February 1996
|
|
Mereway Middle School recognises that human resources are the
most valuable and strive to offer equal opportunities to all staff
with regard to training needs and recognises the financial implications
that are involved.
The training programme is produced annually as part of the personnel
objectives and to identify individual and institutional priorities
in terms of training needs. This informs the process of budget
planning and effective use of resources.
KEY PURPOSES OF STAFF DEVELOPMENT
Staff Development is the central strategy for school development.
I) Making people confident in enabling children to learn.
ii) Ensuring children have access to expertise in all subject
areas.
iii) Ensuring staff are motivated to try out new ideas, implement
them in their classrooms and to take risks.
Staff Development at Mereway Middle School should be central to
children's learning, planned changes proposed within the School
Development Plan and Personal Development Planning.
Training needs to be planned for some whole staff occasions, some
group training and teaching partnerships. All these have to be
planned to given criteria, with opportunities for continued learning
and peer support. The change needed should be clearly identified.
All requests for training, via Team Co-ordinators and Curriculum Co-ordinators are met as far as possible, as are those highlighted by Curriculum Audits and others implicated by the School Development Plan. The more individual training requests, including some brought about by appraisal, may well be met by partnerships within the school. Training for all staff is fully integrated into the annual Staff Development Programme. |
1. Personnel Aims
1.1 Our mission is to provide a centre of excellence in
which individuals are given every encouragement and opportunity
to realise their potential. We will involve all individuals in
decision making processes to enable them to become independent
learners.
2. Objectives
2.1 A training programme is produced, that will be reviewed
every year. This is specifically driven by the School Development
Plan, with additional opportunities for personal development.
2.2 Effective induction to the school organisation is to
be provided for every employee, and their continued professional
development encouraged, prompted and recorded via the use of a
Personal Professional Profile.
2.3 All team co-ordinators/Managers accept responsibility
for identifying the training and development needs for their team,
helping team members identify their own needs. This forms part
of the mentoring/appraisal process in school.
2.4 All strategy members accept responsibility for identifying
the needs of the school.
2.5 All colleagues are fully trained and motivated. Continuing
professional development becomes embedded in the school culture.
2.6 Personnel Strategy and Tactics
Strategy - Short Term | Tactics |
| (What) | (How) |
| All employees to have an induction programme.
A training programme for all employees is established. | A working party of staff (including support staff) to review induction arrangements training policy. |
| Strategy - Medium Term | Tactics |
| In Service Training for the identification of 'Training Needs' - 'Training the trainers'. Review the job descriptions of all Curriculum
Co-ordinators | Training Needs Analysis to be carried out by Curriculum Co-ordinators on their teams. Priorities to be identified and documented in the team development plan. |
| Strategy - Long Term | Tactics |
| Ensure all colleagues have an Induction Programme followed by a continuing Professional Development Programme. | Human Resource Development becomes a significant part of every Curriculum Co-ordinators role. All individual and Institutional needs identified and documented. |
3. Staff Development
3.1 At Mereway Middle School we recognise that training
takes place in a variety of forms: for example;
On Site Courses Run by our own staff
Off Site Courses or outside agencies
Teaching Partnerships Developmental Learning Partnerships
Inset Sessions
Staff Meetings
These may be for individuals, groups or the whole staff.
3.2 Staff attending off site courses have to ensure that:
1. their learning is fed back into the school
2. that change is caused as a result of this
3. short-term and long term goals are established and these included
in a full evaluation
NIAS run additional courses during the year that are not published
in the prospectus. These can only be attended if:
1. the above criteria are met
2. they do not impact on staff meetings
3. we are still within the budget set for such courses (check
with the Professional Tutor)
3.3 Personal Development Plans
An important feature of effective training and development is
that employees identify their own needs.
To assist in this process we recommend the development of Personal
Professional Profiles.
These will be made use of in the mentoring and appraisal process.
3.4 As part of their induction programme all newly Qualified
Teachers are assigned a mentor who will introduce them to the
concept of Personnel Development Planning, supported by the Mereway
Middle School document entitled 'NQT Mentoring'. All other staff
will also be introduced to the P.P.P by their development/appraisal
mentor or the Professional Tutor.
Personal development plans can be agreed in stages - with the
mentor, manager, tutor or development/appraisal mentor. The proformas
in the appendix may be of value.
4. Quality Assurance
4.1 Specification of Standards
Quality Assurance is the baseline, giving confidence that the
quality will not fall below stated criteria.
4.2 The Strategy Group role is to:
a) have a clear vision
b) share stories / have a shared picture
c) recognise and reinforce good practise
This is reflected in school documentation.
4.3 Quality Assurance questions -
the purpose of an activity.
"Why are we doing this ?"
the core purpose of the activity
"What are we looking for ?"
Outcomes
"What things are needed to make it happen ?"
Documentation should establish Q.A. procedures. i.e. course evaluation
4.4 S.M.A.R.T.I.E.S.
The criteria established in the documentation should be
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Resourced
Timed
Interesting
Exciting
Stimulating
The baseline should establish the basics that need to be under control.
Personnel needs to assess the bottom line issues, establish a
vision and then develop the inspirational.
