There are a lot of demands on your allocated training days and CPD sessions. Keeping staff up-to-date on safeguarding issues, introducing new initiatives, focusing on teaching and learning research and approaches – it all takes time.
You also want to ensure that there is opportunity for different groups to meet and some individual preparation time for your staff, too. It can be easy to become complacent and to find yourself stuck using the same form of delivery, with staff quickly glazing over and thinking about their holidays or what they are having for dinner instead. Here are 10 ideas.
1, Think it through & keep it relevant
Look at the agenda and visualise how it will flow. Is there enough time for independent work, team-work, and information-sharing? Are the methods you are using suitable for the content you are delivering?
Also, staff can feel resentful if they don’t think the content of the day is of any use to them, so be prepared to be flexible about who attends what. There is no merit in insisting that every member of staff is in every session.
2, Clear purpose
Make sure that people know what you have planned and its purpose. If they can see the relevance and believe that the day will make a difference to their teaching, for example, then you are more likely to have a receptive audience. Share your motives and also ask if there is anything specific that others would like covered, this time or in future training.
3, Be well-prepared
It might be stating the obvious, but make sure that you have everything carefully prepared beforehand. Photocopies ready to distribute, technology in working order, and that you have visualised what the key issues might be and how to address them.
If you have engaged an external provider, then communicate clearly what you want the focus of the session to be and what staff should gain from it. Check that you have all the resources available that they need – particularly in relation to IT. It is beneficial to share some information about the nature of the group and any characteristics that you think they should be aware of.
4, Make it comfortable
Consider the space you will be using and how you can make the day as pleasant as possible for your staff. Attention to detail in terms of airing the room, the temperature, availability of water, and even some snacks, can go a long way to softening the most cynical when it comes to INSET.
Can your budget stretch to lunch? Or staff might be prepared to come together and bring in a dish? Don’t forget, as well as helping staff to build stronger relationships, eating together also provides further opportunities for informal discussion about the training they have received.
Do you have sufficient tables and chairs and what is the best arrangement likely to be? You might want to mix people around a little so that different members of staff work together cross-discipline.
And how can you punctuate the time and when will you build in comfort breaks?
5, Something different
Consider using a different format for presenting some or all of the content you need to deliver. Role-play, question and answer sessions, action research – what might be an alternative to a slide-show presentation?
For example, why not begin the day with a problem you have as a school and dedicate some time to solving it. This isn’t about starting out with pre-determined ideas but genuinely seeking ideas that can be tried out in the classroom and then evaluated. It doesn’t have to be all staff working on the same problem, but it could be issues identified by each of your year group teams.
6, Meeting dos and don’ts
Some of the same rules apply to planning your training days as they do to planning your staff meetings:
- Consider carefully – is there part of this day that could be circulated on paper?
- Could paperwork be provided before the day and time used on the day for questions and answers?
- Who is the best person to deliver this part of the training?
- Which item gets the more difficult afternoon slot?
Consider as well, what your position is on the use of mobile phones. It is important to be clear and have the same rule apply to everyone.
If you are not delivering the training yourself then make sure that you are as alert, interested and involved as you would want your members of staff to be – set a good example.
Make sure that you finish on time, or even a little earlier if possible. Even 10 minutes can make a difference and send people happy to their rooms for a little additional preparation time or a cup of tea and a chat.
7, Time to collaborate
Do not cram so much into your training day that there is no time for staff to digest the content together in groups. Discussion time allows staff to dissect any implications of what they have been shown or indeed to contribute to implementation plans. This can be done in small groups – perhaps within subject, year group or cross-disciplinary teams depending on the subject under discussion. This could even culminate in a Q&A once the main group comes back together to continue the training.
8, In or out of house?
Bringing in an external trainer comes at a cost, but it can be useful to occasionally break up the normal pattern. They could be from your local authority or trust or occasionally you might look further afield for something very specific to your school.
Whoever it is, do try and check them out through recommendations first. It is incredibly frustrating to spend money and time on something that turns out to be not what you wanted. Sharing the cost with another school is good for your budget and can provide a different venue and opportunity to meet new colleagues in the local area and trade ideas.
9, Follow-up
How many times have you had a training day that felt almost inspirational, gave you lots of ideas and then became nothing but a footnote in history?
Consider not only the day itself but how the momentum might be kept alive afterwards. This could include putting the issue on the agenda of future meetings for further discussion and reaction, circulating a summary or – depending on the content – following-up with further CPD support or trial and investigation in smaller staff groups.
Involve other senior leaders in repeating the main message as frequently as possible, particularly in the early days, and don’t forget to celebrate progress and early wins.
10, Keep a record
Keep a careful log of your days, the content, who was there, and any important points raised. If you brought someone in, keep a record too of whether you felt the money was well spent. Ask your staff for feedback. This could be through a formal rating scale and/or questionnaire or part of an annual evaluation. Informal comments shortly after the event can also provide you with ideas to improve things next time.
- Suzanne O’Connell is a freelance education writer and a former primary school headteacher. You can find more top 10 tips pieces via www.headteacher-update.com/content/best-practice/category/leadership-and-policy/top-10-tips