Meet The Team: Rebecca Watson - ECT Lead

What does your role at Three Rivers Teaching School Hub involve?

I lead the ECT programme which we deliver in partnership with Ambition Institute. This involves leading a team of expert facilitators who deliver our events to our ECTs, facilitating mentor training with our team and supporting ECTs, mentors, and induction tutors with engaging meaningfully with the programme so that our ECTs are supported to develop into expert teachers.

What advice would you give someone looking to get into teaching?

It is an amazing and rewarding job - absolutely do it. They should contact our ITT team for support with next steps but I would recommend getting as much experience as possible.

What led you to your current role? 

I'm passionate about teacher development and supporting teachers so that they can impact the outcomes of the children under their care. Part of my previous role was to coordinate the trainee teachers within a large secondary school and I absolutely loved it. Previous to that I worked as Head of Music and had a teaching and learning role on senior leadership.

What skills would you say are essential for teachers?

I think the ability to form really positive relationships with students and passion for and knowledge about your subject in secondary education is especially important. Having a growth mindset is another essential because you are always developing your skills, receiving feedback and implementing new strategies based on research. You need to be able to communicate effectively and explain things in different ways as well as being able to work as part of a team.

What do you enjoy most about your job? 

My favourite part is meeting with our ECTs, mentors and induction tutors and supporting them through facilitation at events or online.