08-04-2019
06:34
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As educators we run on a complex mixture of passion, grit, dedication, adrenaline, necessity and teamwork.
Most teachers will tell you tales of when they have very nearly (or perhaps completely) burned out.
Because teaching is voracious in it’s consumption of energy. It is physical and emotionally demanding and, if we let it, can be non stop.
There has been a lot of talk of self care (which is great) and work/life balance (brilliant!) but I’d like to discuss something that might elicit a groan from many teachers out there…
CPD! Continued Professional Development.
The inset days spent in the school hall completing mandatory training before embarking upon a one size fits all while school training session that one or two teachers love, some hate, many are confused by and to most support staff is totally irrelevant.
I had the joy and wonderful opportunity of working in a school that allowed each teacher to choose their own CPD and funded it properly (no, it wasn’t a British state school! Surprise!).
It didn’t have to link to the School Development Plan or even the staff member’s SEF from the previous year.
Teachers were encouraged to explore the things they LOVED! The things that drew them to teaching in the first place!
For many secondary teachers this was subject specific. DT teachers went to Robitics design shows to see cutting edge electronics, Art teachers went to learn how to silk paint or make Indian sand drawings, Science teachers went to visit laboratories and talk to leading scientists about their work. For primary it was a mixture: some explored innovative playscapes and visited leading practitioners in early years, some went to the Lego factory and saw how innovative design was changing the very building blocks of play, others went on writing courses with prominent authors or learned a language.
Each came back rejuvenated, enthused, inspired and feeling more fulfilled.
We are not endless pits of creativity and productivity. We need fuel for our imagination just as much as our learners do.
Whilst budget and time restraints mean that this is a pipe dream for most British state schools it might be worthwhile thinking about how best to reskill, reignite and replenish teachers. Give them something to make their eyes light up, their heart leap and their imagination take flight! It is contagious! Our learners learn their love of learning from us. Sometimes we all need a bit of extra special time to rekindle the love!
If we are clever, build community connections and listen to our teachers then we can find ways to bring the best out of the incredible workforce that is the teaching profession.
Add fuel to their fire and watch the embers of love start to burn again!
Operoo is a school operations and productivity platform. We help thousands of schools and trusts to eliminate slow, expensive and repetitive tasks. Operoo helps schools streamline and digitise processes, drastically reducing the associated costs: From student pre-admissions, permission forms, payments, and school trips; to medical information and emergency contacts, incident reporting, staff agreements, and more in over 100 languages.
Unify is an online sales and marketing tool that allows users to create tailored personalised documents in moments.
ImpactEd's mission is to improve pupil outcomes by helping schools understand what is and isn’t working in their specific context. We are a non-profit organisation, and through hands-on partnership and our digital platform, we support schools to understand the impact of programmes they run and make monitoring and evaluation easy.
https://www.utility-aid.co.uk/
There’s nothing special about the energy we sell. In fact, it’s exactly the same energy as all our competitors provide. But there is something special about the way we do it. Where others complicate the process, we simplify it. Where others confuse customers with hidden terms, we’re an open book. And where others do all they can to make as much money from their customers as possible, we do all we can to make as little. Everything we do, we do it differently. Our customers are a privilege. One we’ll never take advantage of.
Securus provide market-leading monitoring solutions to safeguard students on ALL devices both online and offline. We also offer a full monitoring service, where we carry out the monitoring on behalf of the school, freeing up valuable staff resources. From the smallest school to large MAT groups, Securus offers safeguarding protection for all!
Vivify partners with schools across the country to hire out their facilities outside of school hours to enable them to generate much needed revenue that can be invested back into their facilities, teachers, and student experience. Opening up school facilities for communities to get together can improve mental and physical wellbeing, boost confidence, tackle loneliness and help people feel more positive about life.
As European leaders of Time Management Solutions, Bodet offer Lockdown, Clock, Bell & PA Systems. Harmonys, our five-in-one IP/PoE Bell System, provides a unique customisable lockdown or panic alarm alert. Melodys, a Wireless Bell System, is useful where wiring can be difficult.
Robotical makes Marty the Robot - a walking, dancing coding robot that makes programming fun and engaging for learners as young as 5. Our robots come with a full Learning Platform that has complete teaching resources, to make lesson planning a breeze.