My 5-point CPD Charter

How to plan for the in-between times

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Once upon a time…

Recently, I visited a school to support their maths department. Following a morning of lesson visits, I decided that the first thing we needed to work on was the Do Now. Teachers were doing their own thing to varying degrees of success. When I presented the evidence to the Head of Department, she was happy to implement a departmental approach to the Do Now similar to that I describe in this post.

So, in the afternoon, I gathered the department to work on this new approach. I showcased critical evidence to demonstrate how their current approach to the Do Now was not working as well as they hoped (time-stamps, photos of students’ books, and transcribed conversations with students), went through the process that I had agreed in advance with the Head of Department, opened the floor to questions and concerns, and then ended the session by asking each colleague to plan an upcoming Do Now for a class of their choice and to rehearse doing it the new way with their partner.

All went well. The department seemed up for the challenge, and the Head of Department said she would arrange for the department to meet a week later to reflect on what had worked, and what challenges they were facing, with the view to rolling out this as the new department approach to the Do Now with all classes.

What could possibly go wrong?

What happened next…

Fast-forward a month, and I am back in the school for my second visit. Again, I spent the morning doing lesson drop-ins to see the progress made on the Do Now, and to find the focus for the next stage of the department’s development. But, low and behold, during the first six lessons, I saw six completely different Do Nows. They differed in the number of questions, the challenge level, and - most concerning - differed in the pedagogy in which the Do Now was delivered.

It was like my first visit had never occurred.

I was concerned by what I saw, so I sought out the Head of Department to find out what was going on. Before I tell you what she said, would you like to take a guess?

Why had the change we had discussed, agreed upon and rehearsed not materialised?

What happened in between my visits…

A day is a long time in politics, and a month is a long time in a school. When I asked the Head of Department what had happened between my visits, she said - with regret in her voice - not a lot.

She had not managed to get the department back together after a week to reflect on the Do Now as we had agreed. The departmental meeting got cancelled because of a whole-school CPD session on the new behaviour policy. The maths department was not scheduled to meet again formally for another two weeks. The Head of Department had considered asking everyone to stay behind voluntarily one afternoon after school, or come in early one morning, to do the reflection, but she felt bad doing so because her staff had been working so hard recently.

So, with no time for reflection, and no explicit incentive to sustain the change and roll it out further, our work on the Do Now had fizzled out, and we were back to square one.

I would love to say that the above is an isolated incident. But, alas, it is not. In September, I visited a school and worked with the maths department on effective mini-whiteboard use when reviewing answers to independent practice. In the CPD session, everyone was really excited to put the mini-whiteboards to use, and the Head of Departmeant invested in a nice shiny, new set of boards, pens and dusters for everybody. I revisited the school in February, and did not see a single mini-whiteboard all morning. When I asked this Head of Department what had happened, it was the same story: no time, shifting priorities from above.

How to stop this happening

I don’t think the above is the fault of teachers. Teaching is one of the busiest jobs imaginable. We have all left CPD sessions armed with good intentions, and then life gets in the way.

No, the above is the fault of the Senior Leadership Teams in schools. I know this will make me unpopular for saying so, but it needs saying.

If schools are going to use public money to get me in to support their maths department - and I am using me as an example here, but of course, the same is true for any form of support or new initiative - then they must make sure that expenditure has as positive an impact as possible. I will do my best to hold up my side of the bargain by delivering bespoke support backed by evidence and practical strategies. But if that is not complemented by the time needed to practice, reflect, refine and embed those strategies, then what happened above will always happen.

So now, when a school books me for support, I ask the Headteacher or the appropriate member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to agree to the following five things:

My 5-part CPD charter

1. Low-stakes experiment. Colleagues will be given one week to try the new strategy with a class of their choice, with no one visiting or monitoring their lessons. This is to keep the stakes as low as possible to reduce that initial barrier to change. I ask colleagues to make notes (ideally accompanied by pictures or audio recordings) of what they have tried as it helps with the next phase, but that is for them and them alone. Of course, if colleagues want to have someone visit their lessons during this week to support them and give them feedback, then they absolutely can. The key is that they are not obliged to.

2. Departmental reflection. After a week, colleagues will be given time to come together as a department to reflect on what they have tried, what is working and what is not working, for at least 30 minutes. That 30 minutes cannot be in addition to other meetings or commitments, which might mean taking something else off them.

3. Paired lesson drop-ins. This next part is ideal, but logistically challenging, so I ask for it but do not insist upon it… Following the departmental meeting, each colleague should have an opportunity to drop into another colleague’s lesson to see them deliver the strategy we are working on. During the initial CPD, I always put colleagues in pairs for the discussion and the rehearsal, so it makes sense that each member of a pair sees each other. This is never for an entire lesson. It could be, for example, for the first 10 minutes if we are working on the Do Now, or for 5 minutes in the middle of a lesson if we are working on checks for listening during the I Do. This should not require staff to give up a free period (or if it does, that time should be repaid). When it works best, members of SLT cover colleagues’ classes for those few minutes. And again, the stakes here are low. This is not a formal observation. Nothing needs writing up or sharing outside the pair. However, colleagues must find time to get together for 20 minutes to give each other feedback.

4. Head of Department lesson drop-ins. Next, the Head of Department needs time to do lesson drop-ins with the sole focus on the area the department is working on. These drop-ins aim to find examples and non-examples of the strategy in action. Critical evidence is important here, like photos, audio recordings, transcripts, etc. The Head of Department then feeds these back in a departmental meeting - again, one that does require colleagues to give up time to attend.

5. Focus on one thing. The department should be able to roll the strategy out to more classes at this stage. For that to happen, they must be given nothing else substantial to work on for 6 weeks. If a colleague is trying to radically change the way they deliver their Do Now, whilst simultaneously implementing the new whole school literacy policy and framing their lesson around the new school concept of crucial knowledge, then things will not go well.

If the Headteacher or member of SLT cannot commit to this charter, I politely decline the invitation to support their school. This is not me being a d*ck. It is because I cannot run the risk of wasted money, and student learning not improving as much as I know it could.

And just to reiterate, I am not just talking about my support here. A similar programme should accompany anything we ask colleagues to implement.

Final things…

1. You can hear me and Ollie Lovell discuss this very issue here

2. On the off-chance I have not lost every possible future school booking, if you are looking for some CPD or maths departmental support, you can find out more here.

Teachers: how does this compare to the support you receive when implementing a change?

SLT: could you commit to this?

Let me know in the comments below!

🏃🏻‍♂️ Before you go, have you…🏃🏻‍♂️

1. … entered our Eedi competition to win £200?

2. … read my latest Tips for Teachers newsletter about stopping saying the word “Just”?

3. … listened to my most recent podcast about planning examples and behaviour systems?

4. … considered booking some CPD, coaching, or maths departmental support?

5. … read my Tips for Teachers book?

Thanks so much for reading and have a great week!

Craig