Avanti Webinars
Thematic, innovative pathway developing understanding, highlighting best practice & celebrating impact…
The Avanti Institute is now in it's third year and our INSET days are something to be very proud of...... our staff tell us so!
At Avanti Schools, we recognise that Continuing Professional Development stands as a cornerstone for the ongoing growth and excellence of our educators. In our dynamic educational landscape, effective and well structured professional development ensures that our teachers remain pioneers in best practices, pedagogical innovations and the latest research. It empowers them to refine teaching techniques, adapt to evolving student needs, and implement effective strategies that elevate learning outcomes.
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Investing in CPD is a profound commitment to our educators, but it's more than that; it's an investment in the future of our students and the enduring success of Avanti Schools. We believe in fostering a culture of collaboration and reflective practice, where educators share experiences and insights, enriching the entire Avanti community.
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Now, when it comes to our choice of conducting INSET days remotely, it's a decision grounded in the unique characteristics of Avanti Schools. By opting for remote delivery, we transcend geographical barriers, enabling widespread participation among our educators across different locations. This approach aligns with our commitment to inclusivity and ensures that every member of the Avanti family has access to valuable professional development opportunities. There is also a 'trust' element i.e. Avanti staff can stay at home on that first Monday back after half term - after a two week half term break and hopefully feel refreshed and motivated for a day of CPD that they have chosen for themselves AND that have all been designed to focus primarily on key Trust themes. Worthwhile, relevant and inspiring.
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Moreover, conducting INSET days remotely is a strategic financial decision. It allows us to allocate resources more efficiently, redirecting funds that would have been spent on travel and accommodation into our schools. This way, we maximize the impact of our financial investments, directly benefiting the immediate educational environment at Avanti Schools. In essence, our approach to CPD, including remote INSET days, reflects our dedication to nurturing the growth of our educators and optimising resources for the collective success of Avanti Schools.
Avanti Inset 2021
Avanti Inset 2022
Avanti Inset 2023
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Avanti INSET
High-quality CPD for teachers has a significant effect on pupils’ learning outcomes …
Make an impact every step of the way.
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Professor Becky Allen
Professor Becky Allen
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Why do subjects disagree about what optimal assessment design looks like and why do teachers within a subject sometimes disagree about optimal assessment design?
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Why does curriculum and knowledge architecture make achieving multiple goals with one assessment easy in some subjects and impossible in other subjects?
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How does student motivation and its relation to assessment/reporting change as students mature through the education system?
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Why is it often not possible to know everything we want to know through assessments and how can we decide whether this matters to us?
KS2 & KS3 Staff - English Teachers
Pathway 2: Curriculum
CURRICULUM DESIGN IN PRACTISE: HISTORY
Elizabeth Carr: Subject lead for Humanities at Avanti Grange Secondary School, Chartered Teacher of History (CTHist), skilled in teaching curriculum development, assessment and teacher education and development.
This session will explore how principles of curriculum design can be applied in practice when planning, evaluating and refining a History curriculum. We will discuss rigour, coherence, scope and sequencing, and how we can plan for progression in substantive and disciplinary knowledge. We will think about the importance of narrative and ‘hinterland’ knowledge, and how to ensure that our curriculum is representative, reflects our values and principles, and suits our context. This session will be particularly applicable to teachers and leaders of History at KS3-5, but also relevant to primary teachers and curriculum leaders of History or Humanities, and teachers and leaders of other subjects in Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts.
Lekha Sharma
Curriculum development is an ongoing process and not a quick fix.
This session will explore the importance of curriculum coherence and sequencing of curriculum materials, with a focus on how to maximise the chances that pupils will secure understanding over time. Lekha will share practical examples of how this can be achieved in a primary context at both curriculum and lesson design level.
Pie Corbett
Children as Writers
Pie Corbett’s webinar will explore the role of children as writers, learning how to play with language as well as close, observational writing which captures and preserves experience. Pie will explore the writing process and how teachers can ensure that children grow in confidence, developing their own writing repertoire. This will involve looking at developing and applying ‘writing knowledge’. The webinar will be very practical so that teachers can take approaches back into the classroom to grow their own expertise.
