CPD
As with all schools, time is a precious resource, so we have dedicated trust-wide training days throughout the academic year. All our staff, including admin and support, are included so that they have dedicated time to focus on their development, whatever their bespoke pathway looks like. During the training days, staff are invited to lead sessions on their area of expertise and interest, giving them ownership over a topic and enabling them to share their knowledge with their peers. Think Tanks are another strategy that we have employed to positive effect. These are also led by staff, using an evidence-informed approach to promote cross-phase collaboration and knowledge acquisition. Previous Think Tank leads have led on themes that were a priority for the whole trust, linked to our teaching and learning framework. One lead ran whole trust staff meetings on a topic of her choice and created a toolkit for our entire staff. Through her experiences as a primary practitioner, she developed skills and expertise beyond her own school, across multiple phases. She has now successfully progressed to a senior leadership role. Bringing all our teachers together on a regular basis also gives them protected time to have meaningful conversations about teaching methods, new research and personal experiences with their peers. Doing so gives them time to collaboratively reflect and explore ideas to trial in their own classrooms.
A more recent example of optimising the specialists within our trust is the redistribution of one of our secondary school teachers’ time to allow her one day a week to support all our schools with upskilling in the use of AI-enabled tools. She has built great success within her own school. Now, she will support our other teachers in creating a consistent approach to AI usage across the trust. By sharing her knowledge and
key learnings as a Google Innovator, she will help optimise teachers’ administrative time and enhance student learning.
Embracing peer review
Four years ago, we introduced our peer review process using the Schools Partnership Programme model, which serves as an impactful development tool. Staff can train as either peer reviewers who evaluate areas of other schools in the trust, or improvement champions who work with staff to create action plans based on the review findings. Initially, it was launched for our headteachers and senior leaders. Based on its success, we have since
expanded it to staff at all levels. Now, we have teachers leading school improvement workshops or staff meetings in other schools. By making opportunities available to all staff, not just those who want to pursue headship, we are helping everybody build their confidence and skills, which can lead to promotion. This has been particularly beneficial when schools are being externally evaluated. It means that it doesn’t fall exclusively on the Headteacher of the school to demonstrate its effectiveness; there is a team of staff who feel confident and knowledgeable to support and provide evidence because of their experience of the peer review programme. Their knowledge of their school is also deeper and more comprehensive because of the process.
Redefining leadership and providing clear frameworks for progression Leadership is not just a role; it is a skill to be nurtured throughout all levels of the trust. However, we realised that something was missing from our approach in terms of defining expectations of what this looked like. As a result, we are developing a leadership framework to outline the elements of effective leadership, including the attitudes, behaviours and skills that we believe will grow the best leaders for our system.
Once launched, this project will enable staff to demonstrate and be recognised for their professional development progress, recording the activities completed beyond their own school, such as leading staff meetings at other schools, delivering trust-wide training or coaching colleagues. By enabling them to evidence their growth and progression, we can also effectively recognise and celebrate this.
To ensure the framework accommodates a variety of progress pathways, we will work in conjunction with our staff, offering consultations to provide input on the opportunities we have made available so far as a trust and what they would like to see moving forward. By understanding staff aspirations and providing a framework of structured development opportunities, we are building a foundation for both individual and trust success.
October 2025
www.education-today.co.uk 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
