Case Study:
The Birley Academy
When assessing their CPD requirements, The Birley Academy identified the need to offer the whole school workforce an opportunity to access personalised training on demand.
After searching for a comprehensive CPD package that would enable them to continue their professional development remotely, the academy opted for a School Membership with The National College.
Daniel Gillett, Assistant Headteacher, joined us to discuss the highlights of their journey so far.
CPD for the whole school workforce
The Birley Academy places a huge importance on ensuring that they deliver high-quality and informative CPD to the whole team.
Daniel explained: "We wanted CPD to be available for every staff member in the building."
"We needed a remote platform that would support staff to complete CPD in their own time for their development needs." he said.
Daniel added that The National College offers bespoke professional development, with individuals able to utilise our webinar and course programmes to fit their own specific needs.
"Some staff may be interested in different areas, and we wanted to provide them with the capability to explore that."
"Using The National College, they can complete their own CPD and share that with other staff members too." he added.
Ease of access
Daniel reflected: “Initially, the platform was only used by the leadership team.”
“We discovered the ease of use and the fact that staff members could watch the webinars at any time.”
“It’s great that staff have downloaded certificates and demonstrate that they are working on their own CPD.”
“We particularly like the fact that staff can upload a record of their own external CPD too, which can be used in appraisal meetings.”
“Staff have that freedom to add their own CPD and use The National College too.”
A convenient approach to CPD
At The National College, we pride ourselves on the flexibility of our CPD, which allows staff to undertake training on the go, anytime, anywhere and on any device.
Daniel revealed: “We like the fact that you can pause the webinars and return to them at a convenient time, it really helps with teacher workload.”
“It’s fantastic that we can download supporting documents too from certain webinars and courses.” he added.
Speaking in specific terms, Daniel drew attention to the school’s safeguarding provision and how training from The National College has been a huge support.
He said: “The safeguarding CPD is great. We do a lot of safeguarding training in person and online, as mandatory training.”
He continued: “Moving forward, I’m going to be setting up subject-specific watch lists.”
“It will allow me to send CPD to different departments.” he stated.
“That’s what we’re moving towards in the future.”