In this course, Matt Bromley explores the importance of teachers and the quality of their teaching on student outcomes.  He shares some of the habits adopted by effective teachers, defines the complex process of ‘learning’, and explains the difference between ‘performance’ and ‘learning’.  He then sets out his three steps to long-term learning that can help teachers to plan and deliver effective lessons and help students to ensure that what they learn today, they can remember and apply tomorrow.      As well as being useful for individual CPD for teachers, this course could form the basis of whole-school INSET. 

Supply teaching, NQTs, trainees, cover supervisors, Covid19 lockdown rotas and ‘oh, Sue’s away – can you just cover her year 9s period 4?’…throughout our teaching careers there are many times that we will be required to cover classes and teach lessons that we may have had little or no time to prepare for. This course gives you an overview and practical solutions to establishing relationships with pupils when you might only have 47 mins with 34 of them.

During this course, Pooky summarises a simple, evidence-based approach to promoting resilience in the face of adversity.  You’ll learn about the evidence underpinning the approach and how the 4Ps of parents, peers, problem-solving and passion can be used as a framework for promoting resilience in the children in your care using a very simple action planning template which focuses on both risk and protective factors. This course has been developed by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, an internationally recognised mental health expert and author. The content is based on a paper commissioned by Health Education England and Young Minds as part of the ‘Addressing Adversity’ project.  Pooky has run workshops on the 4Ps approach across the UK and internationally and this simple, evidence based approach has provided a practical focus colleagues from across a wide range of settings.

This is a course for anyone who is working with pupils with autistic tendencies or diagnosis. Following on from our ‘Spot and Support Autism’, we take a more in depth look at how being on the Autistic Spectrum can affect attainment in school. We will unpick the triad of impairment; the 3 core areas that help define ASC and develop our understanding of how a child may be operating within these. From here we can unpick the areas of the English curriculum which present the most challenges. Most importantly we’ll look at what practically we can do to support our pupils navigate what can often be a very difficult, confusing and unfulfilling journey. 

In this course, Matt Bromley defines metacognition and self-regulation and explains what it looks like in the classroom.  He also walks you through six practical teaching strategies you could adopt in the classroom to help teach, model and promote your students’ metacognition and self-regulation skills. As well as being useful for individual CPD, this course could also form the basis of group discussions or training in-school, perhaps as part of a teacher learning community or lesson study project.

This is a course for anyone new to Autism and wanting to find out more about it. It aims to give you the basics so that you can start to identify pupils who may be displaying traits and work with those pupils to support their needs. We’ll therefore give you advice and simple ideas you can put into practice straight away and approaches to adapt and trial. It may be that the pupil needs further support so we’ll talk about what other avenues you may want to pursue. Great for teachers new to the profession, support staff or anyone wanting to check their understanding and support pupils to have the best possible outcomes.

Eating disorders are really hard to understand and can leave us very worried about doing and saying the wrong thing, fearful that we’ll make things worse. Consequently, many people do not try to help at all. In this course I’ve tried to help you build your current strengths and understanding to give you some ideas about how to support a child or young person with an eating disorder even though you’re not an expert. You won’t get it right all the time, none of us do… but these simple ideas will build your confidence and enable you to make a difference to any child you are working with or caring for regardless of your role and experience.

Wellbeing action plans are an evidence-based approach to promoting wellbeing.  They can be used by children or adults and give a clear, simple framework for staying well. This course gives you an overview of the different elements of a wellbeing action plan and some clear pointers for developing an effective plan.  The framework provided can help to clarify your thoughts and actions whether it’s your own wellbeing that you’re looking to promote or if you’re supporting a pupil or colleague.  The process of writing the plan is every bit as important as actually implementing it and this is especially true when it comes to planning ahead for the holidays with more vulnerable pupils. This course is suitable for anyone interested in developing a wellbeing action plan for themselves or in supporting a child or adult to write one. The course has been developed and delivered by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, a mental health expert who has supported hundreds of adults and children to develop wellbeing action plans through workshops and also through her book “The Mentally Health Schools Workbook” which has an entire chapter dedicated to supporting staff to develop wellbeing action plans.

