Now live it's the final UPDATE of 2025 and our ruby edition.

To start us off, Executive Director Martin Smith aptly considers "the collective goodwill that exists within the profession around supporting one another to develop" - not least in our role as Teaching School Hubs. Plus a special Happy Christmas message and a reminder of all the lovely aspects of being a teacher and leader at this time of year.

It is proving to be very popular, so remember to sign-up for the Spring Leadership Forum in January with keynote speaker Harry Fletcher-Wood presenting on improving teaching, an intro to the CODE Maths Hub with Laura Clitheroe and a foreword by Martin.

Thinking about understanding engagement amongst low-income White children in England’s schools, you can find out more in the report by The Engagement Platform with some suggested support ideas. Read up too on the latest webinar led by the South West English Hubs on the Department for Education's Writing Framework published earlier this year.

Keeping it relevant, there is more guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation on Metacognition and self-regulated learning from Devon Research School. Equip yourself with the three new classroom tools to support you putting the evidence into practice.

If you are looking to refine your timetabling tools, our sponsor SchoolPro TLC share their year-round timetabling approach to strengthening this essential work within school and they are available to support you if you need that helping hand.

Faye Steele, our Senior Administrator for the SWIFT Appropriate Body Service is our December interviewee and how good it is to know that she is at the helm for this integral service with her “relentless unwavering determination to procure the information we need on time and to meet our deadlines and tracking.” We are only as good as our staff and systems!
 
If you are deliberating about taking the bold step to change your contracted catering to in-house, read on as our sponsor Educatering share all the benefits of keeping your own kitchen staff, behind-the-scenes support, compliance and allergen management, staff training, bespoke menu development - and SO much more that makes sense for a fully supported service.  

Looking ahead to January, if you need any teacher cover, our sponsor Exeter Supply Partnership remind us why not all supply services are the same and the benefits of working with them. For a start, this not-for-profit organisation with true heart puts people first - and that means supporting local schools and teachers.

We are nearing the shortest day and if you need a reading boost, remember to check out Mr T’s instructional series (AKA Christopher Tribble, Headteacher at Honiton Primary School). We like an edifying read!

We are glad to work with you, support you and hope that you will end the Autumn Term on an uplifting note with the end of term Christmas celebrations.

See you in 2026! 

“With this essential relationship with our schools in place I believe in a relentless unwavering determination to procure the information we need on time and to meet our deadlines and tracking.”

​Faye's passion for admin systems started with her HND in European Business Administration at her local college in Torquay.  Taking these new skills and deciding to pursue temporary contracts was a key factor in building resilience and learning to embrace change and the ability to hit the ground running.   Faye’s roles were naturally streamlined and focused within HR and Education, and after taking a year out to backpack around the world, she returned to the world of education, joining a commercial training organisation that supported small businesses.  Her skills developed beyond administrative processes, into adult training, NVQ assessing and new business advice and guidance. 
 
Life changed dramatically when her first son was born and she kept her mind busy by helping with the admin tasks for a local HR consultancy. Once her children were of school age, Faye pursued new opportunities and contacts in primary education and joined Riviera Education Trust as CPD Administrator and Clerk to the Board of Directors and is still part of the Trust today.  Her role developed over the years, working within the Strategic Partnership, under the umbrella of SWIFT and the Appropriate Body for Kingsbridge Teaching School Hub. 
 
Fast forward four years and Faye was promoted to the Senior Administrator Lead for the Appropriate Body, enabling her to be involved in the integration of the Colyton and Kingsbridge Teams into one Appropriate Body Service (AB) and to design and coordinate the integral systems for the SWIFT AB Team.  
 
At this moment in time Faye feels super-lucky to be working with a wonderful team committed and passionate about education and supporting teachers to become the best teachers that they can be.  To play a part in that supportive development of teachers and in turn, the future of children's education, gives Faye true meaning in her working life – not least on a December morning!
 
1. What skills and experience do you bring to your role as Senior Administrator of the SWIFT Appropriate Body Service?
I think being organised is a key function of my job. From my working history, I have undertaken a number of admin roles in different settings, and I liked learning something new in every role. I always apply myself and enjoy learning something new and I consider tasks like project management. I look at the end goal and the end of the academic year and think, what do we need to achieve by the end of this year and work backwards to complete task on a termly basis.  Having worked in the role with SWIFT for four years, it works well to breakdown those tasks and achievements each term.
 
I think it helps that I am reflective and constantly looking at our systems in place and thinking how can we make this work better? How can we easier track that information? How can we manipulate the information we have to make sure that all the parties in our AB Team can access the information they need to be able to do their job effectively.
 
