Last term, TES, the popular news site for all educational professionals, published a piece on the ways in which the ECF (Early Careers Framework) is making a difference in schools.
As the Department for Education’s Teaching School Hub (TSH) for Liverpool and Wirral, we’ve worked with more than 3,000 early careers teachers (ECTs) since the inception of the ECF four years ago and have witnessed first-hand the positive impact it has had on teachers new to the profession.
One of those teachers is Chlöe Allason, a maths teacher at Liverpool Life Sciences UTC, who has been working through our ECF programme with the support of our partner University College London (UCL) since September 2023. Chloe successfully completed her statutory induction period in July 2025 and attributes her improved practice to following the ECF programme.
We spoke to Chlöe at the end of the 2024/25 academic year to find out how our ECF programme has supported her to deliver the very best education for the young people attending her school…
How has Inspire Learning TSH supported you in your teaching career so far?
Inspire has really helped me during my ECT years. I’ve found the face-to-face sessions to be particularly useful as they provide dedicated (and protected) time to share ideas with other ECTs and discuss both accomplishments and any challenges we’re facing.
What challenges have you faced as an ECT? How has the support from Inspire Learning TSH and your mentor helped you overcome this?
In my first year, I found myself taking students’ poor behaviour personally and getting upset by it. My mentor, who has been a huge part of my ECT journey, gave me some really good advice. She said I should always remind myself that they are still just children, and although I teach maths, I’m also here to nurture them into adulthood. The guidance she provided in dealing with conflict has been extremely useful too and I now have strong, positive relationships with all my students because of this support.
How has the ECF helped you manage changes and supported your approach to adaptive teaching?
I have continually adapted my teaching throughout my ECT years. I have had to adapt for different ability classes and for students with different SEND needs – this wasn’t something I came across when I completed my teacher training. The ECF helped me with this as there is a large amount of guidance available, which is also supplemented by the online learning platform from Inspire Learning TSH and UCL.
What Inspire Learning TSH and UCL resources have you found to be the most useful?
For me, the mentor meeting prompts have been the most useful resources. The prompts guide our meetings and in-depth discussions that have allowed me to improve my practice each week.
In what ways do you feel you’ve grown since working through the ECF?
I have definitely developed my resilience. I am now confident that I am good at what I do and I am able to speak up in a professional manner – this is something I don’t think I would’ve done when I first started teaching. I have improved on every teacher standard, but specifically my behaviour management and planning has evolved into what I would now consider best practice.
Chlöe is eager to continue developing her knowledge and skills to support her career growth and is embarking on the NPQLT to learn how to lead the teaching and learning of her subject.
Don’t forget, if you’ve employed or will be employing an ECT ready for September 2025, you need to register them no later than the first two weeks of the academic year and assign them to an Appropriate Body. Registration is open now, so what are you waiting for?
To find out more about the registration process click here.