CPD | SecEd

Teacher development: Understanding the DfE's Golden Thread

27 June 2022

Are you tying yourself in knots with the golden thread? Gareth Conyard discusses two key challenges schools must navigate when considering career-long CPD for teaching staff

Eight tips for better conversations at work

22 June 2022

What if you could boost the morale of staff, make your team feel more valued, strengthen relationships, and increase effectiveness without any impact on staff workload and at zero cost? Helen Webb explains how to have better conversations

A teacher’s guide to retrieval practice: Metacognition

18 May 2022

Continuing his series on the potential of retrieval practice, spaced learning, and successive relearning in the classroom, Kristian Still turns to metacognition, the importance of students accurately regulating their learning, and how we can help them to do this

Teachers collaborating on the curriculum

17 May 2022

It is teachers who deliver the curriculum, so curriculum design and implementation through collaboration is a clear way to improve teaching and learning quality, says Richard Jackson

Safeguarding: Getting the basics right – every time

16 May 2022

The basics of safeguarding revolve around identifying children at risk of harm and we can never take this work for granted. Elizabeth Rose recaps the four main types of abuse, the principles of effective staff training, and the basics of keeping children safe from serious harm

Stress, anxiety, and developing our teachers

2 May 2022

Stressed? Overwhelmed? Anxious? If we are to put in place a schools recovery plan to help teaching staff and leaders, we need to know what challenges we are addressing and how to address them. Gareth Conyard reflects on wellbeing and CPD

A teacher’s guide to retrieval practice: Spaced learning

20 April 2022

Continuing his series on the potential of retrieval practice, spaced learning, successive relearning, and metacognitive approaches in the classroom, this time Kristian Still focuses on the ‘spaced’ element, looking at the underpinning research and drawing out important lessons for teachers

Seven ways my Master’s has improved my teaching

19 April 2022

Head of year Dave Stephenson recently completed his Master’s in learning and teaching. In this article, he describes the seven positive effects the experience has had for his teaching practice

A teacher’s guide to retrieval practice: Let’s make some memories (stick)

30 March 2022

The potential impact of retrieval practice, spaced learning, successive relearning, and metacognitive approaches in the classroom cannot be underestimated. In this series, Kristian Still looks at nine interlinked elements crucial to these approaches and draws out important lessons for teachers from ...

Four steps to develop your school’s senior leadership team

22 March 2022

Building and developing a successful senior leadership team is an important part of the role of a headteacher. Simon Clark shares four strategic tips for how you can do this

Safeguarding: What does a culture of safety look like?

15 March 2022

Safer working practice in schools is crucial to establishing safe cultures and ensuring effective safeguarding. In this article, Elizabeth Rose explains how schools can minimise opportunity for harm perpetrated by those working with children

Teacher appraisal: Professional development reviews in the time of Covid

15 March 2022

Teacher appraisal forms part of established practice in maintained schools and the majority of academies. Brian Rossiter shares practical advice when reviewing performance with colleagues as part of a professional development cycle as we move into a post-Covid world

CPD: Building a culture of collaboration that sticks

22 February 2022

When it comes to professional development, how can school leaders build meaningful and impactful collaboration? Concettina Johnson offers some questions for reflection, examples and tips

The climate crisis, the curriculum and CPD

22 February 2022

The role of school leadership in ensuring schools respond to the environmental challenges of our generation is crucial, and teacher support and professional development will play a key role. Heena Dave advises

The science of starting your lessons well

26 January 2022

Start as you mean to go on. Doctoral researcher and classroom educator Sean Harris examines some of the practical and research-informed routines for starting lessons well

Safeguarding: Spotting the signs of domestic abuse

11 January 2022

Sadly, some children returning to school after Christmas will have been victims of domestic abuse. Elizabeth Rose considers what this could look like, the signs and symptoms staff might see and practical ways to respond

The three Cs: Developing teachers’ digital & edtech skills

15 November 2021

When we seek to develop teachers’ digital skills, we too often focus only on cognisance and fail to develop both competence and confidence. Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith advises

Getting the most out of your MAT

15 November 2021

As a teacher, how do you get the most out of your school’s multi-academy trust? Paul Ainsworth looks at some of the opportunities MATs should be providing for their staff and what teachers themselves can do to take advantage

How to improve CPD and teaching – right now!

2 November 2021

A report from the Education Endowment Foundation advises on ensuring effective CPD in schools. Roger Higgins outlines some of the practical lessons we can learn from the findings

Middle leadership: The four Cs of effective quality assurance

28 September 2021

Quality assurance – including lesson observation – is a key responsibility for many middle leaders in our secondary schools. Adam Robbins sets out some effective approaches

CPD: The four big questions all school leaders ask

14 September 2021

There are four big questions that school leaders ask time and again when it comes to their school’s CPD provision. In this article, Maria Cunningham answers them with practical tips

Early Career Framework: Roll-out and next steps

6 September 2021

The Early Career Framework is here and with it comes a new two-year induction cycle for early career teachers across England. Leora Cruddas identifies some key questions schools should be addressing as full roll-out of the ECF begins...

Research and evidence-led teaching: From consumers to creators

6 September 2021

Following up their previous article on how to interpret educational research, Dr Fiona Aubrey Smith and Prof Peter Twining urge teachers to shift from being consumers of research to co-creating and sharing their own knowledge and experiences…

CPD: How to unlock education research

23 August 2021

Unpacking research findings can be challenging. Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith and Professor Peter Twining offer teachers and CPD leaders some practical tips about how to source and interpret the latest research efficiently and effectively and discusses some of the common flaws to look out for

CPD that makes a difference: A checklist for schools

5 July 2021

For professional learning to be effective teachers must have clarity about the changes they are seeking and agency so that they can act upon their learning. Fiona Aubrey-Smith offers a checklist for schools