Kate Jones
Retrieval Practice across Primary
and Secondary
Retrieval practice has become a widely used strategy in the classroom. Retrieval practice is the act of recalling information, embedded in long term memory, in order to further improve and enhance long term memory. This is an evidence-informed learning strategy, not an assessment strategy. It should be regular, spaced over time and low stakes. There are many ways to do this, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Primary Staff
Pathway 2: Curriculum
Disciplinary Knowledge in Science
Kevin Jones: Co-Director of Lighting up Learning
Thinking further about the role of disciplinary knowledge in science, the barriers to teaching it effectively in class and its role in delivering Powerful Knowledge – Exploring the work of Michael Young.
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Years 1 and 2
Pathway 2: Curriculum
St Michaels Primary School Aldbourne
Continuous Provision in KS1:
Presentation by headteacher, Jude Arkwright detailing the philosophy and ethos that sit behind the school’s CP approach as well as an honest recount of the journey they have been on as a school.
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Presentation from Reception/KS1 teachers on the practicalities of making the approach work, including timetabling, planning and resourcing. They share many of the documents that they use to make continuous provision work for our adults and our children.
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Virtual tour of their learning spaces – both indoor and outdoors, including displays and storage solutions!
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Question and answer session.
All Staff
Pathway 6: Wellbeing/Relationships
PRESERVING POSITIVITY: THRIVING IN THE CLASSROOM
Haili Hughes: Head of Education at IRIS Connect
Thousands of amazing, experienced teachers are choosing to leave the profession, depriving generations of students of their passion and expertise.
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But it doesn’t need to be this way. Haili will guide us through her views on ‘Preserving Positivity’ exploring the reasons why people are choosing to leave the classroom and draws on the voices of other experienced teachers who tell us how they turned their careers around. Haili will also share practical, adaptable strategies that will help you reignite your passion for teaching and bring the positivity back into your classroom!
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All Staff
Pathway 4: Walkthrus & Instructional Coaching
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUTING MENTORING & COACHING WITH VIDEO?
Haili Hughes: Head of Education at IRIS Connect, English Teacher, Educational Author and Speaker
New research provides strong evidence that video-based teacher coaching by IRIS Connect has significant impact on student achievement.
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Instructional coaching has been in the spotlight recently, as it has shown promising results in schools. A recent meta-analysis by Kraft et al. (2018) revealed positive effects of coaching on instructional practice. Furthermore, Gregory et al.’s (2016) qualitative evaluations revealed that it can help teachers to connect faraway, standards-based policy with their day-to-day teaching strategies.
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DAN MACFARLAND
WHAT IS EFFECTIVE CONTINUOUS PROVISION?
Some people say that it is the learning that continues after new concepts are taught. Some people state that it is the learning opportunities that are always available for children. Some people say – does it matter?
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Highly effective, ‘goosebump’ learning encourages children to persevere, to self-regulate, to persist and to be responsible in their actions within a safe environment where they are able to take risks. As well as this, effect learning can develop a mastery linked to the concepts and objectives that children are learning at any one time. The teacher’s role is to ensure that the tasks and activities have a clear learning purpose, that they provide sufficient challenge and that they offer problems to be solved. In this Webinar, Dan MacFarland shares an abundance of ideas to use in your setting.
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‘Discussing Best Practice’ – Please bring your scenarios and successes/barriers to the session (through a survey to follow)
All EYFS Staff
Pathway 5: Writing
“RECEPTION CHILDREN WANT TO WRITE”
Ross Young: Founder of ‘Writing for Pleasure’, Lead Researcher & Author
In 1983, famed researcher Donald Graves famously announced: ‘children want to write. They want to write from the very first day they attend school’. This hasn’t changed. Children are hardwired to desire literacy. In this webinar, Ross Young, founder of The Writing For Pleasure Centre will discuss the 14 enduring and evidence-based principles for effective early years writing teaching. This includes: building a community of writers, treating every child as a writer, and teaching children how to encode. He will provide insights into what it is the best early years practitioners do that makes the difference by sharing real examples of practice taken from Writing For Pleasure affiliate schools.