In this course you will learn about the characteristics of Pathological Demand Avoidance - PDA, a profile of the autism spectrum. Children who present as demand avoidant will also have high levels of anxiety, making everyday tasks seem overwhelming to them and result in refusing, withdrawing or shutting down to avoid doing things.  This can be very challenging in a school environment and can often be overlooked or misinterpreted. We will look at all the ways that a child may present with PDA and how to spot the triggers alongside strategies to help support these children. While autism approaches may be helpful for addressing sensory issues we will also look at the flexible and collaborative approaches that are needed for the child who is demand avoidant.  This course will help you to learn new creative strategies and knowledge to support the child in school as well as enabling the child to feel understood and supported through their time in education. This course is for anyone who would like to gain greater knowledge of PDA and be better equipped to support the child in feeling able to engage with their environment and learning.

In this course, which is the first of three courses on the subject of effective differentiation, Matt Bromley explores some possible dangers of traditional approaches to differentiation and advocates ‘teaching to the top’ for all pupils.  He explains what this might look like in practice, including through the adoption of a mastery learning model.    

As well as being useful for individual CPD for teachers, this course could form the basis of in-school departmental training.   

This course has been developed by Matt Bromley who has over twenty years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as headteacher, principal and MAT director of education.  He is an experienced teacher of English and successful former head of department.  He is now a school improvement advisor, teacher-trainer and public speaker.  He regularly speaks at national and international conferences, and he is a regular contributor to a number of education magazines including TES and SecEd.  He is the author of a number of books on education including How to Learn and School & College Curriculum Design.  

When a friend, colleague or member of your community is bereaved, it can be difficult to know what to say or do.  In this course, I walk through some simple ideas to give you confidence in providing the right kind and amount of support to an adult who is grieving.

In this course, which is the third of three courses on the subject of behaviour management, Matt Bromley shares ten top tips for managing behaviour, shares three principles to guide your behaviour management approaches, and articulates the importance of developing a presence in the classroom to exude authority and control. As well as being useful for individual CPD for teachers, this course could form the basis of whole-school training or 121 coaching.

In this course, which is the second of three courses on the subject of effective differentiation, Matt Bromley explores the importance of lowering the threat level in our classrooms so that all pupils can accept the challenge of hard work and achieve.  He shares five strategies for engendering the growth mindset in our classrooms and explains the importance of high expectations.  He shares two practical strategies for identifying pupils’ ‘struggle zones’ so that work is pitched appropriately, and he analyses some of the most common methods of in-class differentiation. As well as being useful for individual CPD for teachers, this course could form the basis of in-school departmental training.

Safety is a theme that I return to again and again in my work whether it’s about taking a trauma informed approach, enabling children with special needs to thrive or simply about creating an environment in which every child can flourish.  One of the most basic needs that must be met for every child is a feeling of safety and in this course I pick that apart and go beyond the built environment, exploring how we can enable a child to feel safe physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively. The course is suitable for anyone working with or caring for children and young people and requires no specialist knowledge.

This course is based upon 4 ‘P’ principles which enable children (and teachers) to find fulfilment in their working day. Born out of personal experience, it builds a framework for classroom learning in which children and teachers are able to explore their potential in a mutually supportive and positive environment. Developed within primary schools (although with the potential for secondary application), these principles can change the atmosphere of learning for everyone.

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In this course, which is the second of three courses on the subject of behaviour management, Matt Bromley talks about the importance of motivation and engagement as a means of preventing poor behaviour. As well as being useful for individual CPD for teachers, this course could form the basis of whole-school training or one to one coaching.

This course provides an accessible introduction to anxiety and provides useful pointers for any adult supporting a child with anxiety.  Common misunderstandings and misconceptions are addressed, we consider some potential pitfalls to avoid and we explore a range of simple, practical ideas for supporting anxious children.

Life can be pretty challenging for autistic children as they try to fit within a world that doesn’t always make sense to them on terms that don’t quite work for them.  Sometimes, anxiety, anger or sheer exhaustion can bubble over and result in challenging behaviour which is distressing both for the child and the adults supporting them.  There is a lot that we can do to change the environment rather than the child, but this course focuses in on how we can support autistic children to recognise and regulate how they’re feeling, to give them the best chance of managing alongside their peers because maybe the whole world needs to change, but until that happens, these simple ideas can change how the world feels for the child you’re supporting.

This course is suitable for any adult working with or caring for an autistic child or, to be honest, any child.  As with so much of the work we do for children special needs, these ideas are widely applicable and will do good (and certainly no harm) for any child but will do especial good with children who are (or might be) autistic.