Knowsley Community College leads on staff development and IfL membership

Knowsley Community College leads on staff development and IfL membership

Knowsley Community College in Merseyside is leading the way in its commitment to staff development and the professional status of its teachers. By January 2008, every one of its 300 or so teaching staff had registered with the Institute for Learning (IfL), and the college has also been involved in a pilot scheme to introduce IfL's Reflect system for recording continuing professional development (CPD).

Sue Rhodes, development manager for CPD at the college, worked with Elaine Jones, her counterpart in teacher training, to develop and deliver a series of cross-college events to raise awareness of the new legislation affecting all further education teachers. Their communication campaign proved very successful.

"We stayed in touch with staff through global emails and the college bulletin on the intranet," Ms Rhodes said. "We attended section meetings, where we helped those who were less comfortable with IT to register online, and we used section management, academic board and advanced teaching practice meetings to encourage registration. Communication with individuals also helped us achieve our goal. Our teachers have shown a great sense of responsibility and commitment to this, and I think we were the first college in the country to have all our teaching staff registered."

Her vision is that use of IfL's Reflect system will allow the college to dispense with the paper-based system of recording CPD. Staff will be able to record their CPD online and share the details with their line manager, giving permission to comment and send the information back, which can then be submitted to the personnel department. Details of specific events can be selected and forwarded to IfL when CPD evidence is requested, and the system will also provide the personnel department with evidence for appraisal purposes.

Ms Rhodes said, "As a college, we already had an excellent record for staff development, and I think all the staff know that the main difference in future will be having to record the impact of the training on their job role and on their learners, and the submission of a CPD record to IfL."

Frank Gill, the principal at Knowsley Community College, is very happy with the way in which staff development supports the aims of the college. "We are very proud of our reputation and the success of our students, and we know that the commitment of teaching staff to their continued learning is an extremely worthwhile investment, and fundamental to raising aspirations and helping students to achieve."

Lee Davies, acting chief executive at IfL, said, "Knowsley Community College has taken a very positive approach to the new rules. Not only have they encouraged all their teachers to register with us, well before the 31 March deadline, but they have also taken on the Reflect product and associated training with great enthusiasm and professionalism. They set an outstanding example for colleges and other training providers."