Investing in You
Career development plans are bespoke, based on expertise, experience and ambition, allowing senior leaders to create development programmes that match the aspirations of staff.
Highlights of our CPD offer include:
- A commitment to in-house training
- All colleagues benefit from a comphrensive induction programme that ensures they are fully supported and ready to begin their career including inductions, briefings, tours, opportunity to meet staff and students before their first day
- A well established and comphrensive mentor programme
- A strong personalised programme of professional development and coaching for teachers and support staff
- Strong links with other local schools for partnership working and personal development.
Partnership
We have established strong links with the City Excellence in Teaching Partnership. We work collaboratively with other schools in the Borough to help provide outstanding tuition for our trainee teachers, whilst maintaining high expectations and aspirations for our trainees.
Through our links with the other fifteen schools in the partnership, we are able to provide a tailored teacher training programme, using expertise within Bow and across other schools in the Borough.
ECT
A comprehensive ECT Programme is offered across the year with sessions delivered on Assessment for Learning, planning good lessons, behaviour management, time management, supporting SEND and EAL pupils in the classroom, and stretch and challenge. All ECTs are allocated their own Subject Mentors and are supported in their weekly timetabled meetings, as well as attending fortnightly Professional Mentor meetings.
ECTs are given a generous teaching allocation which allows them the opportunity to conduct learning walks and peer observations to help further develop their teaching pedagogy.
Coaching
All RQTs at Bow, teachers in their 2nd-5th year of teaching, and anyone else requiring support is given the opportunity to enter into our coaching programme. The coaching programme aims to focus on the enhancement of learning and development through increasing self-awareness and a sense of personal responsibility.
All coaches recruited gain a Level 1 certificate in coaching and mentoring from UCL. Outcomes of our coaching programme to date include staff having gained promotions and or/developed their pedagogy and self-confidence.
NPQML/SL
We continue to support our staff who are ready for Middle or Senior Leadership by enrolling successful applicants onto the NPQML/SL Programme. As part of the programme, colleagues attend face to face sessions with the Teaching Partnership whilst obtaining guidance and support on the skills required to be a Middle and Senior Leader.
Continued Professional Development
At its core, professional development is about you, and your commitment to your ongoing learning. It encourages looking forward and identifying opportunities to learn something new, refresh your knowledge and skills, or keep up to date with the latest developments within our profession.
We recognise that the demands of teaching are constantly evolving and we believe that taking part in professional development can help you/the school stay on top of teaching trends, expand skill sets, and create a curriculum that sets our students up for success.
We know that teachers engage in professional development activities whilst balancing multiple and, at times, competing commitments and time pressures and that not all professional development is equally effective. Helping teachers to improve their practice takes thought, planning and effort. The need is clear, therefore, for professional development to be well‑designed, selected, and implemented so that the investment in time is justified and the impact is the most that it can be – that is what this program has been designed to be.