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​Finally, all attendees will receive a copy of Ross’ book: Getting Children Up & Running As Bookmakers: Lessons For EYFS teachers.
CROSS TRUST COLLABORATION
WESTBORNE ACADEMY:
This session is led by Abigail​ Joachim – Trust HLTA and a team of Teaching Assistants.
Thrive, ELSA, Drawing and Talking and Outdoor Learning
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Social, Emotional and Mental Health
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​‘Discussing Best Practice’ – Please bring your scenarios and successes/barriers to the session
All Staff
Pathway 2: Curriculum
ENHANCING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE SKILLS
Helen Prince: English Teacher, Senior Leader and Advisor.
In this webinar, you’ll learn about the critical role of spoken language skills in developing reading comprehension, including the importance of vocabulary, grammar and word order, as well as inference and fluency. The session will explore the use of poetry and prose to improve comprehension through oracy and storytelling tasks that highlight prosody and fluency skills. Throughout the session, we will dive into a range of resources to help contextualise thinking and enhance our toolkits for teaching.
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REBECCA UNDERWOOD
INSPIRING WRITING IN RECEPTION: BUILDING THE FIRM FOUNDATIONS FOR YEAR ONE
Children need a stimulus to write. A reason. A context. They need a hook, an audience. They need to KNOW the subject or have a good understanding of the experience that they are writing ABOUT. They need to feel confident about what is expected of them. They need to be encouraged to write with passion, to let the writing flow, to not be afraid of making mistakes but just to love the process of creating a page of words that make the reader rejoice! Encouraging writing in the Reception year and transition into KS1.
All Staff
Pathway 6: Wellbeing/Relationships
LEADING WITH CONFIDENCE – FOSTERING PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY & EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Lekha Sharma: School Improvement Lead: Curriculum & Assessment
Are you an educational leader looking to create a positive and supportive workplace culture? Join Lekha in our upcoming webinar on “Fostering Psychological Safety and Effective Feedback in Educational Leadership.” In this webinar, you will learn how to cultivate an environment of psychological safety, which is essential for building trust and collaboration among your team. You will also discover effective feedback strategies that will help you empower your team and encourage professional growth.
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All EYFS Staff
READING: THE POWER OF VOCABULARY
MARK NICHOLS: ENGLISH LEAD – AVANTI GRANGE
HELEN HIBBINS: ENGLISH LEAD – AVANTI MEADOWS
The key focus within this session is to explore the power and benefit that explicit teaching of vocabulary can have on our classes. We will share how we place emphasis on vocabulary within our lessons, the importance of strategic intent for the deliberate practice of vocabulary in curriculum design and how to assess and gauge progress of student understanding & usage of new words throughout the implementation of our curriculums. As a group, we will also have a chance to share best practice with each other. If you have any suggestions or methodology you wish to share, please bring your excellent ideas and strategies to the session and be prepared to share!
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​‘Discussing Best Practice’ – Please bring your scenarios and successes/barriers to the session
NICHOLAS GARRICK
LIGHTING UP LEARNING
SUBJECT LEADERSHIP
One size does not fit all - A reflective session that looks at the different modes of subject leadership and how we might change how we lead according to the subject or even time of year; effectively, moving from passive management to active leadership.
All staff
EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING AND FEEDBACK
Ross Morrison McGill: Educational Speaker, School leader and Author
“On their feet, teachers pose approximately 300-400 questions every day (Levin & Long, 1981)!
This means ‘questioning’ has to be efficient, and targeted and lead to generating new ideas, solutions and information. In this session, Ross will share the research behind effective questioning and how specific strategies can help students recall information! Plus, learn nine different ways to provide students with feedback.”
