Lambeth Academy CPD Policy

Principles, Values and Entitlements

1.   This academy is a “learning community” where all are involved in a continuous process of development and improvement. The school is committed to fostering a positive climate for continuous learning. CPD is the means through which this occurs.
2.   CPD will be co-ordinated by a CPD Leader with a clear job description and who will be a member of the school leadership team but who will be assisted by others in taking forward this policy.
3.   The central emphasis will be on the quality of teaching and learning, improving standards and developing leadership. The ultimate aim is the improvement in the practice of individuals and teams through creating learning communities in which supportive and collaborative cultures directly extend the capacity for continuous self-improvement.
4.   The academy also believes that a coherent and progressive opportunity to develop professionally and personally both improves standards and raises morale through personal and professional fulfilment and assists recruitment and retention.
5.   All staff shall have an entitlement to equality of access to high-quality induction and continuing support and development
6.   Arrangements for accessing CPD will be known to all staff.
7.   All staff will have opportunities to discuss their professional development needs (through performance management and other mechanisms/ procedures)
8.   CPD planning will be inextricably linked and integrated with the academy’s development plan and be based on a range of information:
•   The needs of the school as identified through its self-evaluation;
•   Issues identified through other monitoring, e.g. OFSTED, quality standards such as Investors in People;
•   ULT priorities;
•   National and local priorities e.g. national strategies, local community priorities;
•   Performance Management
9.   The academy will have effective measures in place to audit the professional needs of staff and link these to the academy’s self evaluation and performance management system.
10.   The academy’s CPD provision will allow staff to develop progressively, with reference to recognized competency frameworks such as the TDA’s teacher standards frameworks, competency descriptions for teaching assistants (known locally as LSA’s), HLTAs, business support staff etc
11.   The academy will support professional recognition including accreditation of the CPD undertaken.
12.   The academy will obtain appropriate quality standards in organisations that support effective CPD, e.g. Investors in People and CPD Mark
13.   The academy will register interest in achieving Training School Status and will work towards their required criteria as part of the wider academy development plan.
14.   The central features of the CPD policy comprises effective auditing and identification of need and aspiration, ensuring appropriate match of provision to learning needs of the individual, reliable and explicit evaluation of the impact of provision, effective dissemination of good and successful practice to ensure that such practice is embedded and reinforced
15.   CPD can operate effectively at a variety of levels - individual, team, whole school and through wider networks with an emphasis on collaborative learning.
16.   CPD processes will be designed to widen participation, maximize inclusion and minimize bureaucracy.

Identifying CPD Needs

1.   The academy will have a named CPD Leader (Assistant Principal with Responsibility for CPD) who shall be deemed to be fulfilling a leadership and management responsibility in relation to this post.
2.   The CPD Leader will have a well-defined description of the role. The CPD Leader will receive training and support as appropriate in order to fulfill this role effectively and attend useful providers’ sessions.
3.   The CPD Leader shall be responsible for identifying the academy’s CPD needs and those of the staff working in it. Such needs will be identified largely through existing mechanisms such as the development plan, performance management, self-evaluation, national and local priorities, other internal and external monitoring and feedback evidence and through informal and formal discussions with individuals and teams. They shall also liaise closely with the Assistant Principal responsible for Teaching and Learning and Achievement and Standards where appropriate. The outcomes of the needs analysis will be a CPD plan (under ‘building leadership capacity’) which forms part of the Academy Development Plan.
4.   The CPD Leader will be responsible annually for discussing with the Principal and Governing Body the main CPD priorities and the likely budgetary implications of addressing these needs.
5.   CPD issues will be addressed at Governing Body meetings and be included as part of the Principal’s report. The CPD Leader shall attend appropriate Governing Body meetings and, at least annually, present a report on the provision and impact of CPD.
6.   Requests for accessing CPD should be addressed to the CPD Leader who will decide on the most effective means.
7.   Middle Leaders shall provide and update details of the range of opportunities available and be responsible for communicating relevant opportunities to appropriate staff.
8.   The CPD Leader shall be responsible for ensuring that appropriate opportunities are provided for the following groups of the school community:
•   Newly Qualified Teachers
•   Other staff new to the school or role
•   Teachers in their early years (EPD)
•   Teachers with 5 years+ experience (including those beyond the threshold and those in the later stages of their career)
•   Teachers specialising in teaching particular groups of pupils e.g. EAL supervisors
•   Advanced Skills Teachers, Fast Track and Lead Teachers
•   Middle Leaders e.g. Heads of House / Subject Leaders (Emergent Leaders)
•   Senior Leaders in their early years
•   More experienced senior managers
•   Annual guest teachers
•   Senior support staff including Business Managers, ICT Systems Managers and Premises Managers
•   Learning support assistants, EAL support, language assistants and learning mentors
•   Student Services Support Officers
•   Lunchtime supervisors
•   Secretarial and administrative staff including librarians
•   Technicians including science, DT and ICT
•   Cover supervisors and other employed staff who regularly provide cover and those seeking to return to the profession
•   Beginning teachers e.g. GTP, TF and OTT
9.   The CPD leader may act in an advisory role to both related groups (e.g. governors and catering staff)
10.   The above will be achieved by having a centralized opportunity framework which is advertised to all staff at the academy
11.   The CPD Leader will be responsible for ensuring that providers are of sufficient quality.
12.   The school will have systems and opportunities for teams and the whole school to discuss and feed to the CPD Leader details of priorities and methods including the use of the school training days.
13.   The CPD Leader will be responsible for ensuring the efficient provision of opportunities, as determined by the ‘centralised opportunities framework’.

