D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R

School and trust approaches to professional development and

collaboration

Case studies

D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R

Case study A Ungraded lesson observations. Only 2 formal lesson observations a year; a third

is an ‘unseen’ observation where staff are trusted to report back themselves on how it went.

No whole-school Inset days: they find these are insufficiently personalised to individual needs. Instead they employ 2 part-time members of staff with no teaching timetable, whose only focus is coaching and staff development.

Individual development plans for every member of staff: short documents asking prompt questions with teachers supplying their responses. Normally the teacher will then pick one area to focus on, which will be the subject of any further research and the focus of any observation.

D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R

Case study B Very little compulsory CPD, but all staff choose from a menu of optional CPD

offerings, mostly led by senior and middle leaders. Suggested participants are outlined for each session, but attendance is not mandatory.

Advanced practitioners with a strong record of classroom teaching always have their lessons open for anyone who wishes to observe them.

More tailored and closely monitored training programmes are in place for new teachers, or those who are felt to need more time on development. Led exclusively by SLT.

Use online training to supplement in-school work, particularly for safeguarding.

D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R

Case study C CPD is done on a departmental basis. CPD follows a year-round cycle, beginning with analysing pupils’ progress

against targets, and identifying areas for development in individual teachers’ practice. These are then the focus of departmental observations, led predominantly by senior and middle leaders, but with some class teachers acting as observers.

Post-observation coaching conversation to discuss the lesson, agree targets and the nature of follow-up.

Lessons from this process are shared across the department after six months, and the insight from this feeds into whole-school work.

D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R

Case study D Designated CPD leader working at deputy head level provides each member of

staff with copies of the teachers’ standards, along with a matrix to keep evidence of achievement in each area.

Performance management documents are extended to include CPD needs and three or five year aims of staff.

Training needs are passed to CPD leader, who organises whole-school Inset on this basis, sets up lesson observations/coaching and identifies training needs.

Regular small-group twilight sessions are the main source of regular CPD.

D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R

Discussion and learning from practiceRead more about the workshop session where we used these case studies in collaboration for professional development: what makes it work?Find out about other upcoming conferences and training days