LEO Professional Learning Newsletter 

Thursday 23rd November 2023

Autumn Term - Issue 5

LEO Professional Learning Opportunities 2023-2024

LEO Professional Learning Opportunities 2023-2024


There are lots of professional development opportunities on offer for 2023-2024.

Take a look at our new LEO Professional Learning Brochure here which contains the dates and times of upcoming training sessions.

Professional Learning Spotlight

Youth Mental Health Training

Colleagues from across @LEOacademies are joined @KT22Mi68 last week for session 2 of the Youth Mental Health First Aider professional learning course.  

Lots of practical strategies were shared and an opportunity to network and discuss ideas with others.

Thank you to Katie for leading these sessions and to our collegaues for engaging so enthusiastically in the planned activities.


Outstanding Leadership in Education Programme

Colleagues from across @LEOacademies joined together for the first session of the @OLEVItalk Outstanding Leadership in Education Programme.

The programme recognises that all people are leaders, and that developing leadership ensures that well balanced challenge and support creates impact. You will engage with evidence-informed leadership pedagogy to discover how to lead and manage individuals, classes, teams, and projects more effectively for greater impact.

Thank you to all who joined and to our wonderful facilitators @catlester7 & @grahammacaulay.

See you all at session 2!

Senior Outstanding Leadership in Education Programme

Catherine Lester and Alison Day enjoyed delivering session 1 of the Senior Outstanding Leadership in Education Programme last week. They welcomed their third cohort of colleagues from:

@CCJacademy, 

@HighViewPrSch,

@WestAshtead

@LEOinclusion

@LEOacademies

The programme will provide greater clarity, grow confidence, and develop competence of senior leaders, enabling strategic reflection on organisational improvement.

Outstanding Teacher Programme

Great to see session 1 of the @OLEVItalk Outstanding Teacher Programme taking this week!

A wonderful morning of professional learning on offer for colleagues across @LEOacademies with excellent facilitation from @MissPotter143 & @Miss_Gibney.

The OTP offers classroom practitioners the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the latest innovative pedagogy and develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours to make a significant impact on their pupils and inspire others to become outstanding practitioners within a coaching culture.

Publications, Vlogs, Blogs and News

MATHS GAMES - PART 2

Motivate and engage with games that deepen understanding

By NCETM

In Part 2 of our discussion with Dr Ems Lord and Liz Woodham from NRICH and Grace Coker from the EEF, we explore how games can facilitate collaborative problem-solving, encourage parental engagement and make homework more enjoyable.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Early Years Evidence Store - EEF

Explore @EducEndowFoundn's new Early Years Evidence Store themes!

These new additions focus on early maths and literacy and are designed to help you put evidence-informed approaches into practice in your setting. 

Click here to find out more.

Creating the Climate for Metacogntive Thinking

By Durrington Research School


The chief challenge surrounding successful metacognition interventions is often described as the difficulty in turning theory into practice. This is in large part due to the relative complexity of metacognition conceptually.


The EEF toolkit promises a potential 8 months extra progress for metacognitive interventions, the highest impact rating of any toolkit strand. Of course, the devil is in the detail, and these transformative benefits are only possible if the concepts underpinning metacognition are both deeply understood and interpreted in a way that brings change to teaching habits.


Click here to find out more.


What can teachers do to avoid the curse of knowledge in the classroom?

By Kate Jones


The phrase ‘the curse of knowledge’ was coined in 1989 by economists Camerer, Lowenstein and Weber and it refers to a cognitive bias where individuals assume other people know what they know. This can include knowledge and understanding of key terms, concepts or background information that someone erroneously assumes others have. Authors Chip and Dan Heath explain, “Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has ‘cursed’ us. 


Click here to find out more.


EEF blog: Managing behaviour - the challenge of consistency

By Freya Morrisey

Talk to almost any school leader or teacher at the moment, and it will quickly become clear that behaviour is high on the list of priorities.


Managing misbehaviour is currently a particularly challenging issue for many schools. As the outgoing Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman acknowledged recently, behaviour has widely deteriorated since the pandemic. This is a complex, multifaceted issue, which sadly does not come with quick fixes.

Click here to read more.

Is everyone thinking? Making meaning? Practising?

By Tom Sherrington

When I go into lessons, and sit at the back, I scan the room and check in with the students around me to experience the lesson from their small corner. I find I’m basically checking whether each of these five elements are present as far as is possible. In discussions with the teacher I’m also exploring how far they are checking themselves:

Click here to read more.

External Professional Learning Opportunities 

The Open University - Open Learn

Design your own CPD with these free resources from The Open University, created for teachers and teaching assistants working across the UK.

All the content in this hub has been selected by academics across The Open University, specifically for teachers, teaching assistants and support staff working across the secondary, primary and early years sectors, including those involved in home education, special schools and pupil referral units.

Click here to access a range of online professional learning sessions from a range of areas.

