School Workforce

A CPD plan for the new year

As 2018 gets underway, Maria Cunningham offers school leaders some new year’s resolutions to help you ensure that your staff’s CPD is effective and high-impact for the months ahead

Effective CPD for school support staff

Teacher development is a clear priority for the most effective schools, but how do you ensure that your support staff are not missing out on crucial CPD? Bridget Clay advises

Appraisals: Passing the threshold

Teachers who have passed the threshold and moved onto the upper pay range should be making ‘substantial and sustained’ contributions to their schools. Brian Rossiter looks at how the threshold system should work and some of the related challenges facing schools

How after-school coding clubs can benefit pupils

In an increasingly digital world, Suzanne Straw looks at research findings showing to what extent after-school coding clubs can support young people to develop skills and further their interest in coding

Setting SMART performance objectives

Setting performance objectives for your staff is a key part of the planning process for the coming year, and with the end of appraisal reviews around the corner, the next step is getting objectives agreed. Jenny Moore offers five steps to making them meaningful...

Effective teacher review and appraisal practices

The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document applies to all maintained schools and the majority of academies. In this article Brian Rossiter shares good appraisal practice as part of the Professional Development Review cycle and performance-related pay

Early learning and child wellbeing research

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is piloting the OECD’s new study of early learning and wellbeing in England later this autumn term. Caroline Sharp explains what the study is about and what it will mean for schools

Case study: Making the most of our TAs

Low pay and low status? Teaching assistants have been accused of have little impact on pupil attainment, but what if schools developed the role and provided better training and progression routes? Sal McKeown looks at the possibilities

Handling recruitment agencies

At one time or another, all headteachers will have to deal with the recruitment agencies in order to fill a short-term or long-term vacancy. Slava Kremerman offers some tips

Flexible working: A recruitment solution?

The difficulties schools are having in recruiting teachers continue to dominate the headlines. The DfE wants us to consider the option of flexible working. Just how might this work?

Teachers on Twitter: Is it CPD?

A lot of teachers will wax lyrical about the power of Twitter when it comes to sharing resources and best practice, but what exactly should be its role in our CPD? Maria Cunningham advises

Conducting a teaching assistant audit

Are your school’s teaching assistants effective? Or perhaps we should ask: do you train, deploy and manage them effectively. Daniel Sobel says that poor use of TAs can harm student outcomes. He explains how to carry out an effective audit of your TA provision

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Workload audit: Thirty questions for your school

We all know that teachers work well beyond their designated hours, but just how can heads help to adjust the work/life balance for their staff? Drawing on the government’s Workload Survey and expert working groups, Suzanne O’Connell poses 30 self-evaluation questions for schools

Planning your CPD for next year

Many schools are starting to plan their CPD spend for the year ahead. Maria Cunningham offers advice on effective CPD planning

The emerging role of executive headteachers

What is an executive headteacher? Karen Wespieser looks at the role and skills of the growing number of executive headteachers and outlines the strategic purpose of this emerging role

The College of Teaching

The new Chartered College of Teaching is open for membership. We asked chief executive Dame Alison Peacock to explain just what it offers to primary teachers when it comes to evidence-informed practice, CPD and support

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