Staff Professional Development
EXPERT TEACHERS, ALWAYS LEARNING - SO EVERY CHILD THRIVES
“Ensuring an effective teacher is in front of every class, and that every teacher is supported to keep improving, is the key ingredient of a successful school and should rightly be the top priority for Pupil Premium spending.” EEF Pupil Premium Guide, 2019
At Ravenstone, we recognise the extensive knowledge and skills required for teaching to be effective. We strive to continue to develop our team’s expert knowledge and skills by providing high quality professional development as their careers progress. We are committed to investing the time and resources essential for successful development of the expert practice our teachers and pupils deserve.
We plan programmes composed of a range of purposefully selected and coherently threaded professional development models and activities, which are informed by key priorities, information gathering activities, current research, professional wisdom and best practice. The programmes are designed to achieve improvements in teaching and learning including outcomes for all pupils. The models and activities used are summarised below in three categories and draw upon the EEF Effective Professional Development Guidance.
Standardised Professional Development Models and Activities
- Annual Ravenstone In Service Training (INSET) Programme for all staff
- Bi-annual Wandle Professional Days for all staff
- Weekly Professional Development sessions for teaching staff
- Termly Professional Development sessions for support staff
- Fortnightly Phase Meetings for teaching staff
- Wandle Learning Trust (WLT) Curriculum Leaders Network Meetings
- Wandle Learning Partnership (WLP) Training Programme
- Wandsworth Local Authority Training Offer
- Educare Suite
On-The-Ground Professional Development Models and Activities
- 1:1 Coaching Sessions for teaching staff
- Performance Management for all staff
- Team Teaching
- Model Lessons
- Gallery and/or Showcase Lessons with a detailed post lesson discussion
- Team Planning
- Staffroom (and ad hoc) informal but professional dialogue
- Shadowing and Mentoring
- On demand Curriculum PD
- ECT programme
- New starter buddy system
Self-Directed Professional Development Models and Activities
- Professional Reading
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Social Media Feeds
- Webinars
As the list shows, Professional Development takes many forms. The intention of our offer for staff is to improve outcomes for our children by further improving the professional knowledge of our team and supporting them to transfer this into classroom practice.
“...teachers need and deserve high quality development throughout their careers.” Teacher Development Trust
We firmly believe that "every teacher needs to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be even better" (Dylan Wiliam) so we strive to continue to develop our teachers’ expert knowledge and skills by providing high quality professional development as their careers progress. All teaching staff have access to the models and activities listed above. In addition:
- Support Staff: access to WLT Professional Days, WLP Professional Development Offer, and opportunities to teach in other WLT schools
- Established Teachers: access to WLT Professional Days, WLP Professional Development Offer, and network meetings, 1:1 coaching, opportunities to teach in other WLT schools
- Middle Leaders: as above plus shadowing opportunities in other WLT schools and NPQ (or equivalent) suite
- Senior Leaders: as above plus NPQH, supervision/coaching and WLT School Improvement offer
