The Highly Effective Teacher

Our Trust is known for imbuing in our learners, positive character traits and enquiring minds and for the talent and professionalism of our staff.

The Highly Effective Teacher Programme is exclusive to our Trust and springs from our Tame River Talent Strategy. It is a professional development training programme in our Professional Development Pathway, which builds on our Gold Standard Programme.

It is a one-year Training Programme covering 48 hours of content and practice and is designed according to research, not only into highly effective teaching but also into what makes for the best form of professional development for ‘teacher improvement’.

Our training design (as found by Kennedy, 2016) is divided into four complementary approaches: prescription; strategies; insight and knowledge. Our aim is to support our effective teachers to think and act differently.

Our Highly Effective Programme gives our teachers time for deliberate practice in their subject specialism with oversight from a skilled Instructional Coach, where the teacher is able to practise what they have learned, receiving non-judgemental feedback and modification from a trusted practitioner. This process allows the highly effective teacher to gain insights as they receive instructional coaching.

The 48 hours of training in the year is divided into:

10 hours	Two conferences per year in the school calendar, at the start and end of the course;
6 hours	Regular face-to-face training
12 hours	Digital training
12 hours	Instructional Coaching with in-class practice, observation and feedback from an expert
8 hours	Reading Research, chosen and curated specifically for you.

Schools select those teachers eligible to undertake the Trust’s Highly Effective Programme. Such staff will already have been spotted for their talent as part of our Trust Talent HR Strategy.

Rachel Fernandez-Arias – HETP Instructional Coach and Facilitator

In theory, to coach others enhances their practice. However, through the HETP, being an Instructional Coach for the past 2 cohorts has developed my own teaching immensely as well. What is so unique about the HETP is that, having gained considerable mastery of many elements of The Gold Standard, participants are able to approach pedagogy and engage with research in profoundly deep ways. The impact this will have on our students’ education cannot be underestimated. Furthermore, as the HETP works so seamlessly across the Trust, the impact on students’ lives across Tameside is and will continue to be substantial.