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Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have suspended all of our face to face training courses to help keep school staff safe. 

This page currently contains information about the courses we deliver. Once it is safe to do so, we shall continue to deliver our face-to-face training courses.

Please do subscribe to School Support Solutions to be kept up to date with the courses we provide. 

Subject leaders are expected to draw upon a wide range of skills and knowledge every day. In addition to being an expert in the subject(s) you lead, you need to be an inspirational, effective leader who drives forward your subject’s agenda in school. 

Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework places high importance on the quality of education and subject leaders play a vital role in developing and sequencing the curriculum to ensure pupils are gaining long-term knowledge and skills. For many, subject leadership is the first step on the road to career development and leadership, so investing in your own leadership skill set is a vital step in building a successful long-term career.

Successful subject leadership is a crucial element in securing high quality teaching and learning in school. This course will introduce subject leaders to a range of effective strategies, approaches and core knowledge that will help you to excel in this essential role. We will explain how subject leaders can check subject content is planned and delivered progressively and explore an essential range of monitoring strategies.

Aims

The course aims include the following:

• understand the key roles and responsibilities of subject leadership which align with the Education Inspection Framework;
• know how to communicate your subject curriculum to a range of stakeholders;
• explore a range of monitoring activities and understand when each should be best used;
• understand how to check your subject curriculum to ensure content is progressive and sequential;
• know how to create an effective action plan, which will drive improvements in your subject;
• appreciate how best to provide constructive feedback to your colleagues.
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To gain the most from this course you are encouraged to bring examples of medium-term plans, action plans and pupils’ books so that you can undertake guided monitoring activities. (You will not be expected to share your school’s planning and pupils’ books with other subject leaders unless you choose to do so.)

Testimonials

‘The course provided clear guidance and useful ideas, including tasks we can put into practice. The activities and time for discussion were very useful.’
Emily Hayet-Patino, Oakwood Primary School, Gloucestershire.
 

‘The practical activities, such as carrying out a work scrutiny and filling in the curriculum analysis grid helped to support my understanding of important elements of leading a subject. There were useful tips for monitoring and assessment in the foundation subjects.’
Sophie Cantore, St. Raphael’s Catholic Primary School, Ealing.

‘This is a training day that senior leaders would benefit from too – it’s very adaptable and good to be able to reflect on school practice.’ Libby Matthews, Peatmoor Community Primary School, Swindon

One constant in education is change. In our Managing Curriculum Change course, we explore what drives change, the different types of change, where the barriers are to be found and what leaders can do to understand and manage these changes in the context of primary school curriculum development. 

People’s reactions to change can be very different. Change that is not asked for, welcomed, or well planned for, can be stressful and unsettling or actively resisted. Other people are so enthusiastic they race ahead with their own agenda. These situations are common in schools and so this course looks at change from the perspective of others and suggests ways to deal with these challenging situations.

We will explore the importance of a clear curriculum vision as well as devoting time to understanding the varying leadership styles and how each can be utilised to bring about effective change.

Managing Curriculum Change is an informative, practical course which is intended to help you think critically about how to plan for and implement changes to your curriculum. As part of this process we will provide time for you to create a ‘curriculum change plan’ during the day which you will be able to use on your return to school. 

Aims
The course aims include the following:

• understand the nature and implications of different types of change;
• identify potential barriers to changing your curriculum, using the ‘dimensions of change’ approach;
• recognise your preferred leadership style and therefore plan to optimise strengths and mitigate any potential weaknesses as you implement change;
• understand how people respond to change and identify strategies to deal with potentially challenging situations;
• create a ‘curriculum change plan’.

Testimonials
‘Both Clare and I found the training spot on. We had made some progress towards addressing change but now have reassessed our priorities to subject leaders and long-term planning. You both stimulated our conversation and framed our next steps so that we go forward with a clearer direction.’
Sally Berry, Headteacher at St. Wenn School in Bodmin, Cornwall.

The day was really useful for me and I particularly liked completing the plan throughout the day. It means when I sit down to this again, I can quickly re-engage with the subject matter rather than being faced with a blank document and a load of notes. Also talking through school specific questions with clearly experienced trainers was invaluable.
Chris Parham, Head of School at St. Issey C of E Primary School in Wadebridge, Cornwall.

Developing Curriculum Depth is an informative, research-based course explaining the importance of, and ways to deliver, a broad, deep, rich curriculum to effectively develop children’s knowledge and understanding. 

This course is based on extensive research into how children learn and how this, in turn, impacts upon way they can gain in knowledge, skills and understanding and apply this in varied situations.  We draw upon the work of Daniel Willingham, Mary Myatt, Isabel Beck and others, as well as from practising headteachers who have focused on curriculum development in their own settings. 

Aims
The course aims include the following:

• deliver your curriculum in a way that supports research on memory and how children learn; 
• ensure children can make meaningful links between and across concepts to ensure they develop a broad, rich knowledge base;
• understand the links between reading and vocabulary acquisition and consider how this can be best supported through the foundation subjects;
• explore how disadvantaged and SEND pupils may be impeded by your current curriculum and consider ways to change this;
• evaluate the components of your school’s curriculum to ensure optimal breadth and depth.

Testimonials
'Thank you so much for leading a stimulating and enjoyable professional development day. The Developing Curriculum Depth course exceeded my expectations and I would highly recommend it to others. It was useful to discuss curriculum coherence and design with new colleagues and to extend our thinking collaboratively. I appreciated the wealth of experience that the two course leaders had.' Rosetta Dyer, Headteacher at Burdett-Coutts and Townshend Foundation VA CE Primary School, Westminster.

‘Just to say my staff loved it today! They left the course so inspired and geared up to start to make a real difference to the curriculum at our school. I’m really grateful for the wisdom and knowledge you imparted today - it’s going to support the considered changes at our school brilliantly.’
Georgina Flooks, Headteacher at Warden Hill Primary School, Cheltenham.

'I really enjoyed the curriculum course yesterday. It was very thought provoking and I think that your presentation style was excellent. People were enthused by your knowledge and you are very approachable and insightful. We felt able to ask questions and have useful and intriguing discussions throughout the day. When completing the ‘tests’, I felt relaxed enough to give them a good try without buckling under pressure and apprehension!'
Joanne Clarkson, KS1 Leader at Zetland Primary School, Redcar.