CPD

STEP Continuing Professional Development

Join STEP professional development as you journey through your teaching career. We offer a range of high quality professional development to support your current roles and responsibilities as well as responding to the local and national educational landscape to keep you abreast of changes.

Shropshire and Telford Education Partnership (STEP) is an inclusive partnership comprising SALOP Teaching Partnership, The Alliance of Leading Learning (ALL) Shropshire Primary Partnership (SPP) and Severn Training and Schools Alliance (STSA) - representing all phases and contexts, including Special and Alternative Provisions, across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

An “Innovation Hub” across Shropshire and Telford offering a "One Stop" provision for Professional Learning.

Why Professional Development?

We know that teaching is an ever changing landscape, so at STEP we want to ensure that we meet your needs, so that you keep pace with current educational thinking and pedagogy, enabling you to fulfil your role and responsibilities, whether you are just starting out on your career, training to be a teacher, in your first two years of teaching, a middle or senior leader, an aspiring Headteacher or an Executive Leader, we are here to support your journey.

Research tells us that high quality professional development can have an impact on improving the quality of teaching, which leads to improved outcomes for children and young people. As James Zuccollo and Harry Fletcher Wood note, 'the impact of high quality PD on pupil attainment compares to the impact of having a teacher with ten years experience rather than a new graduate'.

As well as Train to Teach, Early Career Teachers and a suite of National Professional Qualifications, we want to ensure that we meet the local need of our teaching profession with high quality professional development. This will include a range of professional development courses and network meetings to ensure that practitioners and leaders have the knowledge and skills to deliver high quality provision that will impact positively on pupil outcomes. These will be evidence based and include practical application and time for reflection and action planning.

Our professional development is about sustainable change and long term impact on practitioners, leaders and outcomes for children and young people.

Unsure where to look for the support you need? Check out the DfE guide on Supporting and developing teachers and school leaders through DfE-funded hubs.

Current CPD Opportunities

National Tutoring Programme. Please click here for further information on FREE Tutoring Excellence CPD from the National Tutoring Programme.

Universal SEND Services

The Universal SEND Services programme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and will run from 2022-2025. It aims to bring together support for learners with SEND in schools with support for learners with SEND across further education (FE).

To deliver our ambition of improving preparation for adulthood from the earliest years all the way through education, in a seamless, joined up way, nasen is working in strategic partnership with the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), whose mission is to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in the FE and training sector, and the Autism Education Trust (AET), who have years of experience in supporting and informing education professionals about autism.

What is the 'Universal SEND Services' Programme?

Too many children and young people with SEND continue not to achieve their ambitions, and not all schools and colleges are yet inclusive and welcoming of learners with SEND.

The aim of the Universal SEND Services programme is for all children and young people with SEND to attend education settings where:

Leaders prioritise SEND in their improvement plans by acknowledging that SEND is everybody’s responsibility.
The education and opportunities for children and young people with SEND are built into every policy, not added in afterwards.
School and college leaders consider preparation for adulthood from the earliest stages when designing the curriculum and through other opportunities.
They are taught by professionals who are reflective in their approach to meeting the wide range of needs in their class.
Teachers are better equipped to identify needs earlier and can adapt their teaching to address and support these needs effectively.
The expertise of parents and the voice of the learner is valued to pursue a truly co-produced educational experience.

Please make sure that you are signed up to receive communications from the member community through your free Whole School SEND account to get access to all outputs from this programme. Register here, if you haven't already.

Last chance to access the DfE funded Mental Health Lead training. Come and train with STEP - Advanced Designated Mental Health Lead - face to face in Telford - 29th January 2025, 27th February 2025 & 3rd April 2025. For more details and to book click the link below:

Advanced Designated Mental Health Lead Telford January 2025 (SMHL008) | AMHIE Learning Portal

Future in Mind Telford & Shropshire

Future in Mind Shropshire and Telford

What is Future in Mind?

A multi-disciplinary approach; bringing the expertise of professionals together to meet the needs of children and young people, whenever they need it; a planned approach, not just luck!

