Team Working

Outcome 1
Plan collaborative work with others
Assessment Criteria
The learner can:
1.1 Describe what makes groups or teams effective in the workplace

1.2 Agree realistic objectives for working together and identify what needs to be done to achieve them
Objectives set to Cover Supervisor team by our line manager include: o Provide suitable cover to lessons when a teacher is absent. o Hand completed work back to staff appropriately with explanation of any issues taking place. o When available provide support to the Learning Support Unit.
The Cover Supervisors and teaching staff are all informed of how to hand over work and regularly use email to communicate issues and information.

1.3 Share relevant information to help agree roles and responsibilities
Sharing information takes place on a regular basis Monday/Wednesday/Friday morning briefing where SLT pass on anything relevant to the staff.
Email is used on a daily basis as well as the VLE with daily staff news to inform staff of duty positions and “On Call” staff.
Within the Cover Supervisor team we discuss how our lessons have gone on a daily basis and have fortnightly meeting to discuss any issues we may feel should be shared.
1.4 Agree suitable working arrangements with other team members.
If a member of staff has a known absence it is agreed that any work to be passed onto pupils will be emailed or given to the Cover Manager the she will forward the work as appropriate.
It has been agreed between Cover Supervisors and teaching staff that once the lesson is over any work to be given back to the staff will either be emailed or placed into the staff member’s pigeon hole.

Outcome 2
Seek to develop co-operative ways of working and check progress towards agreed objectives
Assessment Criteria
The learner can:
2.1 Organise and carry out tasks efficiently to meet his/her responsibilities
The different roles within a school require varying amounts of organisation.
Head Teacher Needs to organise policies and procedures along with job descriptions and all employees
Assistant Heads Varying roles are designated to assistant heads by the head teacher.
Gives organisation to : o Teaching and Learning o Pupil enrichment
Subject Leaders Organise their subject teachers and provide schemes of learning along with supporting lesson planning.
Teachers Organise their time into planning and preparation and teaching, they also organise pupils books, marking and provide suitable homework.
A rather big task that as a team we are currently working through is organising the KS4 pupil files.
This includes: o Collecting data from the relevant Year Manager and Heads of Learning. o Put all the data onto alphabetical and date order. o Place all the data into pupils files and ensure they are locked securely away.

2.2 Seek effective ways to work co-operatively, including ways to resolve conflict
I work cooperatively with all staff within in the school and any conflict is resolved between myself and another member of staff quickly and efficiently.
An example of conflict I have encountered within my job is:
I was covering a tutor group for an absent member of staff. The member of staff I was covering had not provided any work to be complete in this time. I used my initiative to complete the register and follow the schools house style to check that pupils were in their full uniform and that they had all the appropriate equipment and provide it if not. Once I had completed this I decided to have a group discussion with the class to find out what they had done over the weekend and what they had enjoyed.
At this point the Head of Learning came into the room to check on the class and informed me in front of the class that having a group discussion was inappropriate to be having a group discussion and that the pupils should be working.
I found this very uncomfortable and informed her that I could explain the situation once I had dismissed the class.
Later in the day I met with the head of Learning and explained that no work had been provided which was why I was having a group discussion and that all the other procedures to be followed at tutor time had been completed before she came into the room.
Between us we resolved the conflict with a simple explanation but it could of escalated if the Head of Learning had not been willing to listen to the reason for the situation.
2.3 Share accurate information on progress and agree changes where necessary to achieve objectives.
I have been recently covering a year 7 group. In the class there is a pupil which moving difficulties and uses a wheelchair to get around the school
I had been finding it quite difficult to engage the individual in his classwork and decided to discuss this with his maths teacher.
She suggested that I request the individual does not sit in the wheelchair during the lesson and moves onto a regular chair as she had found that this takes his mind away from messing around with the wheelchair.
The next time I covered a lesson with the pupil in I did as the maths teacher had suggested and I found that this worked and the pupil was less distracted and completed his work efficiently.
I believe that the information shared by the maths teacher was very accurate and it helped me to achieve the objective of having all pupils complete the work set.

Outcome 3
Review work with others and agree ways of improving collaborative work in the future
Assessment Criteria
The learner can:
3.1 Provide a detailed account of what went well and less well from his/her point of view
Before I cover a lesson I meet with a member of staff from the subject department to discuss what work is needed to be taught in the lesson.
I met with Paul (Head of Technology) to discuss the cover work for an absent member of staff.
We discussed the work and decided what was suitable and clarified any points that I personally didn’t understand.
Once the lesson was over I returned to Paul with the completed work. I gave him a brief breakdown of what had happened in the lesson and informed him of any issues which may off occurred.
This is an informal approach which gave me the opportunity to get my opinions and ideas across.
3.2 Identify factors influencing the outcome of working with others, including own role
Factors that influence outcomes of working with others o How information is passed on
Information is passed between staff within the school via Mon/Wed/Fri briefings, VLE and emails. o Personalities within the team
I have found that working with people with different personalities have classed but I believe that it is important to work through and overcome issues so they don’t effect work. o Clear purpose
All staff are given clear objectives and are all motivated to succeed in the same goal. o Level of support/ experience
Support is given to all staff from their colleagues and line manager. Appropriate CPD is also provided by the T&L team, Head Teacher and LEA. The level of experience someone has is shown in the level of support given. A member of staff who has the relevant experience to deal with a particular situation will be given roles to support this. o Stage in team development
• Forming – group/team gets together and each member is given a clear sense of identity and purpose.
• Storming – have more of a team view and have an understanding of what is expected of them. Individuals need to have clear roles and opportunities of participation.
• Norming – the group will establish a culture around shared norms and values.
• Performing – the ideal state to which all teams aspire to.
3.3 Identify ways of improving own work with others.