Continued Professional Development
Research tells us that one of the most important things we can do to improve pupil outcomes is to continuously develop the quality of teaching and learning (Higgins et al., 2014).
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a cornerstone of our commitment to fostering an enriching learning environment for both pupils and staff at our school. We believe that ongoing training and development opportunities are essential for enhancing the skills and knowledge of our staff. By engaging in CPD, our staff stay updated with the latest teaching pedagogies and educational research. This dedication to professional growth ultimately translates into improved teaching practices and better pupil outcomes. We are proud to invest in our staff’s development, ensuring they are equipped to inspire and motivate our learners every day.
Each academic year we design a training programme which takes place during a weekly twilight lasting around 2 and ½ hours. It is designed in line with our current needs as well as our current school priorities.
Each week, the staff gather to receive a weekly training session on topics such as curriculum development, safeguarding, SEND, pedagogies and much more.
This year staff will be receiving training on ACES, speech and language, emotional dysregulation, mental health, attendance, safeguarding, subject specific pedagogies, curriculum development, using AI to support adaptations, oracy, a cooking focus and much more.
This year we have a huge focus on SEND training for our Learning Support Assistants who will be receiving training on supporting pupils with SEND needs, following EHCPs and achieving outcomes, dyslexia, CVI, ASD and ADHD.
Our Mr Flesher, who is our PE leader, led us through PE pedagogies and use of the working wall.
LSSP delivered gymnastics training.
Our Training in action.
We enjoyed D&T training from Steph O’Donnell from Primary DT where we went through the ‘make’ process ourselves prior to teaching the unit to our pupils. This supported us in identifying any misconceptions and any adaptations that some of our pupils may benefit from.
Our Mrs Bennett, Head Teacher, (who kept her grade 7 in piano under her hat for far too long!) led on music subject knowledge training. This required lots of theory to improve our teachers subject knowledge, so they felt more confident in the delivery of our music surriculum. Mrs Bennett also provided lots of practical examples to bring the curriculum to life!
We also have a weekly morning briefing that acts as a mini CPD session. We use these short sessions to share best practice amongst our teachers. When we spot something fantastic during our monitoring, we share it with all of the teachers so that we have consistent strong practice across the school.
Our Mrs Sinnott, who is our Art leader, shared all of the wonderful practices after she had monitored all of the sketch pads in the school. She has also developed a bespoke exemplification model sketch pad. This is an exemplification of each of the 18 units from Y1-6 and this model of best practice has supported our teachers in the development of the sketch pads.
Our Mr Hayes, who is our Maths leader, shared all of the amazing things that our staff do to support our pupils in Maths.
