This document provides an overview of a PD day at City and Islington SFC. It discusses defining and evolving organizational culture. Staff participated in an exercise to describe the culture of the sixth form centre using post-it notes. The top 6 cultural descriptors chosen by staff were then shared online. The document also summarizes presentations on foregrounding teaching and learning, improving teaching within teams, and guerrilla staff development strategies. Useful websites on spaced practice and cognitive load theory were also listed.

1. PD DAY 14 NOVEMBER
2017
THE CULTURE OF CITY AND ISLINGTON SFC

2. FOR THE NEXT 45 MINS
PLEASE HAVE YOUR PHONES / DEVICES TO
HAND
IF YOU’RE FEELING CHIRPY START TO
FOLLOW #candisfcpdd ON TWITTER AND FEEL
FREE TO COMMENT THROUGH THE
PRESENTATION AND THE REST OF THE DAY.
(My first ever hashtag!)

3. WHAT ARE WE DOING
HERE?
TIME TO THINK ABOUT OUR SIXTH FORM
CENTRE AT CITY AND ISLINGTON
TIME TO THINK ABOUT OUR CULTURE
TO INTRODUCE THE IDEAS THAT LIE BEHIND
THE REST OF THE DAY

4. CULTURE
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE IT?

5. CULTURE
SHARED VALUES, ASSUMPTIONS AND
BELIEFS THAT GOVERN HOW PEOPLE
BEHAVE IN AN ORGANISATION

6. CULTURE
A POWERFUL BUT INVISIBLE FORCE THAT
INFLUENCES THE BEHAVIOR OF THAT GROUP

7. CULTURE
“IT’S THE WAY THINGS GET DONE AROUND
HERE”

8. CULTURE EVOLVES
SOME PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR OVER
20 YEARS
LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE VERY ROOTED AND
HAVE BEEN HERE FOR 4, 5 YEARS OR MORE
SOME PEOPLE ARE NEW AND MIGHT BE STILL
READING THE SIGNS

9. TASK
DESCRIBE OUR CULTURE AT THE SIXTH FORM
CENTRE
WRITE ONE WORD/SHORT PHRASE PER POST
IT NOTE
STICK ALL OF YOUR POST IT NOTES IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE TABLE AND DISCUSS
5 MINUTES

10. TASK 2
LOOKING AT THE POST IT NOTES, CAN YOU
CHOOSE THE TOP 6 THAT YOU FEEL MOST
DEFINE THE CULTURE OF THE SIXTH FORM
CENTRE?

11. Share the TOP 6
get out your devices!
type in the URL padlet.com/marycandi/culture
click
write your word or phrase - and fingers crossed!

12. SUMMARY & LINK
So how can we summarise that exercise?

13. JOANNE MILES
In July and October all Team Leaders and
Coordinators had training in ways to reflect on
practice and explore further ways to foreground
TLA
@JoanneMiles2

14. JOANNE MILES:
MESSAGE
Everyone is responsible for TLA
TLA should be 1st on EVERY agenda
More attention needs to be given to reflection and
‘closing the loop’
Management need to support a framework where
TLA development can flourish

15. BUT…..
TLA is already on the agenda!
Whatever the level of debate, whatever level of
engagement, foreground TLA and and use new
strategies and techniques to improve meetings and
staff engagement

16. GEOFF PETTY & JACKIE
ROSSA
Improving the teaching of teaching teams
Here is a flavour…..

17. PETTY & ROSSA
Each team member is to take some responsibility
for TLA in each meeting
Share information PRIOR to meetings, to allow time
for purposeful discussion and thought during the
meeting

18. PETTY AND ROSSA
Guerrilla Staff development - positive and negative
versions of stopping people in the corridor to
discuss a strategy
Peer Observation with a ‘what went well’ focus and
commitment to sharing strategies

19. PETTY AND ROSSA
Pilot and share: ‘I’ve tried to get my students to do
XYZ and look what happened….’
Video teaching - film yourself, watch it back ALONE
to get a student point of view. One day you may
want to share a clip!

20. USEFUL WEBSITES
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/benefits-
spaced-practice-classroom-four-tips-teachers
https://classteaching.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/spacing-and-
interleaving/
http://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2017/7/13-1
https://www.teachthought.com/learning/cognitive-load-theory-
definition-teachers/
https://gregashman.wordpress.com/2017/01/27/cognitive-load-theory-
the-single-most-important-theory-for-teachers-to-know/

21. THE DAY
Department/Team meetings
12.30 LUNCH
1.15 Department/Team meetings
2.45 Tea and coffee replenished in the hall
3.15 TLC meeting in 114 - all welcome