Continued Professional Development

At Rutlish we believe that all staff are learners and with this in mind, we are very passionate about encouraging the development of our staff. Learning lies at the heart of our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Strategy. We are an active learning community, involved in a continuous process of reflection, review and improvement.  We know that CPD that makes a difference is collaborative, sustained, draws on evidence from research and practice and we use this to frame our approach. We tailor our CPD programme to meet the specific CPD needs of staff and the priorities in our school development plan.

Teaching and Learning Communities

At Rutlish we foster our development through the Teaching and Learning Communities (TLCs). The TLCs has built a culture of collaboration across the school, where Teaching and Learning is at the forefront of conversations. TLCs provide structured time across the year for teachers to work in groups, receive training, discuss teaching strategies, reflect on their teaching and share best practice. The TLC programme is fully based on educational research.

INSET days

In addition to TLCs we make the most of the time provided during INSET days to provide relevant training which is linked to our School Development Plan and for subject specific CPD. We also use outside speakers to come in and speak to staff. Our most recent speaker was Jeremy Reynolds who focused on Metacognition. The INSET programme aims to develop staff more holistically by focusing on various teaching and learning as well as pastoral and safeguarding themes.

Induction for New Staff

All new staff are supported by an Induction programme. This includes a dedicated Induction day followed by a 4 week CPD package.

Early Career Teachers

Bespoke CPD is in place for Early career teachers through our partnership with Wandle Teaching School hub and UCL. Each ECT is supported by a mentor who is a subject specialist in the same subject as the ECT. Throughout the year, ECTs will receive CPD in a cluster of local Secondary schools, thus providing them with an opportunity to network and visit a partner school.

Career Development

We ensure that staff at different places in their careers have access to the CPD that will enable them to progress to the next stage of their career development. There are regular opportunities for staff to attend a range of external courses for example NPQ in Senior Leadership, NPQ in Leading Teacher Development, NPQ in Leading Teaching, courses provided by examboards, numerous SEND and Safeguarding courses. Staff have access to online CPD providers such as National Online safety, IHasco, National College, UCL ECT programme, SSAT, TES Develop and ASCL. These platforms enable staff to select any training that is bespoke to their needs and complete it at their own pace.

Along with learning walks, paired observations, line manager observations Rutlish offers a range of ways for you to develop and progress in your career. 

Merton School Improvement CPD Newsletter