QET Professional Development Day February 2023 #qettingbettertogether
There were so many highlights and positive take aways from the Inset Day on Monday 20th February 2023. Support staff, primary teachers and secondary school teachers from across the trust all attended bespoke sessions delivering content aimed at supporting their roles, professional development and targeted areas for improvement.
We were kindly hosted by our colleagues at Sexey’s School who pulled out all the stops for us and also provided a fantastic lunch.
The support staff had a thought-provoking session led by Lucy Bailey at Bounce Forward about psychological fitness and positive emotions. The driving force was that each and every person is valued and has the potential to drive forward the QET values and strengthen relationships across the Trust.
The primary school staff were expertly led by our Executive Headteacher Gary Tucker and Louise Day. The focus was Curriculum Implementation. The Early Years and Key Stage 1 teachers focused on Curriculum Sequencing and Enabling Environments, whilst the Key Stage 2 teachers were looking at Teaching High-quality Art Lessons, Subject Leadership and Curriculum Development.
Secondary Teachers had two keynote presentations led by Chris Moyse and Lorwyn Randall, followed by some departmental time to discuss SEND approaches in their subject faculties.
Chris is a leadership and education consultant with over 37 years of experience in education. He helps schools, colleges, organisations, and their staff to become even better. The focus of his session was on improving QET’s approach to coaching and feedback.
Lorwyn works closely with the Research School Network and other Improvement Partners in the system to broaden schools’ understanding of evidence and provide access to guidance, training and support in the region. He now works with the Education Endowment Foundation and led a insightful session on ‘Evidence Informed And Effective Classroom Practice For Children With SEND’. 
We are determined to provide QET schools with opportunities to collaborate and build a community where we can aspire to be the best we can be in whatever role we do. These Inset Days are such an important part of this. The respect that our staff have for their colleagues is wonderful to watch, and the importance placed on the contributions that everyone can bring to the school environment reaffirms the need for all staff to be treated with equity - each and every person really is valued in our Trust.
It was an honour to extend invitations to local primary school who were also able to benefit from meeting colleagues in a similar role and hopefully have some useful take ways from the day.