Appropriate Body Services

Our Team

Our AB team provide a fair and independent quality assurance service for school inductions.

Our Regional AB Lead, Kate Castro-Martin, is responsible for leading the strategic direction and operational management of the AB  service across all our TSH regions. Kate oversees AB delivery partners, AB reviewers, and the AB administration team. She is the main point of contact from onboarding to completing induction and leads our quality assurance function, visiting schools, providing training, and advising on panels regarding struggling ECTs.

 

Our AB Coordinator, Melanie Jones, is responsible for tracking ECT progress; managing our online platform, ECT Manager; quality assuring our marketing, events and communications, including our weekly bulletins; reporting to the Teacher Regulation Agency; and liaising with school business partners on SLAs and invoices.

 

 

Our AB administrator, Sophie Bannister, is responsible for school registrations and onboarding, responding to ECT Manager help desk tickets, and general communications with schools.

 

 

Our Director of Teacher Development, Natasha Evans, is an experienced AB leader and manages any conflicts of interest with appeals panels for failing ECTs, or reviews for reduced or extended inductions.

 

 

Our AB Delivery Partners, Catalyst Academy Trust, Seven Kings High School, Redbridge Local Authority and Waltham Forest Local Authority provide localised school support and monitoring of Induction, review ECT reports, provide feedback, and manage ECTs on support plans.

 

Andrea Parfett, Appropriate Body Lead at Catalyst Academies Trust, Thurrock on behalf of Chafford Hundred Teaching School Hub

 

 

Chris D'Netto, Appropriate Body Lead at Seven Kings High School, Redbridge on behalf of North East London Chobham Teaching School Hub

 

 

 

Lorna Baker, ECT Induction and Customer Services Coordinator at Redbridge Local Authority, on behalf of North East London Chobham Teaching School Hub

 

 

Sylvia Harper, ECT Coordinator at Waltham Forest Local Authority on behalf of North East London Chobham Teaching School Hub 

 

 

 

 

Our AB Services

We are a well-established and expert Appropriate Body delivery team. Each year we register and help manage Induction for over 1200 ECTs working with hundreds of schools in different contexts. We recognise that for school leaders to provide a high standard f ECT induction, they must have a sound understanding of the statutory guidance and be complaint in all areas. 100% of school leaders who complete our annual satisfaction survey tell us our training is our “high-quality”. We provide rigorous support and challenge, and effective communication for our schools who play a vital role in our successful improvement processes. We have an effective governance system in place with representation from schools and Local Authorities across all TSH regions. We have co-led the national AB network, participated on the National Advisory Board for ABs, and advised the DfE on AB policy. 

There should be no surprises during induction.             

We seek to ensure that Induction is fair and consistent for all ECTs and achieve this via:

• Dedicated AB Website including DfE policy updates, training videos, and FAQs
• Mon-Thurs. 8am -5pm, and Friday 8am - 3pm AB Phone Line (including school holidays)
• Onboarding Welcome Webinars for Schools and ECTs
• AB Handbook with templates to support induction including exemplars for Lesson Observations, Mentor Meetings, and Tracking the Teachers’ Standards
• Weekly Bulletins for Induction Tutors, Mentors, and ECTs
• Weekly Drop-In Webinars with the Regional AB Lead for 1-2-1 or group support
• Access to the online platform ECT Manager to track the ECTs’ learning journey
• Keep-in-touch surveys each term for early intervention and support plans
• Streamlined processes for reporting and moderating Professional Progress Reviews and End of Year Assessments
• Flexible Training for Headteachers and Induction Tutors via live and recorded termly walk-throughs
• Annual Mentor Conference, with online, free access to the ‘best bets’ in evidence-informed practice
• Teacher Regulation Agency Administration and Final Recommendation for Induction
• Localised Delivery Partner support in London and Essex
• School Visits, in-person and remote, with constructive and supportive feedback
• Transition Support for ECTs moving to a new AB, school, or contract
• ECF Fidelity Checking where schools are using the DfE accredited materials or designing their own training programme based on the ECF 
• Designated Safeguarding Team, including support during ECT absences and leave
• Free access to MTPT, The Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher workshops
• 1-2-1 Coaching Services for pastoral & wellbeing issues (additional costs apply)
• Communication with external bodies, Unions, Occupational Health, HR
• AB Panels to Review Reductions, Extensions, and Failures of Induction
• Governance Support for Complaints and Appeals
• Expertise from Regional and National AB Network

 

Click HERE to register.

If you are new to working with us, you will need to register your school on ECT Manager.  If you would like support with this, you can access the step-by-step guide on how to register your school and new users.  Alternatively, if you would like support from our AB Central team, please contact AB@HarrisInstitute.org.uk  or contact the team on 01375 484582.

Please note, registration with an Appropriate Body is a separate process to signing up for Department for Education funded training based on the Early Career Framework.

The DfE state: “Schools are encouraged to choose their local teaching school hub for Appropriate Body services, unless they have specific reasons to access these services from another Appropriate Body.”

