Applications will soon be invited for a fresh round of leadership development NPQs to start in September – with two additional courses available.
More than 50 teaching staff, from CET and other schools, are currently studying on five National Professional Qualification (NPQ) courses. They are being run by CET, Cumbria’s largest multi-academy trust, with its partners Ambition Institute.
Those five courses – Leading Behaviour and Culture, Leading Teaching, Leading Teacher Development, Senior Leadership and Headship – will be on offer again to start in the new school year, alongside two further NPQs. These will be:
- NPQ for Leading Literacy – for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading literacy across a school, year group, key stage or phase.
- NPQ for Early Years Leadership – for leaders qualified to at least level 3 with a full and relevant qualification who are, or are aspiring to be:
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- An early years foundation stage leader in a state funded school
- Managers of private, voluntary and independent nurseries
- Headteachers of school-based or maintained nurseries
- Childminders with leadership responsibilities
More details on all courses, which are fully funded by the Department for Education, will be released shortly. Teaching staff and school leaders can register their interest now at npqs@cumbriaeducationtrust.org
Meanwhile, those already on their NPQ journey have enjoyed face-to-face sessions with their colleagues and Visiting Fellows. Here’s a brief look in on the clinics held in April and May.
NPQ Leading Teaching:
Visiting Fellow – Katie Kinrade, Assistant Headteacher at Workington Academy
The main area of focus was the module principle – managing cognitive load. We reviewed the module principles covered in the session and built an ‘aide memoir’ of good practice that we can use as we move through the NPQLT and take into our day-to-day experiences in the classroom.
It was a really positive session and I would like to thank the participants for their engagement, enthusiasm and ‘chat’.
NPQ Leading Teacher Development
Visiting Fellow – Rose O’Hagan, Deputy Headteacher at Workington Academy
The focus of the clinic was to retrieve, recap and consolidate the knowledge acquired in the first three teaching modules of the course; Developing Teaching, Theory of Change and the Simple Model of Memory. Participants applied their knowledge through practical scenarios, guided initially by the facilitator, then through group discussion and collaboration.
The group has quickly built strong professional relationships and is able to discuss concepts openly and honestly.
NPQ Leading Behaviour and Culture
Visiting Fellow – Kath Pigdon, Deputy Headteacher at William Howard School
The group looked at the way in which memory models and principles of learning can be adopted when leading behaviour change in school. Fictitious scenarios were used to challenge the group to apply their learning and the module principles.
NPQ Senior Leadership
Visiting Fellows – Jemma Nicholson, Executive Headteacher at Longtown Primary School and Ellen Mothersdale, Assistant Headteacher, William Howard School
Through collaboration, feedback and discussion we analysed a range of leadership scenarios to gain a deeper understanding of how key principles had been applied though their thinking and contexts. Participants worked collectively to identify improvements and suggestions to target areas for development.
This was followed by our community peer-led session which focused on solving problems, applying theory in context and supporting each other through network building. It was a great opportunity for professionals from a wide range of roles, spanning both the primary and secondary sector, to work together and offer solutions to real life problems.
NPQ Headship
Visiting Fellows – Chris McAree, Headteacher at William Howard School, and Chris Wilkins CET’s Director of Primary Education
The clinic looked at how as leaders we can take the ongoing learning from the course and apply it to different scenarios. It is through analysing decisions that have been made, reflecting what might have been done differently and sharing ideas that there is development of our own decision-making skills.
For more information, click on Leadership Development.