Occupational Continuous Professional Development Policy

Occupational Continuous Professional Development Policy

Introduction

Rochdale Training believes that all teaching staff should be involved in a continuing process of occupational development relevant to their area(s) of teaching.

We believe that a carefully planned CPD programme improves standards, raises morale, and provides a teaching-to-distinction ethos.

All those involved in teaching shall have an entitlement to equality of access to CPD.

Opportunities for development will be identified during staff appraisals.

The focus of CPD will be on improving standards in all areas and the quality of teaching and learning. It enables staff to learn or refresh their industrial skills relevant to their area(s) of teaching. Rochdale Training will ensure that mechanisms are in place to disseminate good practices in CPD that support and improve teaching and learning, such as through standardisation activity.

All forms of occupational CPD will be based on the following principles:

All staff should be encouraged to develop their knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes to enhance their professional work.

All staff will have regular opportunities to discuss their development needs and professional aspirations.

All staff are responsible for participating in Rochdale Training’s focused CPD and personal career development, in addition to occupational CPD.

We will use a range of providers/employers of provision and endeavour to source the provision of CPD according to the best value. Quality Assurance mechanisms ensure that we access provision of a consistently high standard.

Leadership and Management of CPD

The senior leadership team will delegate the responsibility of the leadership and management of CPD to the operations manager.

The operations manager is responsible for coordinating, approving, and monitoring occupational CPD annually, ensuring activities have been achieved and are effective.

The operations manager will ensure all staff have a fair opportunity to undertake occupational CPD on an industry risk basis, e.g., engineering and adult/child care are high risks compared to business administration. The Manager will also encourage all staff to keep up to date with current thinking and practices in their sector via membership, secondments, attendance at forums and use of the magazines of their sector institutes. Examples include the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Engineering Technicians.

The operations manager will ensure their associates maintain their occupational CPD independently of their associate contract with us. This should be reviewed at contract review.

Quality Department Support for CPD

The quality department will conduct regular planned or unplanned formal and informal drop-in Teaching, Learning and Assessment observations. From these, generic issues are identified. The quality department will also pick up on new or innovative teaching, learning and assessment approaches.

In addition, the head of teaching, learning and curriculum will provide 1-2-1 support to meet individual issues.

Annual updates/refreshers on Prevent/Safeguarding/British Values and Equality & Diversity are mandatory for all staff and associates.

Planning for CPD

The arrangements for CPD will be managed and coordinated by the operations manager. This is to meet the needs of the business/department and the requirements to maintain occupational CPD in the areas staff assess/teach/quality assure. Areas of CPD will be identified during staff annual appraisals. Occupational CPD opportunities will be approved when they:

Meet identified individual, company, customer, or national development priorities

Are based on good practice

Help raise standards of “teaching to distinction”

Respect diversity and inclusion

Are in a setting which will allow opportunity to develop new opportunities of learning relevant to the areas the staff teach/assess in

Are planned systematically e.g. one whole week in industry annually

Are based, where appropriate, on relevant standards

Help improve employees sector expertise