The General Teaching Council has asked us to publicise their next conference for small schools, which will provide an opportunity to share experiences and collaborate with other schools.

‘Perfectly Formed 2006’
28th Apiil - Central London

This event is fully funded by the GTC. Funding includes lunch, the cost of standard travel and also up to £145 for ‘supply cover’ when accompanied by receipts.

The GTC is aware that small schools have particular needs when managing continuous professional development and, in addition, they face numerous challenges arising from their size.

Last year we aimed to support small schools by offering two events, one in London and one in Birmingham, that we called ‘Perfectly Formed’.  We focussed on:

¨       how some small schools are responding to the challenges;
¨       learning more about effective networking; and
¨       finding partners for developing new support networks.

We were heartened by the participants’ positive feedback and have responded to the requests they made:
¨       to share email addresses so that new relationships and networks can form across regions;
¨       to ensure that we hear the views of small schools through proportional representation at GTC events and focus groups; and
¨       to provide an annual event to enable small schools CPD leaders to meet and learn together.

I am delighted to tell you that we have also responded to the request from Birmingham participants to have Peter Radley and Paul Cockcroft, two small school headteachers, as presenters. They will be showing the outcomes of collaborative CPD. They are not only entertaining and humorous, but also informative and challenging. I know you will enjoy meeting them.

There are some new materials developed by Professors Alma Harris and Chris Day on evaluating CPD. I know from conversations with you that this is an area that many of you are concerned about. We are expecting to be able to offer you more insight into using the toolkit in small schools.

May we remind you that places on this event are limited. To maximise your chances of being offered a place, please reply as quickly as possible. The last date for applications is Monday 23rd January. We will let you know whether you have a place shortly after this.

For more details, or to book a place, please see the GTC's website: http://www.gtce.org.uk/networks/articles/articles3/connect7/whats/small 

Best wishes, 

Chris Foster
Professional Networks Link Adviser