Primary and Secondary Staff
Pathway 2: Curriculum
HOW CHILDREN LEARN: METACOGNITION AND THE SCIENCE OF LEANRING
Ross Morrison McGill: Educational Speaker, School leader and Author
Unlock your students’ potential with our CPD session on metacognition and children’s learning! Join us to discover the power of metacognition in improving academic performance and empowering young learners to take control of their own learning journey
COUNTERPOISE WELLNESS
MENTAL WELLBEING IN SCHOOL
This workshop is to help teaching staff understand the importance of their mental health and how they can keep themselves healthy and well whilst at work. In this session, we will look at what mental health is, why it’s important and discuss techniques to promote good mental health. We will also try some of these techniques in the session and look at how they can be taken into the classroom to help students.
All Staff
Pathway 6: Wellbeing/Relationships
UNMASKING IMPOSTER SYNDROME
Carol Jones: Director of Leading Women Education Ltd. Chair of Leading Women’s Alliance, former Secondary HT
You may have experienced Imposter Syndrome already, either once you’d been appointed to a new post or at any time in the role. It’s that sense of self-doubt – that feeling of an inner voice saying, ‘they’ve made a mistake, they’ll find out that I can’t do the job….I can’t do this’. You feel like a fraud. It can feel debilitating and undermine your confidence, your ability to make decisions and your own sense of self-worth. It can add to the stress of being a senior leader. However, it’s worth noting that this is such a common feeling. Imposter Syndrome is so common to so many of us that it’s worth developing a strategy, a toolkit, that you will be able to call on if you experience it.
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Imposter Syndrome affects both women and men, although it has been more openly acknowledged and discussed in women’s leadership groups.
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This workshop would help everyone, whether you’ve experienced imposter syndrome yourself or line-managed those who do. We will implement the first part of an ‘Imposter Syndrome Intervention Toolkit’ – we’ll talk about it, own it, then rehearse elements of the toolkit that all participants can leave with.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
MIKE ION
Mike will focus on the use of FFT Aspire to set targets for cohorts, subjects and individual pupils. The aim of the session is to better understand how pupils’ prior attainment needs to be factored into the expectations we have of them and hence inform our assessments of their progress.
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‘Discussing Best Practice’ – Please bring your scenarios and successes/barriers to the session
All Staff
Pathway 2: Curriculum
Designing and Delivering Quality Interventions for Children with High Need SEN
Abigail Hawkins: The SENsible SENCO & Education Consultant
In this webinar, you’ll learn effective strategies for planning and delivering interventions that are tailored to the specific needs of children with high need SEN. You’ll gain insights into how to assess and monitor progress and how to engage with parents and carers to ensure a holistic approach to intervention delivery. Abigail will also share real-life examples and practical tips to help you design and implement interventions that are both effective and sustainable. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, SENCO or a support staff member, this webinar is perfect for anyone looking to enhance their practice and improve outcomes for children with high need SEN.
ADHD / SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
Abigail Hawkins
Pathway 3: ADHD Overview – Strategies and approaches for the Classroom-Overview and diagnosis​
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- Behaviours and Barriers
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- Executive function and building new pathways
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- Strategies for the classroom
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- Self-image, organisation, behaviour and executive function
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​‘Discussing Best Practice’ – Please bring your scenarios and successes/barriers to the session
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ABIGAIL HAWKINS
THE SENSIBLE SENDCO
SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH AND AUTISM
An introduction to the overlap between SEMH and Autism
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Whole school focus on addressing SEMH/Wellbeing – consistency, routines, environment, safe spaces, pace
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Strategies/Interventions/Provisions for TAs to support and encourage healthy social interaction – with links
We hope that there really is something for everyone within our Avanti CPD Programme. We strongly believe in autonomy and trust and that empowered teachers and staff really do make the most difference. All our programmes will enable you to think critically about your professional role, to apply the latest research, explore new areas and advance your practice at every opportunity...