If your school is located outside of our designated region, please contact your local Teaching School Hub/AB first to notify them of your reasons for requesting to work with us. Reasons why we may agree to work with your school include being part of an affiliated MAT that has schools located in one of our Hub regions, or being situated a short distance from the TSH or within the same Local Authority. We abide by the Teaching School Hub Council Code of Conduct and will not advertise our services beyond our Hub regions and will redirect requests to the relevant TSH. Please visit the DfE for a full list of all appropriate bodies

 

We have a standard fee of £550 per ECT for the two years of Induction payable at the beginning of the ECT's Induction via an invoice.

Discounts for 2024-2025

We will apply regional discounts for schools who register early and pay by 11^th October 2024, starting at £490 per ECT for the two years of Induction payable at registration.  From 12th October 2024 to July 2025 the fee will be £550 for 6 terms.

If an ECT joins our AB part way through Induction, we will charge the following fees:

Terms to serve	Fee	Discounted Fee until 11/10/2024
1	£300	£240
2	£350	£290
3	£400	£340
4	£450	£390
5	£500	£440
6	£550	£490

Reduced Inductions will follow the payment model above based on the number of terms reduced.

Extended Inductions beyond 6 terms will be charged an additional £50 per term.

As part of early career teacher entitlements, schools must provide ECT(s) with a programme of training and support based on the ITTECF. There are two approaches that schools can choose from to enable the delivery of a training programme based on the ITTECF. It is up to the headteacher to choose the approach the best suits the needs of their ECTs and mentors. The approaches are: 

• A funded provider-led programme - Schools can choose to work with providers accredited by DfE who will design and deliver a programme of face-to-face and online training to ECTs and their mentors. This programme is funded by DfE.  
• Schools deliver their own training programme (with the option to use freely available school-led materials and resources) - Schools can choose to develop their own programme of training and support based on the ITTECF. The content of the framework must be covered in full. Schools can choose to use, in full or in part, the freely available school-led materials, which include ready-to-use materials and resources for early career teachers and mentors, to deliver their own ECT and mentor support. These materials have been accredited by DfE and quality assured by the Education Endowment Foundation. 

For delivery from September 2025, school-led materials based on the ITTECF will be provided by National Institute of Teaching and UCL Institute of Education via their own platforms:  

• National Institute of Teaching: Materials for school-led ECT Programme 2025/26 – The National Institute of Teaching  

• UCL Institute of Education: CEL - The Source - Home 

Section 4.4 of Appropriate bodies guidance: induction and the initial teacher training and early career framework states the following: to ease the burden and cost for both schools and appropriate bodies, it is recommended that schools choose a provider-led programme if it is available to them. Please see appropriate body costs section for schools following a provider-led route versus schools delivering their own training programme.  

If a school chooses to deliver their own training programme, using all, some or none of the school-led materials, schools are expected to supply a level of detail on planning and delivery in ITTECF fidelity checking, based on their chosen ITTECF-based programme. They are expected to participate in the appropriate body’s quality assurance process. 

Please find the guidance below from Appropriate bodies guidance: induction and the initial teacher training and early career framework  (section 4.2) 

Responsibility for ITTECF Fidelity Checking 

Appropriate bodies are expected to check that an induction design covers all of the evidence-based statements in the ITTECF and that ECTs have received planned elements of the induction. 

Headteachers are expected to ensure that an appropriate ITTECF-based induction is in place for the ECT. They are also expected to provide the appropriate body with sufficient information so that they can complete the ITTECF fidelity checks. In some schools, part, or all of this responsibility may be delegated to an ECT induction tutor or other member of staff, as appropriate. 

Pre-September 2025 

If ECTs started an ECF-based school-led training programme before 1st September 2025 (either using the existing DfE-accredited materials, or a programme designed by the school based on the ECF) they can continue to use the same course and materials based on the ECF for their remaining training programme. The existing DfE-accredited materials based on the ECF will be available until August 2027. If ECTs using these materials have not completed their training programme by 31st August 2027, they will be expected to receive a training programme based on the ITTECF from 1 September 2027 for their remaining ECTE. 

 

We are holding a series of 'Welcome Webinars' throughout the summer term 2025 where you can meet the team, find out about our Appropriate Body services, and how we can support you to provide the Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE).

Register your interest  HERE  to attend a webinar on one of the dates below.  

• Friday 9th May, 9:00-10:00am 
• Thursday 15th May, 10:00-11:00am  
• Tuesday 20th May, 11:00-12:00pm 
• Monday 2nd June, 1:00-2:00pm 
• Wednesday 11th June, 2:00-3:00pm 
• Thursday 19th June, 3:30-4:30pm 
• Tuesday 24th June, 3:30-4:30pm 
• Monday 30th June, 9:30-10:30am 
• Thursday 10th July, 12:00-1:00pm 
• Monday 14th July, 3:00-4:00pm 

Or, scan the below QR Code