Guest blog written by Claire Probert, Lancot Challenger Academy

CPD. So often associated with death by PowerPoint, as a room full of tea-drinking teachers subtly write ever expanding to-do lists to be completed later that same day, if not during the training!

I don’t find this acceptable; I firmly believe that we should practice what we preach. For our pupils, we rightly demand that our staff eliminate passive learning, develop active questioning, promote pupil-led learning and all within an engaging, safe and positive climate. At my school, my staff deserve exactly that too and myself and my IRIS Connect Lead, Jenny Fraser, are passionate about offering this to our team.

What is prep learning?

Prep learning is a learning method that promotes the teaching of metacognition and actively supports independent learning, mindfulness and self-regulated assessment.

Pupils using the prep learning method access a teacher-made website which allows them to study exemplary work, both written and visual, to develop a deeper understanding of their qualification curriculum.

In this video interview, Andy Newell, Managing Director of IRIS Connect interviews Daniel Muijs, Deputy Director of Ofsted about the new Ofsted Framework 2019. The questions asked in this interview were selected by school leaders and cover topics such as evidence-informed practice, domain specific CPD and Ofsted’s latest approach to observations. 

Watch the full video interview with Daniel Muijs or skip to a topic of your choice to hear Daniel’s answers.

Reflective practice is a more systematic process of collecting, recording and analysing our thoughts and observations, as well as those of our students, and then going on to make changes.

The Lifelong Learning UK Standards are clear that self-reflection is a core component of effective teacher CPD and key to enabling teachers to become skilled in their roles.

Developing a CPD culture takes time and effort. It can't be imposed or imported overnight. That being said, there are things that you can do to create an environment where teachers want to learn and develop their instructional practice. 

Get started by reflecting on the following 7 questions...

Guest blog written by Sunny Gunessee, Carshalton Boys Sports College.

Since the introduction of video CPD (IRIS Connect), our school has gone from strength to strength when it comes to the growth of teaching, learning and development of leadership and management. The investment in IRIS Connect in June 2018 caused a tangible shift in the quality of provision we provide, particularly in the area of NQTs, experienced staff, subject leaders and pastoral leaders having more collective efficacy.

So how can a school after only one year have created such a culture?