Creating a Culture of Staff Wellbeing in your School or Trust

Episode 1: ‘When teachers thrive, children succeed – creating a culture of staff wellbeing in your school or trust’ is taking place on Thursday 23rd November from 4pm – 5pm with special guest Jane Kennedy, Lead Advisor Professional Learning,  Education Durham

Click here to find out more.

Reading Leader Network

English Hub

Our half termly Reading Leader Network will provide an opportunity to meet other reading leaders working across the 16 London Boroughs supported by the Wandle English Hub.

Each session will focus on a different topic. There will be input from facilitators, updates from the latest research and guidance as well as opportunities for discussion, the sharing of expertise & best practice and networking.

Autumn 1: Developing the role of the Reading Leader (Wednesday 11th October)
Autumn 2: Reading for Pleasure and planning for WBD (Tuesday 28th November)
Spring 1: Reading fluency (Tuesday 6th February)
Spring 2: Phonics Screening Check preparation (Tuesday 19th March)
Summer 1: Parental Engagement (Tuesday 7th May)
Summer 2: Strong start to the academic year (Tuesday 25th June)

They will be an online event taking place on Zoom. The sessions will be led by Matthew Courtney, Wandle English Hub Lead, and Emma Quigley, teacher Key Stage Leader and Lead of Phonics, Reading and Spelling at Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School.

Click here to find out more.

EEF Primary Science Guidance

With STEM Learning


30 Nov 23 

15:30-16:30

By the end of the webinar you will:

Click here to find out more.

Maths Hubs Newsletter 


At the London South West Maths Hub, we are so excited about the year ahead. There are many opportunities on offer this year for teachers and leaders in schools and colleges across South West London. As always, everything we offer is absolutely FREE of charge for state-funded schools and colleges! Please have a look and share with colleagues. If you are interested, get booking now to secure your place! Our 2023/2024 Professional Development offer has something for everyone. 

Click here to find out more.

Geographical Assiocation


FREE CPD VIDEO SUPPORT from @The_GA committee EY and Primary.


Click here to find out more.

WWF Training Courses

There are lots of free training courses available on the WWF website. 

Climate Change and Climate System

ESD: Driving change towards sustainable schools



Click here to find out more.

LGFL School Staff Training 

LGfL in school support, training and conference events are integral parts of the LGfL Energise curriculum service provided at no extra charge for schools.


Click here to see the training opportunities that are on offer.

Free short online course: Learning for a Sustainable Future

Join a personal and professional global learning journey towards a sustainable future. What on Earth could be more important?


Click here to find out more.

Becoming a Google Certified Coach


A Google Certified Coach is someone who is :


→ Eager to support educators

→ Wanting to drive impactful technology into classrooms

→ Looking to learn research-proven strategies & skills


Does this sound like you? 

Click here to find out more.

On-demand training at your fingertips


View the Google on-demand series of webinars designed to help schools and educators in the UK and Ireland get the most out of Google Workspace for Education and Chromebooks.

Whether you are an educator, Senior Leadership or IT Administrator you can find a session to suit you. 


Click here to find out more.

Adobe Professional Development Courses


Find out all about the free professional learning opportunities on offer from Adobe.


Creativity for all

Adobe Creative Cloud Express in the Classroom

Engaging Video Projects in the Classroom

and many more...

Click here to find out more.

Inclusive Ed Bootcamp: How to meet the needs of a diverse range of students

How can we better meet the needs of a diverse range of students? Sign up for our Inclusive Ed Bootcamp for help and advice. A free webinar series featuring Kate Griggs, the CEO of @MadeByDyslexia.


Throughout the series you will learn about:

Click here to find out more.

Free online professional development webinars for educators


Oxford University Press has a range of digital webinars to help you continue your professional development online. You can find links to recordings of previously-held webinars, as well as register your interest for upcoming sessions. The recorded webinars are available to watch on demand via Brainshark and you will receive a CPD certificate after watching each one.


Click here to find out more.

Financial Education - Free Online Teacher Training


Complete a free online course, in your own time and at your own speed…

The engaging eLearning courses are self-paced and take between 1.5-2.5 hours to complete.  Along the way you will:


Click here to find out more.

Developing Reading for Pleasure


Join the Open Learn FREE Developing Reading for Pleasure  badged online course.

Developing the skill to read and the will to read are interrelated, however, this course focuses on the latter; it is an exploration of Reading for Pleasure and its significance for children’s lives and development. You will consider current research, debates and challenges that impact on children’s reading and gain knowledge and strategies to help you promote reader engagement across schools, homes and communities.

Click here to find out more.

Online PE CPD for Teachers

England Football's Online PE CPD for Teachers course is designed to increase confidence in the delivery of engaging, inclusive, high-quality Physical Education lessons through the invasion game of football.

Click here to find out more.

LEO Training Twitter Page! 

Are you following @LEOtraining5 on Twitter yet?

If you would like to stay up to date on all things training at LEO Academy Trust and beyond then make sure you follow @LEOtraining5 on Twitter.

Click here to to visit the page now.