CPD

Our focus on investing in our people is at the very centre of our culture and practice. Our Teaching School Alliance offers a range of high quality professional development programmes to support career development and progression for all colleagues – within our own academies and beyond. Our training is underpinned by robust evidence including academic research and proven practice, and the impact can be seen in the sustained high performance of our students.

Leadership development and nurturing talent

In partnership with Ambition, we offer the National Professional Qualifications extending from middle leadership to executive leadership, as well as one-day conferences on key leadership themes. We continue to invest in training experienced leaders from within the Trust to become facilitators for the NPQ Alliance and equip participants with the skills and attributes required for success. Our colleagues say:

 “Super opportunity to reflect and look at school improvement.”

 “Strong real examples and experiences that help to make theory real.”

“Great delivery – brilliant opportunities for discussion and reflection.”

Reading Strategy and Oracy

Ensuring every child can read confidently and promoting a love of reading is one of the most important things we do.  The Primary Reading Strategy has enabled every primary school colleague to become an expert in the teaching of reading, and the Secondary Reading Strategy is well underway. Every English teacher in the Trust takes part in regular training in the effective practices recommended by Doug Lemov in ‘Reading Reconsidered’. In addition, the newly developed Delta Oracy project in partnership with Voice 21 is transforming our primary children’s command of vocabulary and their confidence in sharing their views.

Subject-specific training

In addition to the training colleagues undertake within each academy, supported by the work of our Secondary Subject Directors, we are running a series of specialist programmes in Science, English Literature and Mathematics. Each programme links pedagogical knowledge with subject knowledge, and draws on robustly evaluated approaches and teaching resources. Having successfully secured £70,000 funding from the Education’s Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund, we are proud to work in partnership with Aspire to STEM to develop a bank of courses designed to sharpen subject knowledge and tailored to staff across the Trust.

Teaching and Learning

Leads from across the Trust meet regularly to share expertise and collaborate on key teaching and learning areas through key discussion points and visits to each other’s settings. Across all areas and specialisms, joint training has reduced staff workload and developed a culture of networking.

Professional development for all staff

Training is available for all members of the staff workforce, from teaching assistants data managers. Bespoke CPD packages are available to academies, and we enjoy working with a wide range of colleagues from individual schools to Multi Academy Trusts.

Delta Academies Trust has a proven track record of transforming underperformance rapidly, and this success is a result of talented and dedicated teachers, support staff and leadership teams working effectively within our academies. 

In 2020, we are building our own centre of excellence for professional development for our teachers and staff, and colleagues across the North of England, to continue to develop and contribute to the wider educational system.