Love this post Laura, I think its a really hard balance for SLT to put on PD that engages and supports all the staff. In my last school they weren't afraid to cancel staff meetings and send out the resources if the staff had a particularly busy day and were unable to attend. Likewise we've had some excellent and powerful guest speakers.
I think a lot of SLT staff just do staff meetings because it's the norm!
Thank you :) You are right - it is tricky to balance. I think being ahead of the storm is key - looking for particular hot spots and adapting meeting time accordingly, spending PD budget wisely (so fantastic you have had such brilliant guest speakers to visit), basically being proactive rather than reactive. Time truly is precious!
Fortunately, this isn’t the norm, but we once started the year with a really showy public speaker and wellbeing coach coming to make us feel good and get in touch with our emotions.
We had a new English scheme to plan from and a tonne of work to do. A better wellbeing strategy would’ve been ‘crack on’ 😂
It all boils down to the 'time' element doesn't it? If only there was enough for both! Thinking about these opportunities in advance could hopefully ease some of the tensions with this.
Lots of this excellent article resonated with me. I’d love to see additional PPA time allocated to staff that is directed to PD. Maybe one hour a fortnight and perhaps reviewed on a termly basis. Staff could use this in useful and individually appropriate ways, such as observing another teacher using a different classroom method or for various and specific coaching wants and needs. Having PD built in like this throughout the year could help make it feel more relevant and ongoing rather than the all too common INSET day training once a year approach… providing the time poor staff ensure this additional time is used for PD and not swallowed up by the day to day of course!
Thanks Colin. Absolutely - there could be a catalogue of available approaches and with all staff involved it should hopefully evolve organically, providing a sense of excitement rather than an additional pressure. If you manage to try this idea out, I would love to know how it goes.
Love this post Laura, I think its a really hard balance for SLT to put on PD that engages and supports all the staff. In my last school they weren't afraid to cancel staff meetings and send out the resources if the staff had a particularly busy day and were unable to attend. Likewise we've had some excellent and powerful guest speakers.
I think a lot of SLT staff just do staff meetings because it's the norm!
Thank you :) You are right - it is tricky to balance. I think being ahead of the storm is key - looking for particular hot spots and adapting meeting time accordingly, spending PD budget wisely (so fantastic you have had such brilliant guest speakers to visit), basically being proactive rather than reactive. Time truly is precious!
Fortunately, this isn’t the norm, but we once started the year with a really showy public speaker and wellbeing coach coming to make us feel good and get in touch with our emotions.
We had a new English scheme to plan from and a tonne of work to do. A better wellbeing strategy would’ve been ‘crack on’ 😂
It all boils down to the 'time' element doesn't it? If only there was enough for both! Thinking about these opportunities in advance could hopefully ease some of the tensions with this.
Lots of this excellent article resonated with me. I’d love to see additional PPA time allocated to staff that is directed to PD. Maybe one hour a fortnight and perhaps reviewed on a termly basis. Staff could use this in useful and individually appropriate ways, such as observing another teacher using a different classroom method or for various and specific coaching wants and needs. Having PD built in like this throughout the year could help make it feel more relevant and ongoing rather than the all too common INSET day training once a year approach… providing the time poor staff ensure this additional time is used for PD and not swallowed up by the day to day of course!
Thanks Colin. Absolutely - there could be a catalogue of available approaches and with all staff involved it should hopefully evolve organically, providing a sense of excitement rather than an additional pressure. If you manage to try this idea out, I would love to know how it goes.