FEATURE: CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT


Getting to the heart of school improvement


to the hurly-burly of school life and didn’t get the opportunity to reflect on what they’d learnt and apply new approaches. Also, CPD was reactive rather than strategic, booked in response to current issues or regulatory changes. If CPD had an impact it was by luck rather than intent. Since then CPD has changed significantly and


investment now can bring huge benefits to schools. There are countless ways in which it can help, but my view is that it should always come back to how it improves the quality of teaching and learners’ outcomes. Any training request or personal development


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n our third feature this month, we’re delighted to hear from Joanne Tiplady,


Curriculum and Research Lead for TEAL Trust and the Wolds Associate Research School and teacher at South Hunsley School in East Yorkshire, who examines the key ingredients that go together to create CPD that makes a real difference to schools. Research shows that one of the most impactful


ways to improve pupil progress is to have highly effective teachers teaching children. However, schools typically invest just one per


cent of their annual budgets in CPD. With staffing the highest cost in any school, the lack of investment in CPD seems like a false economy. I’ve been teaching for 20 years. In the 90s the


vast majority of CPD consisted of a day out of school to attend a training course. These were often very useful, but too often teachers returned


plan, whether it is for the school business manager or the newly qualified teacher, needs to answer this question and link back to learners. This could be evidence informed pedagogy training around improving behaviour, or courses which build in implementation planning.


The heart of the improvement plan There is increasing evidence which suggests links between good CPD and the improvement of children’s outcomes, and this is why CPD deserves a place right at the heart of a school’s, or trust’s, strategic plan. It is one of the key drivers for change and, without it, it is unlikely that long term improvement will be possible. Senior leadership support is essential if CPD is


to be accepted as something that is of strategic importance. After all, the headteacher is responsible for the quality of education in a school and they should have a clear strategic vision for the development of teachers, and it should be inextricably linked into the development plan. With the support of the headteacher and the SLT, CPD can be carefully


30 www.education-today.co.uk


planned so that it is implemented effectively over an extended period of time and be continuously evaluated for its effectiveness.


What does good CPD look like? Good CPD has a number of key characteristics:


• It is frequent and developmental. CPD is about improvement over time rather than just a one-off session. It needs to build on what has already been learnt. It’s not about trying to make wholesale changes in one sweep. It requires a long term perspective and might involve a number of small steps.


• It has a strategic understanding and focus. Individuals understand how the CPD they undertake connects to the school’s improvement plan. The CPD is also focused on a clear priority rather than being woolly.


• It avoids fads. Buzzwords abound in education and it’s easy to feel CPD is needed to keep up to date. Good CPD is led by the problem the teacher needs to solve in the classroom, or the whole school issue that the school is committed to addressing.


• It is founded on proof and evidence. Establishing a culture, and appetite, for evidence led practice characterises good CPD. Small group study and good support from a school research lead can help busy teachers to access the latest thinking.


• It doesn’t need to be driven from the top October 2020


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