1. D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R
School and trust approaches to
professional development and
collaboration
Case studies

2. D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R
Case study A
 Ungraded lesson observations. Only 2 formal lesson observations a year; a third is an
‘unseen’ observation where staff are trusted to report back themselves on how it went.
 No whole-school Inset days: they find these are insufficiently personalised to individual
needs. Instead they employ 2 part-time members of staff with no teaching timetable,
whose only focus is coaching and staff development.
 Individual development plans for every member of staff: short documents asking prompt
questions with teachers supplying their responses. Normally the teacher will then pick
one area to focus on, which will be the subject of any further research and the focus of
any observation.

3. D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R
Case study B
 Very little compulsory CPD, but all staff choose from a menu of optional CPD offerings,
mostly led by senior and middle leaders. Suggested participants are outlined for each
session, but attendance is not mandatory.
 Advanced practitioners with a strong record of classroom teaching always have their
lessons open for anyone who wishes to observe them.
 More tailored and closely monitored training programmes are in place for new teachers,
or those who are felt to need more time on development. Led exclusively by SLT.
 Use online training to supplement in-school work, particularly for safeguarding.

4. D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R
Case study C
 CPD is done on a departmental basis.
 CPD follows a year-round cycle, beginning with analysing pupils’ progress against targets,
and identifying areas for development in individual teachers’ practice. These are then
the focus of departmental observations, led predominantly by senior and middle leaders,
but with some class teachers acting as observers.
 Post-observation coaching conversation to discuss the lesson, agree targets and the
nature of follow-up.
 Lessons from this process are shared across the department after six months, and the
insight from this feeds into whole-school work.

5. D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R
Case study D
 Designated CPD leader working at deputy head level provides each member of staff with
copies of the teachers’ standards, along with a matrix to keep evidence of achievement
in each area.
 Performance management documents are extended to include CPD needs and three or
five year aims of staff.
 Training needs are passed to CPD leader, who organises whole-school Inset on this basis,
sets up lesson observations/coaching and identifies training needs.
 Regular small-group twilight sessions are the main source of regular CPD.

6. D E V E L O P I N G E X C E L L E N C E T O G E T H E R
Discussion and learning from practice
Read more about the workshop session where we used these case studies
in collaboration for professional development: what makes it work?
Find out about other upcoming conferences and training days