Case Study:
Dubai Modern Education School
Founded in 1996, Dubai Modern Education School is a
private co-educational school serving students from Dubai and the surrounding
Emirates.
As a family-oriented and inclusive school, DMES commits
to high-quality and sustainable education for its academically and
culturally-diverse student population. Furthermore, the school places a high
importance on providing tailored professional development opportunities for all
school staff.
Andrew Scott, Head of Cycle for Middle and High School,
joined us to discuss how The National College has supported all school staff to
pursue their own areas of interest and develop their skills across a range of
topics.
A one-stop shop for CPD training and resources
Andrew said: “We were looking for a one-stop shop for CPD,
where all of the resources would be available in one place. The National
College ticked all of those boxes for us.”
“The platform covers so many categories, including school
leadership, mental health, SEND, junior teaching, senior teaching, and the UK
curriculum,” he continued.
He added: “For us, we are able to find everything that we
need in one place.”
“Plus, we can use it to monitor all staff and get a clear
picture of how much CPD has been completed across the school,” he commented.
A collaborative approach to professional development
Andrew said: “We plan professional development
collaboratively at the school.”
“Each Thursday, we allow our staff to log on to The National
College platform and identify a specific area where they feel that they require
professional development and improvement,” he explained.
He added: “We believe very strongly in personalised
learning. This makes it bespoke to each teacher, and allows them to pursue
their own areas of interest.”
“On Fridays, we provide time for the staff to engage with
the resources that they have selected from The National College,” Andrew said.
“Occasionally, we have group sessions to enhance learning
and understanding for a particular department. They may choose to meet and have
a training session as a group, or it may be individual, and they will share
their findings in a discission at the end.”
Empowering all school staff with tailored professional development opportunities
He said: “We find that the best part of the process with The
National College is the opportunity for staff to download their certificates at
the end. Each teacher has a folder, so that they can keep a record of their
training. We monitor this as a leadership team to ensure that everyone is
engaging in the learning.”
“One of the main advantages for us is that we are giving our
staff ownership of their own professional development. We allow them to choose
topics that are of interest to them,” he explained.
He continued: “It is important for us that we monitor the
impact of the professional development and see whether the learning that the
staff have completed is showing positive results in the classroom.”
“The biggest takeaway for us is that we are empowering our
teaching staff and giving them the opportunity to enhance their personal and
professional development,” he nodded.
Andrew revealed: “To conclude, I wanted to say that we are
very grateful and appreciative of this fantastic resource.”
“We have benefitted and continue to benefit from the wide range of topics that you provide,” he confirmed.