‘The most important person in our school is the pupil.

1. ‘The most important person in our school is the pupil. The most important asset is the teacher’. Mr Jeff Smith Director

2. Aims of this presentation • To highlight the role played by Continuous Professional Development (CPD) within overall school improvement. This includes: • - supporting the Director’s changes to the management structures • within the school; • - offering a wider philosophy of what constitutes beneficial CPD • for teachers; • - explaining the monitoring and recording of CPD at DIS has led to • increased teacher participation.

3. Leadership “As we look to the future, the most successful leaders will be those who empower others.” Bill Gates At DIS, we have a Director who is committed to providing opportunities for his staff to develop professionally. Since arriving at DIS (Jan 2012), Mr Smith has created 25 new management positions.

4. Distributed leadership is now beginning to thrive across DIS. So many more staff are directly involved in driving the school forwards and are being supported in this. Teachers have come to recognise and appreciate the role of CPD in overall school improvement…

5. The Director promotes CPD CPD School Policy Document: “DIS encourages its professional staff to participate in staff development opportunities…” “DIS recognises the right of all teachers to keep up-to-date…” “The school aims to instil in its students a love of learning and aims to ensure that they will become ‘lifelong learners’; with this in mind, school management will encourage all teachers to model this desired behaviour…” CPD Policy - revised, June 2012 • CPD at DIS

6. But what do we mean by CPD? “Continuing professional development (CPD) consists of reflective activity designed to develop an individual’s attributes, knowledge, understanding and skills. It supports individual needs and improves professional practice.” TDA, UK. • CPD at DIS • Many developmental opportunities exist in schools; it’s a case of appreciating that CPD can involve a wide range of activities. • At DIS, we believe thatCPD is notsimply • about “going on a course”…

7. CPD CPD is not simply about “going on a course”…

8. Our Key CPD Question: “Is your activity developing you professionally in any way?” If so, we log it on our bespoke DIS staff database:

9. CPD Proactive CPD for Database Logging“Is your activity developing you professionally in any way?” Observing effective practice Classroom or task observation – with peer discussion/review Discussions with colleagues to reflect on classroom practice Collaborative team activity, eg. planning, teaching, assessment Team teaching Participation in ‘Learning Walks’ Joining/leading internal working groups, eg. TLCs Attending/presenting at internal training workshops Coaching (both roles) – eg. Zayed University scheme Appraisal discussions Oh, and going on courses! “CPD is more than going on courses”

10. DIS Minimum CPD Commitments* • To attend 30 hours of CPD per year. • To visit two other teachers’ lessons (minimum) in one academic year; one teacher within their department and one from another department. • To attend and contribute to Teacher Learning Communities meetings (TLC). • If appropriate, to attend Middle Managers Learning Communities meetings (MLLT). • *CPD Policy Document • All of this - and much more - is logged • Individual teacher responsibility

11. DIS strategic plans Current CPD Focus Areas at DIS • DIS’s professional development needs feature in the 3-year Strategic Plan and Annual Action Plan. This includes CPD focus on: • In-house voluntary CPD programme (led by teachers) • 4 day bespoke Middle Management programme • Staff participation in Learning Walks • Assessment data to track performance • Student-centred learning • Full first term induction plan for new teachers in September • Mentoring skills for teachers to support Emirati trainees • (Zayed University link scheme)

12. Our Middle Leaders & CPD Middle Leaders have a key role to play within the school’s distributed leadership structure. As such, we ask the following questions of them: How can Senior Leaders and Middle Leaders best work together to promote further opportunities for staff development? What CPD practices or opportunities are you promoting or providing in your section? Do you have a developmental slot on the agenda of your team meetings? What sorts of thing? How can you, as a Middle Leader, set an example to your team members? (  Primary colleague, Jenny Murray) • HOD/Team Leader role

13. In summary… All teachers are entitled to CPD and DIS encourages active participationas part of modelling a love of learning within the school. The distributed leadership ethos of the Director provides both the opportunities and the incentive for staff to engage in ongoing CPD. Professional development of the staff underpins school improvement. CPD incorporates a wide range of activities. Recognising such professional activity has increased motivation and participation across the staff.

14. “Successfully embedding CPD in the daily life of schools would make more difference than anything else to the quality of education.” Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor, IOE, London • Under a dynamic and empowering Director, DIS is making huge and exciting strides in this… • Thank you for listening • Mr Colin Bibby, CPD Manager, Deira International School