Dear members,
Welcome to the Continuing Professional Development area of the BSME website.
CPD is becoming an increasingly important part of a school’s agenda in terms of determining its success. The White Paper has certainly highlighted that CPD is on the government’s agenda. It is also, most firmly, on the BSME agenda.
The importance of CPD in the context of the UK AGENDA
Education is an area which constantly has new initiatives thrust upon it. In recent years, we have heard about New professionalism, Professional Standards, Ofsted’s The Logical Chain, 2020 Vision, Every Child Matters, Every Teacher Matters and now the recent White Paper. So, lots of ‘Papers’, lots of research, and even a new coalition government. And yet, they all agree on one thing - CPD needs to be at the heart of any school:
“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 at the Institute of Education, has said that “we need a relentless focusing of professional development on what improves outcomes for students. The key is to put training and peer learning at the centre of school life……the school becomes a place of learning for the staff as well as the students.”
On the 21st March 2011 Ofsted published new proposals for inspections of maintained schools and academies, reflecting the reforms outlined in the schools white paper. The report highlights the change in structure of Ofsted inspections, which will now focus in depth on four key areas – behaviour and safety of pupils, pupil achievement, quality of teaching and leadership and management.
The Ofsted report continues to discuss the focus on classroom practice and developing consistently good teaching and learning. It also acknowledges that schools will have greater autonomy and responsibility for developing their own improvement. Sharing good practice alongside investing in school and personal development will be a key factor in future Ofsted inspections.
This echoes Michael Gove’s comment posted on the DfE website recently:
"A third of secondary schools are now either an academy or have started the road to conversion. This represents a fundamental shift in power away from government and towards teachers. Teachers, not politicians or bureaucrats, know best how to run schools." Michael Gove, 10th May 2011, DfE website
With the government's initiative to create a network of teaching schools alongside Ofsted's focus on the quality of teaching and improvement, it is clear that CPD will play a key role in the future of schools across the UK.
A BSME Community of Learners working together to achieve improved student learning outcomes
It is against this backdrop that we have been working very hard this year to establish the foundations of a high quality CPD programme that will meet the needs of our members. The infrastructure is now firmly in place, relationships with providers have been created and a database of contacts and courses is growing on a continuous basis. Importantly, we now have a network of BSME CPD Host Schools across the region which will begin to facilitate the concept of ‘a community of learners’.
A massive support tool for this community will be the BSME website – our ‘virtual community’. It will over time, become more than just a notice board. It should enable schools throughout the region to connect more easily and allow for a greater sharing of information, ideas and best practice. The CPD area will, of course, include information on the events we are running, on the providers and courses available, as well as useful website links, online resources and CPD support tools to download. There will even be a CPD news section – sharing the latest UK agenda/research. But it will be the areas where we can share our knowledge and best practice that will be the most exciting and the most beneficial.
Our CPD calendar of events for 2011-2012 is now available on the website (please visit the 'Programme and Courses' section) and we hope that you will be as excited about it as we are. It is based closely on the needs analysis undertaken last year and so should match very closely the common needs identified across the region. We are offering some excellent courses using a wide range of reputable providers, many of whom are considered world-class experts in their field.
This year’s Primary Teachers Conference will take place at Doha British Montessori School, Doha Qatar, from 17-19 November 2011. The theme will be ‘Raising Standards’ and more information on this will be sent out to you soon.
The Annual Conference for Headteachers will once again take place at the Beach Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi from 31 January – 4 February 2011. We are currently finalising the choice of speakers and this promises to be another exciting event.
In addition, we will again be running BSME/Penta Accreditation courses and these will be included on the CPD Calendar of events once dates have been finalised.
There are several other initiatives in the pipeline and we will keep you informed as and when these develop.
In short, it is a very busy and very exciting time for BSME and the CPD Programme. Much has been achieved this year and we look forward to building on these very strong foundations in the coming years. The biggest area of potential, long term, has to be a collaborative approach to professional development. By working together and by sharing our knowledge we become a powerful network of learners. We become a ‘BSME Community of Learners working together to achieve improved student learning outcomes’.
And to finish, a fantastically simple quotation on what, ultimately, CPD is all about:
“the point of CPD is that it will help you to become the best professional you can be to help every child achieve their potential” (Guardian/TDA debate on CPD)
I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead as we drive the BSME CPD Programme from strength to strength.
Kind regards,
Rebecca Annand
BSME CPD Coordinator
Mobile: 00 97150 5539118
Email: cpd@bsme.org.uk