How Inspiring Leaders use CENTURY to assess and support their trainees

Why did you choose CENTURY?

Phil Page: As a SCITT with up to 120 trainees enrolled across primary and secondary phases we were looking for a programme to help assess the academic capabilities of our trainees. We also wanted a programme which would help trainees develop their subject knowledge and provide them with resources to use in their teaching. We hoped that this would stop the endless trawling of various websites trainees might undertake to prepare for their lessons.

We knew of lots of schools who had been using CENTURY with their pupils, and approached the team to see if we could put something together for our trainees. The results have been fantastic. CENTURY is now a central part of our course, which provides the rigour and support needed to both assess and support our trainees.

Trainees take easy-to-access diagnostic tests on CENTURY. These give us a clear understanding of their academic capabilities. CENTURY’s AI analyses these diagnostic assessments to identify areas of development for each individual trainee. The Recommended Path provides them each with a bespoke programme of teaching modules (nuggets) that will address their specific needs.

CENTURY has been invaluable in replacing the previous assessments we used. The beauty of CENTURY is that it doesn’t just assess trainees, it also gives them individualised teaching and the tools needed to move forward – something that we have never had from previous assessment materials. This has been amazing, as it has clearly set out what each trainee needs and empowered them to take ownership of their individual learning.

Dirk Smith: The Department for Education (DfE) now requires a provider-led assessment of fundamental English and maths skills before Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) can be awarded. We used to set SATs past papers which staff would mark, and then use to identify gaps for the subject leads, which was a big workload commitment. CENTURY does this job for us now and helps with that workload. It is also less patronising than SATs past papers we previously used.

How do the trainees use CENTURY?

Phil: The trainees are given logins to access their accounts at an induction training session before the summer holidays. We show the trainees how to use CENTURY, so they know the benefits and they can start working on it straight away. They can explore areas that they need support with over the summer, which helps them to be fully prepared for the course.

All of the trainees work through the assessments and modules independently, so they can access the correct training for themselves at the correct time. Throughout the course, we also assess the trainees’ standard English and maths skills and if we notice an area that needs extra support, we direct them to undertake the appropriate training in CENTURY. The trainees can talk to course leaders if they get stuck on a specific topic who will ensure that they have been directed to use the correct nuggets.

Although we primarily use CENTURY to support our trainees’ development, it is also a great tool to help teachers and support staff deliver lessons. Lots of trainees complete the appropriate nuggets if they are teaching a topic that they are not sure about, and this is encouraged. Trainees also use the video clips to revise subject content and can incorporate the clips within the lessons.

Dirk: We mention CENTURY to candidates if subject knowledge is an identified area of development at the interview stage. We have found that giving trainees access to CENTURY before the course starts is especially important due to the increase in applications from career changers, where some time may have passed since they gained their English and maths GCSEs. During the course, any trainee who has their subject knowledge identified as a gap during a lesson observation will be signposted to CENTURY to support their improvement.

The combination of CENTURY’s initial diagnostics, the supporting nuggets and the vast resource bank has really supported us in increasing the subject knowledge of our trainees. The resource bank in particular has been very effective in supporting our trainees when they start independently planning their own lessons and can use the CENTURY resources in class. A number of trainees also use CENTURY to revise a topic before the lesson to ensure they can address misconceptions and answer any questions.

Has CENTURY helped with accessibility and learner confidence?

Phil: CENTURY has helped to give the trainees the confidence to develop English and maths skills at their own level and pace. It has been a valuable tool, which many trainees have used to help them develop confidence before teaching a subject. For example, one trainee was unsure of how to teach modal verbs, so they undertook research on CENTURY and, as a result, taught a wonderful lesson. This is one example, but there are many more.

I have seen a huge change in trainees’ confidence with subject knowledge since using CENTURY. In the past, trainees who were unsure of the knowledge needed to teach a lesson would spend hours looking on the internet at a range of different sites. But now trainees know exactly where to go and can complete nuggets themselves to support their own learning.

Dirk: The number of trainees who withdrew from the course decreased this year, and where we previously saw some withdrawals, we instead saw deferrals. This shows we are supporting these trainees more effectively, as they will return at some point. We have also seen a significant increase in the number of trainees for the coming year despite a drop nationally. Our use of CENTURY is one element that all of this positive impact can be attributed to.

Email info@century.tech o find out more about how CENTURY can support initial teacher training.