Professional Development

At Nower Hill we are committed to ensuring all new colleagues feel welcome, are known personally and fully supported in the school. We hold an induction day for all new but experienced teaching staff in July, and an induction procedure for those who begin at other points during the academic year. Members of educational support staff have a dedicated induction and probationary period when they start their career with us.

We have a proud tradition of ‘growing our own’ which includes training Teacher Apprentices, School Direct and PGCE trainees with the goal of appointing them to permanent positions. The school-based programme for Early Career Teachers includes, where possible, a three-week paid introductory programme in July following completion of Initial Teacher Training. This is followed by dedicated support and a comprehensive programme from both a faculty and whole school mentors throughout their induction two-year period. 

To encourage the sharing and development of good practice informed by the most up to date research evidence, whole-school or faculty-based training ‘Briefings’ take place each Wednesday from 8.15 - 8.40 am; regular faculty and student support meetings are held as part of the school's twilight cycle of meetings. Learning observations are undertaken following annual coaching training which takes place during our October INSET day. This model (which consists of two biannual cycles of learning observations) facilitates regular opportunities for support and guidance within a culture of trust and collaboration to inform and strengthen already high quality teaching and learning. Our adoption of Iris Connect, a video-enabled reflection and collaboration tool, is providing us with further opportunities to share and develop excellent classroom practice.

All Curriculum Leaders are proactive in the allocation of their own training budgets and use these to enable teachers and faculty based educational support staff to make best use of development opportunities for meeting individual and faculty-based targets. A central training budget is held by the AHT Development to meet any additional needs for all school governors, leaders, support and teaching staff. 

Several of our teachers have already achieved Lead Practitioner status through our annual membership of SSAT (The Schools, Students and Teachers Network). This nationally recognised accreditation not only improves the individuals’ professional skills and expertise, but is also part of our drive to develop leadership at all levels. Furthermore, several teachers have either already been successful in achieving or have successfully applied to achieve NPQs (National Professional Qualifications) in Senior Leadership, Leading Teacher Development, Leading Teaching, Leading Behaviour and Culture, Leading Literacy.

Our CPD G-drive contains a wealth of advice, information and support to enhance our live training opportunities. These have been enhanced through the addition of recorded training sessions. We place great emphasis on the professional development of all staff and thus provide a very wide range of high quality in-house CPD programmes to complement our PAD (progress and development) process which includes a dedicated line manager for each colleague. Teachers' line management meetings provide, as a minimum, termly opportunities for discussion about pedagogy and career development. Members of educational support staff have their own twice yearly performance management meetings.

As a member of the Harrow Collegiate Alliance (HCA) all our staff have access to the full range of development opportunities it provides; details can be found on their website or by downloading their brochure using the link below. 

https://www.harrowcollegiate.co.uk/