Staff at saltash.net community school were given an outstanding opportunity for professional development recently when 50 teachers attended a conference at the Bedruthan Steps Hotel. Entitled ‘Engage and Inspire’ This was entirely organised by the school, we attracted all of the speakers and paid for them and we ran it over a weekend to minimize the impact on learning in the school.
You can see more of these posts on my blog just search for Engage and Inspire in the search engine. The cost of the event for all the speakers, fantastic venue, accommodation for staff, all meals was around £180 per person. When you think how much some courses cost, plus travel and accommodation then this has to be so much better value for money especially when all of the staff are saying it was one of the best professional development courses they have ever been on. Is this the future of CPD in schools? Especially when you combine this with the increase in social media, online video courses and of course regular short events such as Teachmeets.
Here is what our staff thought about it:
What do you think of this type of conference as a regular CPD model for future years? Do you think it is value for money?
“It is soooooo worth it! The best conference I have been to since…. hmm?… ever! Inspiring and practical: it ticked the two most important boxes!”
“Absolutely. The cost of attending a course on a school day would be nearly equal surely due to supply costs/course costs etc. Not to mention impact on classes of teacher absences. This was the best CPD I’ve experienced in that it has changed my thinking + confirmed my belief in what I’m doing and why, and because it has impacted directly and immediately on what I do in the classroom. I would be more than happy to do this again – the atmosphere of the conference was so positive and enjoyable, I spoke to colleagues I had not really met before too, which is great for a good team spirit in the school.”
“Very good value, I thought we were all very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to take part in such an informative conference in such an amazing setting, it was great fun and a real boost and motivator. Thanks Dan!!”
“The cost was a lot lower than I expected. I think it is incredible value. I worked previously for a large multinational company that believed that investment in the staff was the most important thing for long term progress within the company. One of the most exciting aspects of Saltash.net is that the school seems to share that same philosophy and I would welcome any opportunity to take part again. Thank you for the invite and the opportunity to attend”
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this? What do you think? Do you regularly do something similar?
I think you are absolutely right, schools need to organise their own CPD events for all the reasons you have touched upon, but also because its a fantastic opportunity to tailor CPD to individual schools’ needs.
We have also started organising our own Teachmeet style Show and Tell events both at school and departmental level and have started to bring the speakers to the school, rather than taking the school to the speakers.