CPD Provision:
a) Planning for Effective CPD

1. The opportunities available will fully reflect the Code of Practice produced by the DCSF in that they will only be offered if they:

•   meet identified individual, school or national development priorities
•   be based on good practice - in development activity and in teaching and learning
•   help raise standards of pupils’ achievements
•   respect cultural diversity
•   be provided by those with the necessary experience, expertise and skills
•   be planned systematically and follow the agreed programme except when dealing with emerging issues
•   be based, where appropriate, on relevant standards
•   be based on current research and inspection evidence
•   make effective use of resources, particularly ICT
•   be provided in accommodation which is fit for purpose with appropriate equipment
•   provide value for money
•   have effective monitoring and evaluation systems including seeking out and acting on user feedback to inform the quality of provision.

b) Supporting a range of CPD activities
1. The school will support a wide portfolio of CPD approaches identified according to “Best Value” principles and which reflect the learning effectiveness of the participants. These include:

•   in-academy training using the expertise available within the academy and collaborative activity (e.g. collaborative teaching, planning and assessment, work with a learning team, classroom observation, existing expertise, peer observation and evaluation, collaborative enquiry and problem-solving, modelling)
•   coaching and mentoring and engaging in a learning conversation
•   job enrichment/enlargement (e.g. a higher level of responsibility, deputizing, mentored guidance for taking on further responsibility within their role, job sharing, acting roles, job rotation, shadowing, leading meetings)
•   producing documentation or resources such as curriculum development, teaching materials, assessment package, ICT or video programme
•   accessing an external consultant/adviser or relevant expert such as an Advanced Skills Teacher or Lead Teacher
•   master classes, model and demonstration lessons
•   role play, simulations
•   collecting and collating pupil feedback, data and outcomes
•   attendance at a lecture, course or conference
•   school visits to observe or participate in good and successful practice
•   research opportunities
•   secondments, exchanges and placements (e.g. within a regional or national organisation, an exchange or placement with another teacher, school, higher education, industry, international exchange (as identified by Lambeth Academy’s International Policy and ethos), involvement with Governing Body). This is dependent on time served and individual circumstances and is at the discretion of the Principal
•   postgraduate professional development and other educational knowledge qualifications from higher educational institutions and other forms of professional recognition and qualifications (on a case by case basis dependent on the benefits that can be brought to the academy)
•   The following programmes will be encouraged: Teacher Leader programme, MA in Educational Leadership and Innovation, Higher Level Teaching Assistants, NCSL programmes, SSAT programmes
•   distance learning (e.g. relevant resources such as educational journals and publications, training videos, reflection, simulations)
•   practical experience (e.g. national test or exam marking experience, opportunities to present a paper, contribute to a training programme, coordinating or supporting a learning forum or network, involvement in local and national networks, involvement with a subject or specialist association)
•   external partnerships and links with ULT (e.g. with a colleague, group, subject, phase, activity or academy-based team meetings and activities such as joint planning, observation or standardisation, special project working group, involvement in a formal or informal partnership such as a Network Learning Community)

c) Recording and Disseminating Good Practice
1. All those engaged with CPD will be encouraged to:
•   reflect on their development using appropriate mechanisms such as the DCSF Teachernet Career Development Portfolio or Lambeth Academy tailored portfolio.
•   seek professional recognition, including accreditation for the work undertaken. The CPD Leader will provide directly or organise guidance to staff on how such recognition can be achieved
2.   The CPD leader will work with appropriate individuals to ensure staff have guidance on producing and updating an appropriate professional development portfolio
3.   Before the professional development experience, the participant will discuss with the CPD Leader the opportunities to disseminate to other staff. Relevant feedback about the provision and the ideas should be provided for the CPD Leader.
4.   The academy will disseminate good and successful CPD practice that supports and improves teaching and learning.
5.   Where it is agreed that there would be benefit in a wider circulation or follow up, the CPD Leader will take responsibility for the organisation, e.g. circulating relevant resources, a session at a staff or subject meeting, introducing a teaching or learning strategy, inclusion on the academy website.
6.   The CPD Leader will be responsible for ensuring whether any follow up is needed to the provider, e.g. feedback, issues of access.

Evaluating Impact of CPD

1.   The CPD Leader will review annually provision from commercial suppliers and whether any aspects of the CPD provision (identified programmes and quality of training providers) do not represent value for money and make appropriate recommendations to the Principal and Governing Body.
2.   The CPD Leader shall be responsible for assessing the value for money aspect of CPD through seeking to monitor and evaluate impact. The CPD Leader shall be committed to ensuring that CPD systems and procedures conform to current research findings.
3.   This will be undertaken at a variety of levels and at intervals including:
•   immediate/short term evaluation by participants
•   longer term follow up for a sample of CPD undertaken as part of the performance management process
•   informal discussion with colleagues about improved practice
•   feedback on the effectiveness of CPD opportunities in the performance Management meeting in June each year
4. Use will be made of appropriate DCSF and other documents to assess the impact but it will, in any case, comprise hard objective data as well as other beneficial effects such as
•   pupil and school attainment
•   record keeping
•   more effective and embedded teaching and learning such as creativity, autonomy, a greater variety of teaching and learning approaches
•   a climate of supporting success and effort
•   staff confidence, enrichment, motivation, self-esteem, preparedness to take risks, collaboration, reflectiveness
•   grading on lesson observations
•   pupil enthusiasm, engagement and commitment
•   recruitment and retention
•   career progression/promotable staff, including succession planning

8. Annually the CPD Leader shall provide a report to the Governing Body on the benefits of the CPD undertaken and future needs.

The CPD policy will be reviewed annually by the Governing Body