FEATURE: CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
down. Good CPD trusts teachers to be aware of where improvement is needed – they’re the people in the classrooms. A collaborative approach is best, tt will link to personal development plans, be strategically led, but enable rather than impose.
Barriers to good CPD In my experience one of the main issues is that schools can be set in their ways and there isn’t the appetite for change. If you are the CPD lead this can be very challenging. However, a discussion which considers how CPD can support the school improvement plan can be very useful, demonstrating that CPD can be an agent for change and help move on outdated views of CPD as all about traditional courses or expensive consultants. Ensuring you address the needs of teachers
with CPD is also important. Without this staff will quickly become disillusioned and, as a trainer, you can be gazing at empty chairs. Time is another barrier to good CPD. It needs
to be planned carefully. This might need some change to the structure of day to fit it in, and teachers will need to see that the CPD is of benefit to them and not adding to their workload.
Covid and CPD We all experienced very steep learning curves during lockdown, acquiring new technical skills, grappling with the pedagogy of remote learning, and identifying which areas of the curriculum were beyond remote learning. Encouragingly, a recent Tes survey found that more than half of school staff reported they had learnt new skills and felt that had adapted well to remote learning. A follow up survey found that lockdown had increased school staff confidence in using technology, but also highlighted that 69% of school staff had not received any training in remote learning during lockdown. Lockdown has been a catalyst for change in
many ways. CPD now has a strategic role to play in plugging the gaps in learning to ensure the whole school community has the capability to operate remotely.
Lockdown has also made us more open
minded and responsive to online training. We’ve had to adapt our thinking and develop new approaches and this has exciting implications for the delivery of CPD. Tes Global has been quick to respond and launched a whole school CPD platform with hundreds of courses, called Tes Develop. For many schools I think we will develop a combined approach, using paid resources like Tes Develop but adding to these with our own video and audio training to meet specific needs. Moving a lot of CPD online will also reduce
costs for schools as staff will need to attend fewer training sessions in person. It also opens up access to part time teachers who can miss out on CPD, and makes CPD something that is more integrated into daily life.
Reaping the benefits of good CPD
Investment in planned, carefully designed CPD benefits schools in many ways:
• Supports early career teachers - quality CPD over the first couple of years is essential to support NQTs and RQTs to develop their practice. Almost a third of new teachers leave the
• Reduces the need for costly consultants and outside training courses. By developing your own staff as skilled CPD leaders you will create an invaluable and sustainable resource that will boost school improvement.
• Improves teacher wellbeing and reduces stress. If teachers feel professionally valued and confident then they will feel more empowered and motivated and be even more effective.
Resources and tools Useful resources to help your school CPD:
• EEF Implementation Planning Guidance Report and resources:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/to ols/guidance-reports/a-schools-guide-to- implementation/
• Teacher Development Trust Developing Great Teaching resources:
http://tdtrust.org/about/dgt
• The Chartered College of Teaching resources and membership:
https://chartered.college/
• The Great Teaching Toolkit:
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/support- and-training-for-schools/teaching-cambridge-at- your-school/great-teaching-toolkit/
• How good CPD can boost pupil attainment and staff retention:
https://tes.com/for-schools/cpd- report-boost-pupil-attainment
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profession within the first five years and for many starting in a new school can feel like sink or swim if there isn’t access to quality training and a high quality qualified mentor.
• Supports more experienced teachers who want to remain in the classroom– quality CPD can help teachers develop subject knowledge, learn new technologies and build knowledge of evidence informed practice that wasn’t historically a part of ITT training or school CPD.
• Improves outcomes across the school. Good CPD creates consistency and promotes expert teaching. The most effective way of improving pupil outcomes is to have an expert teacher in front of them – above all other interventions.
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