which they can help to secure the well-being of children and young people.

Questions to consider

• Does the trainee recognise and value the knowledge and expertise brought to the school by colleagues undertaking a range of roles across the children’s workforce?
• Is the trainee able to articulate the benefits of engaging with others, including parents and carers, in supporting learning and teaching, and raising attainment levels?
• Does the trainee acknowledge the contribution that all parents or carers can make, regardless of the parents’ or carers’ home circumstances or experience of education?
• Is the trainee able to respond appropriately to the fact that a child or young person is in public care?
• Does the trainee know about the statutory rights of parents and carers, for example in relation to communicating information about a child’s or young person’s progress?
• Does the trainee demonstrate sensitivity, for example to ethnic, cultural and religious factors when communicating with parents and carers?

Cross references

Evidence for this standard may be linked to evidence for assessment against the following standards:

• Q1, Q2 (Relationships with children and young people)
• Q3(a) (Frameworks)
• Q4, Q6 (Communicating and working with others)
• Q9 (Personal professional development)
• Q18, Q20 (Achievement and diversity)
• Q21(a), Q21(b) (Health and well-being)
• Q22 (Planning)
• Q32, Q33 (Team working and collaboration)

Sources of evidence

Planning documentation and observations of trainees’ teaching will provide evidence of their ability to use language effectively in the classroom to motivate, support, challenge and manage learners, and to secure learning. These, along with written tasks and other training activities, might additionally provide evidence of trainees’ understanding of the benefits to learners of working effectively with colleagues. Discussions with tutors and mentors will provide evidence of trainees’ knowledge and understanding of the valuable contribution to learners’ development and progress made by parents and carers. A wide range of opportunities – such as involvement in consultation meetings – might be used to explore trainee teachers’ ability to communicate sensitively and effectively with parents and carers.