Why CPD for Teachers Could Make Your Summer a Success

Good teachers depend on good CPD to advance their careers, and schools will almost always provide it to all their permanent staff. However, supply teachers and flexible teaching staff may find it harder to benefit from accessible CPD opportunities.  

This is why it’s so important for supply staff, flexible workers and teachers currently jobhunting to work with a staffing agency that provides certified CPD to candidates. Every teacher deserves to be able to build up their skills and take their career forward. And what better time than the summer break?  

Here are a just a few reasons why CPD training over the summer will set you up for a productive return to the classroom in September.  

1. CPD training puts you at an instant advantage 

Jobhunting as a supply or flexible teacher is a competitive affair. With so many teachers competing for an unstable number of positions, distinguishing features on a CV are worth a premium.   

If you have a good number of CPD training certificates under your belt, you will put yourself at a competitive advantage in the eyes of decision makers at your dream school. After all, an employer will be more likely to pick the teacher with a proven set of skills in, say, Child Protection or lesson planning than one who provides only their word to go on.  

2. CPD training makes you a more effective teacher  

Above all, CPD courses for teachers are all about making you a better educator.    

Teaching is a holistic art that requires an eclectic range of skills. If you’re a GCSE History teacher, knowing the ins and outs of the Battle of Waterloo will probably be pretty essential. But you should also have a framework for understanding issues like Autism among pupils, or your duties as part of the Prevent programme.  

Expanding your repertoire of teaching skills through CPD programmes will make a positive impact where it matters most; to the children you teach.  

3. CPD training makes you more resilient

As every supply teacher knows, no two classes are the same. Your Monday might pass entirely without incident, whiled away in a few hours of placid lessons to a room full of wallflowers. But your Tuesday might see you thrown into the deep end to deal with some challenging behaviour as soon as the bell rings for the first morning period.

Resilience isn't just a personal trait; it's something developed through experience and active effort. Teachers have a wide range of training courses available to them, touching on topics such as identifying poor emotional & mental health in young people to active behaviour management methods like Team Teach.

Some of what you learn in these courses might be familiar from your teacher training, while other aspects may be completely new. Whatever courses you pick, you'll have added to an arsenal of knowledge and skills that will help you deal with any classroom you're placed in.

4. CPD activities keep your teaching knowledge current  

As a discipline, teaching moves fast. With so much research taking place, it’s easy for your average schoolteacher to fall behind on academic developments in theory and best practice.   

The summer gives you a chance to escape the immediate pressures of the job and put some time into getting to grips with the most current thinking about teaching. This will only serve to make you a more dynamic teacher when you return in September, while bolstering your competitive advantage.  

5. CPD training helps you love teaching even more  

Far too many teachers are plagued by burnout and stress But even those who normally cope just fine can fall into a rut of teaching the same things in the same way.  

Fresh exposure to practical information and unfamiliar perspectives can help you feel more dynamic again. Think how good it will feel to wow a Year 10 cover class with a method of teaching Shakespeare that they have simply never experienced before. Those are the kind of moments that make people become teachers in the first place.  

CPD Training is a vital means for teachers to improve their employment prospects, expand their skills, stay up to date with the profession and inject some joy into their job. Sadly, many educational recruitment agencies still do not offer these courses to their candidates.  

All registered Teaching Personnel educators have access to heavily discounted, high quality CPD certified courses. Courses include training in child protection, SEND, Team Teach and other topics that will stand you in good stead in all education settings you encounter. To start finding work while developing your credentials, check out our dedicated CPD Academy.