The Future in Mind programme dovetails with the Government Green paper on mental health and complements the DfE Mental Health Lead Training, which focuses on developing a culture for mental health. Future in Mind upskills school based staff so that they have the knowledge and understanding of the signs and symptoms of mental health issues, so that all children and young people receive the right help at the right time.

Is mental health a school’s responsibility?

The responsibilities are clearly set out in the Relationships, Sex and Health Education Curriculum (2019). This is very much our responsibility, as we know that children with anxiety, low mood or other mental health issues cannot thrive in the learning environment.

How does it work?

The Mental Health Lead attends a termly, high quality professional development day, on a particular aspect of mental health. As part of this, strategies and resources are shared. Sessions are led by skilled practitioners who can facilitate, support and enable others to support colleagues, children and young people and their families to understand mental health.

What is on offer this year?

Shropshire

Autumn 2024 – 7^th November

Understanding and supporting children who are neurodiverse in the classroom

Training topics will include:

The definitions of neurodiversity
How our use of language affects the neurodiverse pupils we are teaching
Evaluating the impact of our learning environment on neurodiverse pupils
Working with parents of neurodiverse pupils
Strategies and resources to support a whole school culture that welcome and meets the needs of pupils who are neurodiverse pupils

Learning outcomes:

Understanding the broadest definitions of neurodiversity
How to support all staff with their use of language when working with pupils who are neurodiverse
Knowing how to audit and adapt the learning environment for neurodiverse pupils
Knowing how to strengthen relationships with parents of neurodiverse pupils
Knowing how to use a range of strategies and resources to support a whole school culture that welcomes and meets the needs of all pupils

Spring 2025 – 6^th March 2025

Messages Behind The Behaviour

This training focuses on trauma-informed approaches and applying these to understanding the ‘messages behind the behaviour’. This will include the key cause of unmet emotional needs as described by Maslow in his hierarchy of needs: psychological safety, belonging, connectedness, self-esteem and finding purpose and meaning. Each of these emotional needs will be discussed through the lens of the latest neuroscience and psychological research as relevant to the mental health of young people.

Training topics will include:

A young person’s behaviour that challenges can be an attempt to communicate something.
Understanding how behaviour communicates messages can help you support a young person and meet their genuine needs.
Responding to a genuine need will support the child/young person, and you!
Understanding the psychological rational behind some of the main behaviour can help with much more effective responses and in deescalating behaviours.
Practical approaches

Learning outcomes:

To understand how trauma affects (mis)communication.
To understand the possible messages behind typically displayed behaviours.
To explore possible approaches to responding.
To be able to meet every child’s needs.

Summer 2025 – 11^th June 2025

Direct working skills to engage children and young people

This course focuses on the experience of children and young people, based on the most recent evidence and will be run by Dr. Jody Walshe, an Educational and Child Psychologist and a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council.

This training offers a wide range of creative and expressive tools and approaches. A range of strategies for communicating sensitively and effectively with children and young people.

Training topics will include:

Supporting children and young people who bottle it up, retreat, go silent.
Creative tools to facilitate new conversations.
To explore practical ways to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, from everyday interactions to crisis support.
To reflect on your current practice and develop skills to enhance your relationships with young people.
Relational approaches

Learning outcomes

To understand the concept of ‘relational approaches’ with children and young people
To explore practical ideas to help develop best practice when supporting children and young people in a range of contexts from everyday situations to crisis support.
To have developed practical ways to build a child/young person’s emotional vocabulary and develop their emotional literacy skills.
To have developed creative and practical ways for talking about thoughts and feelings with children and young people.

Telford

Autumn 2024 – Friday 22^nd November 2024

Understanding and supporting children who are neurodiverse in the classroom

Training topics will include:

The definitions of neurodiversity
How our use of language affects the neurodiverse pupils we are teaching
Evaluating the impact of our learning environment on neurodiverse pupils
Working with parents of neurodiverse pupils
Strategies and resources to support a whole school culture that welcome and meets the needs of pupils who are neurodiverse pupils

Learning outcomes:

Understanding the broadest definitions of neurodiversity
How to support all staff with their use of language when working with pupils who are neurodiverse
Knowing how to audit and adapt the learning environment for neurodiverse pupils
Knowing how to strengthen relationships with parents of neurodiverse pupils
Knowing how to use a range of strategies and resources to support a whole school culture that welcomes and meets the needs of all pupils

Spring 2025 – 13^th February 2025

Understanding and supporting children and young people with anxiety

This course gives clear and practical advice to all those who are supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, including those who may already be vulnerable or experiencing mental health difficulties. The training will support delegates to understand some of the causes of anxiety and the possible resulting behaviours. Delegates will develop strategies and ways of communicating with children and young people to support them to manage their anxiety.

