We care passionately for our staff, and place people development at the heart of our offer to them. From a teaching and learning group, to a well-stocked CPD library, there are a wealth of opportunities for all at Iceni Academy which run alongside the incredible offers afforded by the ATT Institute. We are committed to supporting all colleagues develop to be the best that they can be. We work closely with the Trust and colleagues at other ATT academies to share excellent examples of best practice in all of our teams.
On this page, you will find more information about our people development offer.
The Iceni Episodes
At the centre of our approach to improving the standard of teaching and learning across the academy lies a set of core episodes which outline the fundamental expectations we have of our teaching staff. These episodes, briefly summarised here, highlight some of the basic practices we expect to see in lessons to improve student performance and progress, alongside a set of core scripts that we expect to hear in classrooms. We believe it is important to ensure absolute consistency across the academy when it comes to teaching and learning, to ensure our students are receiving the very best education regardless of which lesson they are in.
Our teaching and learning vision and values:
At Iceni Academy, teaching and learning is at the heart of everything we do. In our lessons, staff work exceptionally hard to ensure consistency of routines for students and embed this using our episodes. These are the foundations of all our lessons and the structure of our lessons is formed around them.
Each episode card contains information on relevant tasks, tools for learning and language used around Iceni to ensure consistency, particularly around the use of language in the classrooms.
Rosenshine’s principles of instruction underpin our approach to the teaching episodes and all aspects of teaching and learning that sit within them. Rosenshine’s research focused on learning instruction, teacher performance, and student achievement, identifying the key elements of successful instruction.
Cycles of Improvement
At Iceni, the in-house PD programme takes the form of Cycles of Improvement. These are research-informed and offer a curriculum of professional development aimed at improving pedagogy and deepening knowledge over a series of sessions, focusing on embedding each Iceni episode into every teacher’s classroom practice. Each meeting offers opportunities for staff to share ideas whilst looking at current research and also helps teachers to think about how this can be applied in the classroom. Staff are also encouraged to review their practice through the Iceni Blog of the Week.
Teaching and Learning Group
At Iceni, we have recently launched our Teaching and Learning group, offering staff the chance to think about how we can really improve pedagogy across the academy. Opening up this kind of forum allows staff to talk openly and honestly about their practice whilst also thinking about how they can coach and support others.
Early Career Framework
The Early Career Framework (ECF) sets put what early career teachers are entitled to learn about and learn how to do when they start their careers. It underpins an entitlement of 2 years of professional development designed to help early career teachers develop their practice, knowledge and working habits. At Iceni Academy, early career teachers are supported by a mentor and the induction co-ordinator for the school. Early career teachers (ECTs) are given the opportunity to attend in-house informal support ‘check ins’ on top of the statutory clinics, conferences and Steplab drop ins to ensure they are fully supported and settled. A programme of training is also available for mentors to support the coaching and feedback they will deliver to their ECTs. Iceni partners with Ambition Institute to deliver the ECF.
ATT Institute Offer
The Academy Transformation Trust Institute offers an incredible array of CPD opportunities for all staff at any stage of their career, from NPQs to the SSAT Lead Practitioner Accreditation and the Aspirant System Leaders Programme. For teaching and non-teaching staff, the trust offers community meetings where best practice is shared across all academies. The Institute is also proud to deliver Initial Teacher Training, delivered in partnership with the Ambition Institute. More information about ATTI can be found by following the link below:
Welcome to ATT Institute – Academy Transformation Trust
