CPD Team

The focus of all of the team’s work is on building professional development capacity for CfE at individual, school and authority level. all of our work is designed to improve pupil learning by building this capacity.

Currently we promote and support the delivery of Curriculum of Excellence by:

-          Leading the CPD Managers Network, arranging meetings, leading the Planning Group, sharing, discussing, developing practice, researching, etc

-          Developing, piloting, evaluating and launching innovative practice in CPD and leadership

-          Building capacity within schools and authorities for collegiate leadership

-          Creating and sustaining links with and  among CPD stakeholders and multi-agency partners

-          Advising and guiding educators on issues relating to CPD

-          Responding to emerging issues in a range of ways including research, piloting, organising focus groups, collecting interesting practice

-          Identifying and leading high-value CPD and leadership activities

Planned areas for further development in 2010 / 2011:

• PRD and Measuring Impact
• Leadership development            
• Learning rounds
• Developing Communities of Practice

Innovative and Creative CPD

 Thank you very much to the seventeen local authorities who responded to a request for information about how they managed CPD for supply teachers. Some points to emerge:

• There is a wide variation in practice across the country. Almost all responding LAs offer places on locally organised courses to those teachers on the supply list. There are no instances of teachers being paid to attend these other than those employed in schools on mid to long term contracts
• All of the Councils who responded were continuing to administer supply from within the Council
• Seven of the 17 respondents – about 45% – offer tailored CPD for their supply teachers. In a few cases these are extensive and include network meetings, established Glow Groups etc.
• A small number of the authorities expressed their concern that this was a group whose development needs were not being well met
• One problem seems to be a discrepancy between the number of teachers on the supply list and the number who are “active” – eg available for work. Many respondents suggested that they had a large number of inactive teachers, or those who had very limiting conditions for accepting supply work. In one authority more than 750 secondary teachers were on the supply list but the “core” was about 50.
• The issue of PRD for supply teachers is largely unresolved except for those on long term contracts. This means that there are some issues around their readiness to deliver curricular reform.

The 2006 CPD Team paper CPD for Supply Teachers is still largely relevant and could be updated easily if the network felt that was helpful. There are currently no CPD opportunties for supply teachers on CPDFind. If you have a good programme for returning or supply teachers this might be a good place to find new participants.

The team would be happy to put you in touch with each other if CPD for Supply Teachers is an issue that you want to move forward on, or indeed we would happily convene a working party if you felt that would be helpful.

I am very grateful to colleagues in Stirling who are willing to share a copy of their current comprehensive and high-quality “Temporary Teachers’ Staff Development Programme”, and their LNCT agreement on Supply Teachers. Let us know if you’d like a copy.

If parliamentary business allows, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Fiona Hyslop will be paying a visit to the CPD Lounge at the Scottish Learning Festival. She hopes to pop in just after 2pm on Wednesday 22nd September. The main purpose for her visit is to talk to CPD leaders and get a sneak preview of CPDLead, the online community for CPD leaders on Glow. The CPD Team look forward to welcoming Fiona and if you are a CPD leader at SLF, why not pop in too?

If you can’t make it, the visit will be recorded live at SLFExtra’s virtual CPD Lounge on Glow.

The National CPD Team are looking for a passionate CPD leader in a Scottish educational establishment to assist with the development of CPDLead. CPDLead is the new online community for CPD Leaders on Glow (to be launched at the Scottish Learning Festival).

As an associate of the CPD Team, you will be challenged to:

1. Promote sharing of practice using the sharing section of CPDLead
2. Promote discussion of professional learning topics on CPDLead (and through CPDFind)
3. Make CPDLead a listening post for CPD Leaders

The ideal associate will be:

• a CPD leader (coordinator) in Scottish educational establishment
• be committed to effective and innovative CPD practice
• familiar with the Glow environment (but that’s an added bonus)!

The associate work is funded by the National CPD Team and takes the form of reimbursement for your local authority and / or the associate in their own time.

If you are interested, drop ruth@cosla.gov.uk an email.