Meaning – CPD should be pupil focussed and staff should feel their overall professional learning relates closely to the pupils that they teach. In planning CPD, school leadership should be informed not only of staff needs, and not only from overall pupil data, but also from the professional judgements and individual data on pupils that teachers have access to.
Staff should be able to analyse their pupils’ needs, and this should be used to inform an overall picture of CPD needs.
CPD should not just relate to headline pupil figures (e.g. closing the gap, or 80% A* – C), but should relate to day-to-day experiences and aspirations for pupils.
What does this look like in practice?
Termly, school leaders collect feedback from staff not only around their own CPD, or their own CPD needs, but also on the needs of their pupils and any target areas for improvement in their pupils’ learning. In addition, performance management conversations include a strong focus on specific pupils and their learning, rather than teacher practice themes. (E.g. rather than focussing on ‘differentiation’, focussing on the specific pupils the teacher hopes to better meet the needs of in their class).
The Needs Analysis and Evaluation section has a number of articles, blogs, tools and guidance to support you in enabling pupil focussed CPD and identifying needs.