4.5 The Criteria for Effective Staff Development
4.51 The aim is to get optimum quality from financial resources.
This should:
- differentiation
- variety of teaching and learning strategies
- the school (SDP)
- individuals
4.52 It is understood, and agreed, that certain individual
needs will be met, if financial resources allow. This promotes
positive attitude and increases motivation, as an effective Staff
Development Programme makes teachers feel motivated themselves.
4.53 There needs to be a variety of approaches to Staff
Development, with methodologies being appropriate.
The medium and the message need to be thought about and monitored.
Brief, one off, occasions appear to be ineffective in causing
change and are not geared to individual, personal needs.
4.6 Staff Development and Children's Learning.
4.61 The baseline should have some demonstrable outcomes,
with definitions of acceptability.
Change within the classroom is an indicator of effective development,
this we should be able to measure - "Are we better than
we were ?"
4.62 Evaluation needs to be both short term and long term,
i.e. immediate and after a period of time, to assess if the change
is going on. monitoring of this could take several forms and might
include feedback from the children.
4.63 We need to define what lasting outcomes we want to
see from a training session and clearly specify this.
5. Quality Improvement
5.1 Quality improvement is the process of systematically
minimising waste and achieving higher standards. It is both a
technique and a philosophy of working.
5.2 As a technique it is concerned with measuring products
and services to ensure that variation is reduced to an absolute
minimum. This involves specifying standards, agreeing tolerances
and working to minimise deviation,
5.3. The philosophy of continuous improvement centres on
a commitment to monitor and evaluate every product and process
in order to identify means of enhancing it.
5.4. Quality improvement is the responsibility of everyone e.g.
- for pupils to improve the quality of their work
- for teachers to improve learning and teaching strategies
- all staff to improve management processes
5.5. Quality improvement works best through teams focused on specific issues.
It requires
- clear analysis of existing standards
- understanding of values and care purpose
- generation of creative alternatives
- implementation and monitoring
6 Achievement of the School Development Plan
6.1 The broad criteria within this needs to be broken down
into specifics that will form the specification of what is required.
School Development Plan activities use a range of strategies and
it is these that will form a contract with suppliers of training.
6.2 Training does not have to be whole school and could
be more specifically geared to teams.
It should be possible to answer the following:
"As a result of what you do today what classroom changes
are possible ?"
DIG.
This would be equally valid working backwards and specifying the
change then working out the training programme.
6.3 Each statement, under the criteria for effective Staff
Development, could be changed into a question, to the provider,
or to the teacher requesting a course, to ensure that the needs
are met.
Specification
Does the training model school practise? Does the training make people feel - more confident ?
- that they can experiment ?
Is the training based on analysis of school / individual need ?
Does the training make the teachers feel motivated to learn themselves ?
Has consideration been given to both the medium and the message ?
Can the classroom changed be monitored / measured ?
Can achievement be assessed in the short term and long term ? | Quality Assurance |
6.4 A check list should be available for every potential
provider, listing the criteria we expect our providers to work
to. A similar list for staff is needed to demonstrate that a course
requested will meet certain criteria. Evaluation methods will
need to be thorough, including short term and long term outcomes.
Comment should be made on the training session itself, the skill
of the presentation, the facilitator, value of handouts etc.
After six months the long term outcomes should be assessed.
"What difference has the training made to you / in your
classroom ?"
6.5 There needs to be an increased awareness of the long
term value of training, with sessions being followed up and consolidated.
6.6 The three areas of Staff Development are interlinked.
DIG.
7 Action Research - Teaching and Learning Partnerships
7.1 Staff Development is about causing change within the
classroom, and for this to happen action must be initiated.
Research supports the idea that adults learn in situations such
as the Teaching Partnership, with colleagues acting as coaches,
observers and councillors for each other. For us this means not
only supplying new experiences, but supporting staff to make sense
of these.
7.2 In Teaching and Learning Partnerships we accept that
teachers learn from each other, and that this learning is more
tailored to meet individual needs.
7.3 Successful change involves learning to do something
new and implementing the change within the classroom.
For this to happen effectively a number of stages need to be covered:
a the need is identified by the member of staff
b a written commitment is made
c ideas are modified to suit their own environment
d ideas are tried and evaluated
e staff work with others, observing and analysing data
f feedback is given to the support group e.g. appraisal or mentor /team
g problems and solutions are discussed
h new goals are set for professional growth
Above all time is needed to plan for and learn new skills, with
sustained support.
7.4 Action research is needed to assess the change(s) caused
by training, support the learning itself and assess implementation
within the classroom.
To make training effective within the school action research is
needed to make the change effective and continuous.
Appendix 1
Personal Development Needs - Employee's Views
What are the barriers, if any, that stop you developing full potential? | |
Would training help you to reach your full potential? | |
What types of training do you feel appropriate? | |
What other forms of development might help you? | |
What role (5) would you like to playing in school in three years time? |
Appendix 2
Personal Development Needs - Line Managers or Curriculum Co-ordinators
Views
What are the barriers, if any, that stop the individual developing his/her full potential? | |
Would training help him/her to reach his/her full potential? | |
What types of training do you feel appropriate? | |
What other forms of development might help him/her? | |
Where do you see the individual in three years time in relation to the organisation? |
Appendix 3
Personal Development Needs - Summary of Views