Training topics will include:

Common signs of anxiety in children and young people
Exploring tools and strategies which can support children and young people
Applying techniques through case studies and opportunities to use practical resources.

Learning outcomes:

Identify anxiety in children and young people
Recognise the impact of times of crisis and uncertainty on the wellbeing of pupils
Understand the common signs of anxiety
Evaluate and implement tools for supporting pupils to manage anxiety within an education setting
Identify trusted resources for use with pupils in an education setting.

Summer 2025 – 11^th June 2025

Direct working skills to engage children and young people

This training offers a wide range of creative and expressive tools and approaches. A range of strategies for communicating sensitively and effectively with children and young people.

Training topics will include:

Supporting children and young people who bottle it up, retreat, go silent.
Creative tools to facilitate new conversations.
To explore practical ways to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, from everyday interactions to crisis support.
To reflect on your current practice and develop skills to enhance your relationships with young people.
Relational approaches

Learning outcomes

To understand the concept of ‘relational approaches’ with children and young people
To explore practical ideas to help develop best practice when supporting children and young people in a range of contexts from everyday situations to crisis support.
To have developed practical ways to build a child/young person’s emotional vocabulary and develop their emotional literacy skills.
To have developed creative and practical ways for talking about thoughts and feelings with children and young people.

All professional development days and resources will be provided for the amazing annual SLA charge of £384. This is less than one third of one Pupil Premium payment for a primary school and less than half for a secondary school, to support all your pupils and students and upskill staff. If you would like further information, or would like to sign up, please contact sian.deane1@taw.org.uk .

Curriculum Hubs

What are Curriculum Hubs?

In line with the DfE’s ‘Golden Thread’, STEP want to ensure that all schools in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin have access to high quality professional development. We are working in partnership with the DfE designated Maths, English, Computing, Science and Behaviour Hubs to provide high quality professional development, bespoke support and advice to our schools.

We are also proud to be able to be working with Staffordshire Research School. We will be signposting professional development and sharing any research projects that may be of interest to you.

To find out more about the Curriculum Hubs working in partnership with STEP Teaching School Hub, please follow the links below to their dedicated pages:

St. John Bosco English Hub

http://www.st-johnbosco-englishhubs.co.uk/

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international assessment and research project designed to measure reading achievement at the fourth-grade level, as well as school and teacher practices related to instruction.

Useful PIRLS resources:

The English Research team at Oxford have put together some useful short videos for teachers about PIRLS 2021. There are 3 videos, each between 3 and 6 minutes long, all presenting interesting findings on the following:

An overview of PIRLS 2021 results
Findings about pupil attitudes in England
The relationship between PIRLS 2021 results in England and phonics

These are viewable publicly, and so can be circulated amongst schools.

The link can be found here, at the same place as the PIRLS symposium held on 26th September, which several English Hub leads presented at, linking PIRLS results to classroom practice.

SHAW Maths Hub

https://www.shawmathshub.co.uk/

@shawmathshub

NCELP – the DfE funded Centre for Excellence for languages

https://ncelp.org/professional-development/

Computing Hub

https://www.potteries.ac.uk/professional-development/computing/

Science Hub

Behaviour Hub

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/behaviour-hubs

http://www.shropshiremusichub.co.uk/

(Shropshire)

https://www.themusicpartnership.org.uk/

You can find updated information on concerts, events, activities, and a training listing on the Music Partnership website: https://www.themusicpartnership.org.uk/events/

(Telford and Wrekin schools)

CONTACT:

If you have any queries please contact:

CPD Strategic Lead: Sian Deane
Email: sian.deane1@taw.org.uk
Telephone: 01952 387237