Home / Continuing Professional Development

Continuing Professional Development

With such a wide range of partners, Haybridge Teaching School Hub provides a variety of professional development across the region for teachers, school leaders and support staff at all stages of their career.

We share the best evidence-based practice, offering accredited training and programmes that meet national standards set by the Department for Education. The talent and resourcefulness of our schools means there is already a wealth of such resources available across Sandwell and Dudley. Our Teaching School Hub improves signposting and access to all the opportunities available across as many schools as possible.

Effective teaching requires considerable knowledge and skill, which should be developed as teachers’ careers progress. High-quality professional development requires workplaces to be steeped in rigorous scholarship, with professionals continually developing and supporting each other so that pupils benefit from the best possible teaching.

The design of high-quality professional development is as complex a discipline as the design of high-quality teaching. It requires the planning of programmes of connected activities with clarity about intended outcomes, and evaluation.  Effective professional development relies upon teachers, Headteachers and leadership teams in schools and organisations providing professional development, being clear about their respective roles and working together effectively. 

Professional development can take many forms, but the best available evidence shows that the most effective professional development practices share similar characteristics.

Effective teacher professional development is a partnership between:

• Headteachers and other members of the leadership team; 

• Teachers; and

• Providers of professional development expertise, training or consultancy

In order for this partnership to be successful:

1. Professional development should have a focus on improving and evaluating pupil outcomes.

2. Professional development should be underpinned by robust evidence and expertise.

3. Professional development should include collaboration and expert challenge.

4. Professional development programmes should be sustained over time.

   And all this is underpinned by, and requires that:

5. Professional development must be prioritised by school leadership.