We are now over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic and schools have incurred countless additional costs in order to keep their pupils and staff safe. Although money has been promised, most have had to borrow from their own funds to operate in new ways. 

And now that students are back in classrooms, the focus has turned to finding and closing any learning gaps incurred during the pandemic. So how can schools achieve all this while balancing the books?

Covid catch-up: The importance of teacher CPD

Can CPD help to close learning gaps?

Professor Dylan Wiliam says that “raising the quality of teaching within existing schools is probably the single most effective thing we could do to promote both overall attainment and equity”.

Supporting teachers by providing regular, targeted opportunities for professional learning, development and reflection could be one of the best approaches for recovering any “lost” learning. And it will cost less than new gadgets or additional classes.

But the CPD can’t be a one-size-fits-all add-on; it must be supportive and in line with individual teacher need and the school improvement plan, which should have improvement of teaching and learning in the classroom at its core.

Read more: Why CPD needs whole-school buy-in but individual focus

Can CPD tackle staff wellbeing?

The added benefit here is that teachers who feel valued and supported report greater feelings of wellbeing and this, in turn, saves schools money by improving retention and absence rates.

Convenient CPD

If we’ve learned one thing over the past year, it is that learning can happen almost anywhere, and online delivery is now a tried-and-tested method.

Professional development has also changed course, with meetings and conferences moving online, making CPD more accessible and on-demand, as we can attend sessions from afar and even at a time that suits us due to recordings. 

A top-down approach to staff development

According to research by Viviane Robinson, the most significant aspect of “student-centred leadership” is improving pupil outcomes through the development of teachers.

But leadership CPD is often overlooked. Improving teaching in the classroom must be the main focus from the top down and if leaders are not effectively trained to do this then outcomes will not improve.

In their “dimensions of change” model, Knoster, Thousand and Villa demonstrate that both the vision and the skills must be present in order for leaders to make successful changes and developments, and to avoid costly false starts or anxiety.

Scalby School in North Yorkshire is one school that places professional development for staff at the centre of its improvement plan, offering incremental coaching and high-quality training at all levels. The Scarborough Teaching Alliance was recently designated as one of only 11 providers of CTeach. 

Headteacher Michael McCluskie asserts that “if leaders themselves are not recipients of purposeful training then a school is left with a strategic plan but without the skills within the leadership team to implement it successfully”.  

High-quality, effective CPD at all levels not only saves money, it represents the best value for money, as it enables schools to drive improvement for all.

Joanne Tiplady is curriculum and research lead for TEAL Trust and the Wolds Associate Research School and teaches at South Hunsley School in East Yorkshire