Here at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, we place a great emphasis on professional development. This blog explains the key levers we use to bring about change across the school.
Before an examination of the process, the table below outlines the PD opportunities we have in school which are referenced in the rest of the blog.
After reading Kate Pretsell’s insightful blog series, our curiosity led us to Totteridge Academy, where we sought valuable insights into the transformative journey of another school. We knew training a generation of teachers in the complex world of grammar was never going to be easy and the clear message from this visit was to take our time and manage the cognitive load of staff.
Rather than rushing through topics, such as subordinating conjunctions, ‘because, but, so’, stop and jots, and appositives, we opted for a deliberate, measured approach. Our intentional decision was to proceed slowly, allowing ample time for individuals to experiment, make mistakes, engage in discussions, and cultivate a more profound understanding of each teaching technique.
