The importance of CPD on staff wellbeing
Training and goal setting can help people to become more organised and better at planning, which in teaching means staff become more efficient and have more time to focus on their students.
Staff who don’t receive effective training or targets risk their skills becoming stagnant and losing motivation. This doesn’t just impact individual staff members, as it can also create risks for an entire school; staff may also be more prone to making mistakes, which can ultimately result in an unsafe work environment and increased expenses.
A lack of professional development is also intrinsically linked to staff retention – a lack of training and development leads to low morale among staff, which in turn results in staff turnover.
Pupil attainment
In February 2020 Harry Fletcher-Wood and James Zuccollo published a report entitled The effects of high-quality professional development on teachers and students* and it suggests that staff CPD is more effective on pupil outcomes than interventions, performance related pay or lengthening of the school day.
We all want the best outcomes for all our pupils. Developing teachers to be the best they can be is imperative for pupil progress and we need to keep those teachers in front of children, especially the most vulnerable**. Having a highly effective teacher in front of a class is the most effective way of improving pupil progress***.
Career development
Over the past year, schools have been using Staff Pulse, our staff wellbeing tool, to carry out extensive surveys with their staff. Staff Pulse responses show that 44% of staff are satisfied with their opportunities for future career development**** and just over a third felt that they could develop in their current position.
These findings appear to show how fundamentally training and career development are linked; those that don’t receive sufficient professional coaching feel that they’ll be less likely to advance within their career and that the opportunity to progress isn’t there.
The value of a whole-school CPD programme
Ensuring your school has a CPD programme in place that is accessible to all is crucial for staff development and retention. In running a successful programme, it communicates a clear message: you understand their goals, care about their futures and want to see them grow and progress at your school.
Staff wellbeing report
If you’re interested in reading more, we’ve published our new staff wellbeing report. It distils the anonymous results from aggregated data from Staff Pulse surveys to demonstrate how staff are feeling and how this can impact your school.
Discover how we can help your school with staff development
If you’re interested in accessing whole-school CPD in one place, Tes Develop provides a single point of access to a wide range of UK and internationally relevant professional studies, subject knowledge, safeguarding and duty of care courses for your whole school.
For more details on Staff Pulse and how it can support your school click here.
* The Effects of High-Quality Professional Development on Teachers and Students, Harry Fletcher-Wood and James Zuccollo, February 2020.
** Attracting and Retaining Teachers, OECD, Observer, Schwartz et al, 2007.
*** The Production of Human Capital in Developed Countries: Evidence from 196 randomised field experiments. Fryer, 2016.
**** Tes Staff Pulse data: correct October 2020.