© Dormston School. All Rights Reserved. Site by Think Creative
In September 2020, Dormston School embarked upon a three year Visible Learning programme which puts ‘know thy impact’ at the heart of teaching and learning. The programme will inform much of the forthcoming teacher training and CPD over the coming months. In addition to our new Visible Learning Programme, we have a number of established continuous professional development opportunities for staff at all levels which include:
Dormston Teacher Journal Club
Dormston’s Annual Teaching and Learning Conference; now into its fifth year sees members of our school community joined by teachers from across the West Midlands and beyond. This year’s conference was focussed on the whole-school introduction to the principles of Visible Learning and served as a launch pad into our future as a visible learning school.
Dormston Leadership and Management:
This programme picks out aspiring middle and senior leaders and gives them the skills needed to move forwards in their careers. We also offer an SLT Shadowing programme for aspiring senior leaders.
Dormston Teacher Journal Club
This group, made up of staff from a range of departments meets several times for professional discussions around pedagogy. Previous journals include Hattie’s “Politics of Collaborative Expertise”, Christodoulou’s “Minding the Knowledge Gap” and Rosenshine’s “Principles of Instruction”.
Dormston New Staff Training:
This weekly programme runs during the first term and provides training on whole-school issues such as safeguarding, positive behaviour management and feedback as well as providing opportunities to learn about the day to day running of the school. The programme ensures consistency and best practice as well as providing staff with an opportunity to network with members of different departments.
Our NQTs and ITT training programme:
As a school we value the fresh energy and ideas that NQTs contribute to a school. As such we offer a comprehensive training programme for NQTs in addition to a subject and professional mentor. Our departments provide on-going support for their NQTs throughout this critically important first year. We also work with local universities to offer our ITT programme.
In addition to these programmes, Dormston provides a comprehensive annual CPD programme including: Safeguarding, Prevent, literacy, anti-bullying as well as medical training for anaphylaxis and asthma.
At Dormston, all staff are encouraged to be reflective practitioners in a bid to constantly drive forward improvements in teaching and learning. The programme of established CPD as set out above seeks to do just that and has been enormously successful.