Subject leadership is exactly that. We do not have subject coordinators, we have subject leaders!

Leaders at Cross Gates Primary complete a review into standards in their subject, this then informs their action plan.  Regular monitoring through scrutinies, learning walks and pupil interviews ensure the impact in their subject is visible.  Giving time over the academic year for staff to lead their subject ensures they feel empowered to do a good job and champions their subject.

Leaders at Cross Gates share the vision for their subject through an intent statement which brings together published research in their subject field, a desire for a curriculum to be ambitious, coherently planned and sequenced and accessible to all.  Consideration is given to a subject intent that reflects current social, political and economical situations whilst ensuring the statutory requirements are met.  The intent of our curriculum is the curriculum.

Leaders at Cross Gates have demonstrated how they will go about go about teaching the curriculum through their implementation statement.  Leaders have worked hard to produce quality ‘Knowledge Organisers’ and ‘Progression Documents’ which detail the sticky knowledge we expect children to know at key points in their school career with us.  The implementation lets stakeholders know how monitoring will be done and how staff knowledge will be deepened through bespoke professional development.  

Leaders at Cross Gates will measure the impact in their subject through both qualitative and quantitative measures.  What is more important is how this informs future planning and development of their subject.  The ‘Study Unit’ sheets are the starting point for collecting attainment data on progress, this forms part of a triangulation of evidence to monitor outcomes and plan for future subject development.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is at the heart of our school staff community.

In developing our CPD delivery, our central emphasis is on improving standards and the quality of teaching and learning.   The ultimate aim is the improvement in the practice of individuals through the creation of a learning community.

Evidence suggests that the best results occur when CPD is central to the schools’ improvement planning. We will work to integrate performance management, school self-review and development, and CPD in a coherent cycle of planning, seeking to improve the quality of teaching and raise standards.

We believe staff will benefit most where a wide range of different types of CPD is on offer. Whenever possible, the types of CPD selected will be the most appropriate to the needs of the school and of individuals. The five professional development days will be used to support our improvement plan development and deliver a significant portion of our CPD work.

Our CPD plans will strive to strike a good balance between national and school priorities; very often these will overlap.

Professional development is recorded centrally and on individual performance management documents.  The professional development may take many forms including internal training through coaching and mentoring, weekly whole staff CPD, inset training, working with colleagues from the LEPP Trust, external training within the Local Authority or privately sourced specialists. 

A training budget has been allocated to support the professional development of staff and governors at all levels.