Last week, I had the pleasure of attending our Growing Excellence in Learning and Teaching conference to run a focus group with a selection of highly engaged leaders of teaching, learning and CPD from across the country.
For me, the aim was to find out more about what schools view as effective CPD, and how the quality of training can be improved across schools. During the discussion, my colleagues raised some fascinating points which I have been reflecting upon ever since.
When do we deliver CPD in schools?
Twilight training sessions often take place at the end of the school day. However, I’ve recently heard of a number of schools that finish their school day earlier once a week to allow for specific, designated time for regular staff training.
So, I asked myself the question: Is training better when it takes place during the school day?
Yes!
- It’s more valued by SLT: When training actually takes place during school time, it shows staff that the SLT see it as a priority. This isn’t a motivating factor for everyone, but it does help to raise the importance of training across the whole school.
- It doesn’t eat into the evening: The fact is, the school day starts early. By the time the scheduled training starts at 4:00, staff are tired. Is that really the time for innovation and engagement?
- There’s already so much to do outside of school hours: Teacher workload is undoubtedly high, and marking and planning are time-consuming. Do colleagues really engage when they’re twitching about how much they still have to do?
No!
- It takes time out of the teaching day: Less teaching time means less learning time, surely? Doesn’t it just mean you’ll have to work late on another day when you’ll be equally tired?
- It requires a whole timetable overhaul: That’s no mean feat… Although academies have the flexibility to overhaul their timetables, the impact of this will often be felt the school over.
What do you think works best?
When do you run your training sessions in your school? Comment below and let us know what you think’s best.
Further reading
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Developing an internal CPD culture
Planning and delivering CPD for TAs: different kinds of support