ISP further supplementary professional development meetings (PDMs) in schools

The purpose of the Intensifying Support Programme (ISP) PDMs

PDMs are whole-school meetings and are one of the core instruments in the ISP, which is a whole-school improvement programme that draws together the strands of raising standards and improving teaching and learning.

Context

These materials have been produced as part of the ISP. This programme aims to work in partnership with schools and LAs and to coordinate support. The four key themes running through the ISP and providing the focus for the work are:

• raising standards and accelerating progress
• improving the quality of teaching and learning
• improving the conditions for learning
• developing the school as a professional learning community.

These materials have been produced separately for all schools so that they can be part of their school improvement materials. They provide suggestions for a sequence of PDMs.

The PDMs

The PDMs are timetabled half-termly staff meetings that introduce the focus for the half-term and review previous work. The PDMs are an effective mechanism for improving teaching and raising standards for the following reasons.

• Their regularity retains the programme's high profile, and attendance is expected from all staff.
• The priority for each meeting is linked to the half-termly priorities on the raising attainment plan (RAP), which also identifies the linked monitoring and support.
• They follow the same agenda each time:
  • introducing the half-term literacy and mathematics curricular targets;
  • introducing the teaching and learning focuses for the meeting and linking them to the key themes.
• The emphasis on professional discussion and the use of individual development plans (IDPs) supports staff to reflect on progress since the last meeting and on current practice, to set individual short-term targets and to extend opportunities for professional dialogue among all staff.

The seven original booklets (listed below) cover the key areas of the programme and are designed for use by schools to support the school improvement cycle of audit, plan action and review.

• Introducing the Intensifying Support Programme (ISP)
• PDM 1: Introducing the ISP in school and setting curricular targets for the first half-term
• PDM 2: Sharing objectives
• PDM 3: Questioning
• PDM 4: Modelling and demonstrating
• PDM 5: Problem solving and investigating
• PDM 6: Taking stock and evaluating progress

In addition, there are supplementary PDMs, of which this is one. The supplementary PDMs can also be used as part of the programme, depending on the needs and priority of the school. They currently include:

• Assessment for Learning 1: Day-to-day assessment strategies
• Assessment for Learning 2: Feedback on learning
• Speaking, listening and learning
• Parents: Partners in learning
• Strengthening teaching and learning through the use of curricular targets (DCSF 0186-2006DWO-EN)
• The learning environment as a tool for learning (DCSF 0321-2006DWO-EN)
• Developing the foundations for curricular target setting (DCSF 0322-2006DWO-EN)
• Developing the social and emotional aspects of learning to support children's progress and the achievement of curricular targets (DCSF 0348-2006DWO-EN)