Why did you choose CofE as a provider?

Undertaking an NPQ with the Church of England felt like the best fit for me. I work within a church of England school within an academy trust and I wanted something where the vision of my school and church of England aligned. So when I explored the vision and ethos, both aim to provide a fullness of life for the children, maximising time in the classroom, and the feeling of community. A shared learning community really emphasizing practice and reflection in response to new and current research within education. 

What’s been the best thing about your NPQ so far

So there’s have been lots of things I’ve taken from my NPQ so far, but I think it’s the opportunity to apply my knowledge. As a practitioner, I do a lot of reading around current issues and events in education but it’s the opportunity to meet with other practitioners in a face-to-face setting which we haven’t been able to do for so long and really unpick and explore all our reading. What it means to us, whether that’s primary or secondary school teachers and how this could impact and influence our practice. Every time I attend a session I find that I walk away with a notebook full of ideas and a head full f things to take back to my own setting and share with my head of school and colleagues within my year three team. 

What Impact is the NPQ making on your role?

So obviously sitting within the setting of other practitioners have given me more confidence to share my ideas and take those into my own setting to really influence the practice and teaching of others. Its also given me more confidence to be a leader – I’m undertaking the NPQ in leading teaching so its looking at the strengths and weaknesses of subject areas and curriculum and unpicking it to find out what we can do to move it forward and how to constantly keep a curriculum evolving so its never static. 

What message would you give someone considering an NPQ with CofE?

I would definitely say go for it! It will change how you are as a practitioner for the better! I’ve found it made me more reflective and receptive. The structure makes it really easy to complete in parallel to the everyday life of a teacher, with the reading there is just enough and that can feed into what you're doing on the daily addition to what you’re going to be discussing in your sessions. So the structure is definitely something that is a benefit to you undertaking the NPQ.

How have you found the practice coaching element of your NPQ?

I found the practice coaching element really useful because it's in sync and line with how we deliver knowledge in the classroom. So it enables us to embed it and really understand the learning we’re exposed to. Through the reading we’re hooked on to an area or topic within education relating to the current cycle that we’re doing. So once we've done the coaching cycle, we then have all the knowledge and understanding to take this on again to our apply session. We’re able to discuss this further in a whole group setting and discuss it widely and what this means to us as a leading practitioner.