A teacher writing on a whiteboard with two pupils seen from behind

“I need someone to tell me what matters this term, and what can wait.”

The First Year: Early Career Teaching, Term by Term

Primary and secondary Starting out

What you will be able to do

  1. Build a weekly rhythm that protects planning time and sleep
  2. Prepare for observations, book looks and parents’ evenings with confidence
  3. Know what to ask your mentor, and when

The programme, unit by unit

62 lessons in 7 units, 17 h 34 min in all. Lessons run about 17 minutes each, so you can fit one into a free period.

  1. Before the first week

    6 lessons · 1 h 42 min · running total 1 h 42 min

  2. Autumn: getting established

    12 lessons · 3 h 24 min · running total 5 h 6 min

  3. Autumn: marking, data and workload

    9 lessons · 2 h 33 min · running total 7 h 39 min

  4. Spring: raising the bar

    12 lessons · 3 h 24 min · running total 11 h 3 min

  5. Spring: observations and feedback

    8 lessons · 2 h 16 min · running total 13 h 19 min

  6. Summer: reports and transitions

    10 lessons · 2 h 50 min · running total 16 h 9 min

  7. Looking ahead to year two

    5 lessons · 1 h 25 min · running total 17 h 34 min

What is in the course

Streamed video lessons, watched online.

  • Three term-long strands, each a short series you watch when the term arrives
  • Planning, marking and reporting workflows that survive a busy week
  • Scripts for difficult conversations with pupils, parents and colleagues
  • A reflection log you keep on screen as you go

Who it’s for

Newly qualified and early career teachers in their first year in a classroom.

Primary and secondary teaching.

What this course is not

  • An accredited qualification. It is professional development, not an award from an exam board or a university.
  • Live teaching. There is no live tutor and no timetable. You press play when you are ready.
  • Marked or assessed. Nobody marks your work. Practice tasks are for your own planning and reflection.
  • A replacement for your school. It does not replace your school's own induction, or a SENCo's advice about a pupil.
  • Something to download. Everything is streamed online. There are no files to keep.

Watch it in your week

About 6 weeks at 3 hours a week

The lessons add up to 17 h 34 min, which is 17.6 hours. Give it 3 hours a week and 17.6 ÷ 3 = 5.9, rounded up to 6 weeks. That is about 11 lessons a week.

You have 24 months of access, so you can stop for a busy half-term and pick up where you left off.

  • 1 hour a week18 weeks
  • 2 hours a week9 weeks
  • 3 hours a weekour suggestion6 weeks
  • 5 hours a week4 weeks

Same shelf

More on Starting out

All 11 courses

£812taxes included