We are forming a network of CPLD Leaders around the country who are willing to answer your questions independently of us. They are doing this because of their great experience of working with the CPLD Quality Mark and the value that it has offered their schools. They are not paid in any way for doing this, rather their values are centred upon collaboration.
Mrs Amanda Love
Our Primary School Advocate
For our school, the CPLD Quality Mark is much more than just a stamp to be added to our letter head. It is about showing the importance of continuing professional learning and development for all members of our staff team and how it directly effects the teaching and learning that goes on in our school.
The Audit and Development Tool helped us to establish what we had in place and what we needed to do to move forward, helping us to plan for our future development needs. It allowed us to see what we did well and the evidence that we had to support this, which as often happens was more than we expected to see. It also showed us what and how these thing linked together to outline a whole school perspective and vision for CPLD.
As deputy Headteacher I take the lead on CPLD within our school and the Quality Mark provided me with a comprehensive framework to ensure that staff CPLD is aligned with school improvement planning and that we focus on impact.
If you are thinking about the CPLD Quality Mark and want to talk it through with someone in a primary school first, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.
E-mail: amlove@kingsnorth.kent.sch.uk
Phone: 01233 622 673
Charlie Barber
Our Secondary School Advocate
I see the value of having the CPLD Quality Mark as an accomplishment of how important the Continued Professional Learning and Development of our whole staff team is within our Academy. I feel now that our vision for professional learning is securely in place and clearly set in the direction of excellence.
Having used the development materials and gone through the assessment process, I was given an invaluable source of ideas, fresh perspectives, and all-around improvements in how we triangulate CPLD in our establishment.
As the CPLD lead in our school and part of an Teaching School Alliance, I can now share the awareness I have gained through going through the experience, and feel secure in the knowledge that our staff are at the heart of everything that we do in the academy which then leads on to excellent progress.
If you are considering The CPLD Quality Mark, and want to talk it through with someone in a secondary school, then please get in touch with me.
E-mail: barberc@hartsdown.co.uk
Phone: 01843 227957
Sue Jones – Assistant Headteacher and CPLD Leader at ‘The Village School’
Our Special School Advocate
Context
The Village School is a new school which is a merger of two community special schools in the London borough of Brent. The school caters for a wide range of Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (CLDD) from ages 4 to 19. The schools have been as one since September 2010.
The process of applying for the CPLD mark enabled us to quality assure our CPLD by providing a framework which encompassed the areas which we felt as being at the heart of school improvement and self-evaluation.
Outcomes and impact
In short the process enabled us to:
• Highlight areas of strength and development with clear guidelines as to how to improve
• Clarify areas where staff clearly felt more secure and subsequently those areas where staff development was needed.
• Quality assure all aspects of the schools vision and values
• Contribute to school self-evaluation
• Update relevant policies and procedures
• Review current polies and procedures
• Explore and investigate work of others
• Find out about various aspects issues which we were less familiar e.g. ‘talent management’
• Review capacity planning
• Review the school from a pupil perspective promoting pupil voice
• Check out our progress and achievement procedures
• Review impact of CPLD
As a result of outcomes from the report we have drawn up a list of action points which will enable us to focus on areas for development. These have now been incorporated into out revised SIP for 2014-2017.
We are proud that The Village School was the first in the country to achieve Gold accreditation so please give me a call.
E-mail: sjones@tvs.brent.sch.uk
Phone: 020 8204 5396