Being reflective and constantly reviewing our practices to be as efficient as possible for all participants is something I have refined.  My job is very much about tracking all of the information and based around an integral system, which was essential when we recently joined the two Appropriate Body Services to become SWIFT AB, it was helpful for me to apply that reflective approach to the systems to ensure that we have learned lessons from the two AB Services and looking and deciding what works best from both.

2. What do you find to be more rewarding?
That is tricky! Lots.
 
I feel very lucky because I get to work with ECTs, Induction Tutors and Headteachers, as I am the first port of call for them for the SWIFT Appropriate Body Service.
 
Most ECTs glide through their induction period, but some have a little wobble, and some wobbles can sometimes snowball, so I am glad that I am their contact to advise and help them with the guidance that we use and to signpost and allocate them to either our primary or secondary leads where necessary. Where I am not entirely sure of a query, I can always contact the Early Career Teacher Programme Team.
 
I find it rewarding knowing that I have made the ECTs’ induction a bit easier and proactively supported them when they needed some help, because my job revolves around those integral systems. As a tracking and spreadsheet queen, I can also help my Team by smoothing the work of SWIFT AB Leads: Tania Cox, Chris Barnett, and Jen Knowles.
 
So, I like to think that I get rewards from all ends of the scale. 

3. How do you ensure compliance with Department for Education statutory induction requirements?
Obviously, I need to understand the statutory requirements in the first place and keep up-to-date every time anything changes.
 
The biggest factor for me is building good relationships with our ECTs, Induction Tutors, and Headteachers to start with, which probably begins with good communication and ensuring that their first email communication from me is friendly and straight to the point. We understand that our colleagues in schools are busy people, and it is important to provide the right information at the right time, and obviously always offer support, and that they know that I am here to help them and to build on the relationship. 

With this essential relationship with our schools in place I believe in a relentless unwavering determination to procure the information we need on time and to meet our deadlines and tracking, and that all the tracking information is available so that we know whom we need to contact, by when, and what information is missing.
 
4. How do you develop your relationships with Schools and Mentors?
Yes, so building on the previous question, it starts with effective email comms, and making sure all stakeholders have all the right information they need from me at the right time, as we understand they are busy people. It is also about acting promptly if they ask a question or need something, that it is provided promptly and followed up in a timely manner with a continual offer of support. Always understanding that we know what we are asking of them, especially at busy times. 

5. What have you found to be the most significant update from the new statutory guidance issued earlier this year?
I think the most significant update is that the Early Career Framework has changed to the Early Career Teacher Programme (ECTP), which integrates Initial Teacher Training (ITT). Although ITT is not my strand of work, there has been a huge change in vocabulary and terminology, and I had learned to navigate and understand the changes and what they mean, but also understand that our ECTs, ITT Induction Tutors and Mentors are going to reach out to us and ask when they are uncertain too.
 
I understand that there is an obvious learning curve here for us all, but I think what has impacted on my day-to-day work the most is that the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) and Department for Education (DfE) have changed the core tool that we use to report. Working through these changes was a huge piece of work last summer, and also the way that we report our ECTs induction start dates and pass dates when they leave and move onto a different school. It has been necessary to adjust our admin processes accordingly and ensure that we are recording the correct information at the right time and manipulating it in a format that we can easily upload and report in time for the DfE.​

We are delighted to announce that sign-up for the SWIFT Early Career Framework (ECF) and Appropriate Body (AB) Service 2022 - 2023 is now open, full details of which can be found on the ECF and AB website pages.

If you have new Year 1 or Year 2 Early Career Teachers (ECTs) starting at your school this September, then you will need to register for these services via the sign-up link below.

Please note, you do not need to complete this sign-up form for any ECTs who are already participating in our ECF programme and AB service.

The form should be completed by your school ECF Lead/Induction Tutor and it will be helpful to have the following information to hand:
 

• Number of new Year 1 and Year 2 teachers that you anticipate starting at your school in September 2022
• School URN (Unique Reference Number)
• Finance Manager name
• Finance email address
• Finance postal address if different from your school

Information Webinar
In addition, following the recent series of ECF and AB information events, we are pleased to announce that we will be running an additional webinar for any schools who are new to either our ECF or AB service on: Tuesday 24 May 2022 | 1545 - 1645.

​If you would like to join us and learn more about the SWIFT ECF programme and AB service, please register for the webinar:

Any Questions?
If you have any further questions about either the SWIFT Early Career Framework or Appropriate Body service, then please do not hesitate to get in contact with our team: