Education

CPD that respects teachers’ time, experience, and expertise #

If I had a pound for every time my teacher wife told me, “That CPD was useless, boring, or completely irrelevant,” I’d be a very rich man by now.

I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of teachers over my career, and many have since become friends (my wife’s a teacher too, so I hear the honest feedback at home as well!). What teachers tell me, time and again, is that they want training that actually helps, something that feels relevant, energising, and realistic after a long day in the classroom.

That’s exactly what I offer.

My school-based CPD is available as twilight sessions, INSET days, or ongoing development programmes, all tailored to your setting and the real challenges your staff face. Each session is interactive, bespoke, and grounded in practice, not theory for theory’s sake.

Here’s what makes my approach different:

1. I’m Not the Only Expert in the Room #

Teachers are the experts in their pupils, classrooms, and contexts. My role is to bring fresh insight, evidence, and structure, but always in partnership with staff, not as a lecture. Every session starts with reflection:

• What’s already working?
• What’s been tried before?
• What feels most challenging right now?

By checking what is already known, I can then ensure that the training is tailored to the audience, and not just telling you what you already know.

2. Humility Over Assumption #

No two classrooms or schools are the same. That’s why I approach training as a collaborative problem-solving process, not a one-way delivery. I share strategies, but we adapt them together, testing, tweaking, and grounding them in your context so they actually stick.

3. Talk Less, Engage More #

After a long teaching day, no one needs another hour of PowerPoint. My sessions are built around active learning: short bursts of input, followed by discussion, reflection, and planning for practice. Staff leave with ideas that make sense in their classrooms the very next day.

Common themes include: #

• Understanding neurodivergence and stress in the classroom
• Creating inclusive and psychologically safe learning environments
• Building staff wellbeing and resilience
• Developing whole-school approaches to neuroinclusivity