Caffeinated Professional Development

When Shabaz Sayed entrusted me with the care of his beloved Caffeinated Professional Development sessions, I was dubious. Would I be able to keep them running with the same high level of staff participation and enthusiasm...?

Caffeinated Professional Development sessions are a well-loved feature of the SMMA staff community. Their premise is very much in the name: optional professional development sessions for all staff, led by staff. In these short, informal sessions each week, staff can share snippets of pedagogy, top tips or good classroom practice which they feel may interest colleagues – all whilst enjoying a free coffee (from a fun, fancy coffee pod machine) and freshly baked pastry (provided by our catering staff). The sessions run from 8.15-8.30am, so staff still have a quick 15 minutes to sort their Period 1 lessons and to greet their pupils at the door.

Whilst the promise of caffeine and sugar at 8.15 on a Thursday morning might seem tempting, it does require a body of willing staff to lead and to attend the sessions. Being completely optional, it's hard to estimate how many attendees we'll have for each session, and this is also affected by termly pinch-points like parents’ evenings or marking deadlines.

However, over the last few years I’ve seen little sub-communities developing in Caff PD sessions. Sometimes staff will come to support their colleague delivering the session – like the majority of the Science team turning up for a session led by a member of their department. Other times, small groups of regular attendees forge friendships with new members of staff such as our ECTs or PGCE students. The optional element is key for keeping these sessions as positive and enjoyable as our staff seem to find them. 

Persuading staff to lead sessions can occasionally be more challenging, but generally our team are very willing... even if I sometimes feel they're avoiding eye contact with me in the corridor! Over the last few years, we've had a genuinely inspiring range of sessions and I often find myself booking the same key speakers to deliver their session each year... because they are just that good. 

Standout sessions include one on ‘Handling Challenging Conversations’ from Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Celia Ledgerwood-Walker, who reminds us that all behaviour is communication and shares her strategies on handling difficult confrontations. Another perennially popular session comes from Joint Head of Science & Head of Physics, Harry Birch: in ‘The Golden Silence’, Harry discusses the importance of silent and independent work in a lesson. While in a fun and far-from-silent session, Drama teacher Nick Oshikanlu shares his insights on ‘Using your Teacher Voice’ - getting everyone on their feet to try some old-school vocal warm-up techniques.

So was I right to be dubious as I took over the reins...? Absolutely not. The SMMA team turned out in full force and the Caffeinated PD ship remains steady, with a diverse range of sessions led by wonderful colleagues. I now find some of my most-used and most effective strategies have come from Caff PD. These small-but-mighty sessions help to keep our CPD offering diverse and fully ingrained in our practice.