Each year our training programme provides opportunities to join with others across the Diocese to learn together with a range of continuing professional development offers. There is typically a wealth of networks, workshops, courses and briefings both remote and face to face. All courses are offered at a significant discount to those who have signed up to our Service Level Agreement ‘Services for Schools’. This will also entitle schools to full access to our website including password protected resources such as our RE scheme of work.
Leadership/Vision
Supporting and empowering school leaders is at the heart of what ODBE exists for. Effective leaders craft a clear and compelling vision for the educational institution they work for. This inclusive Christian vision helps guide the actions and decisions of all leaders in schools and academies. Whatever stage of leadership people are at in school, our selection of leadership training and conferences is designed to develop leaders’ skills and knowledge.
SIAMS
We offer training to provide school leaders, staff, governors and trustees with the knowledge and skills to uphold the Christian vision of their schools and live up to the Church school foundations. Training includes an introduction session to SIAMS for those new to Church school inspections and an in-depth day helping leaders craft the SIAMS self-evaluation document. Expert advisers offer a termly SIAMS surgery to which colleagues can bring questions to explore in a friendly forum.
Collective Worship/Spirituality
Collective worship is the unique heartbeat of a Church school. We are compelled to make collective worship inclusive of all, invitational and inspire pupils and adults to live out their school’s vision.
ODBE’s worship and spirituality training strives to offer those in school communities an opportunity to develop practice in worship and enrich encounters with Christian faith in an inclusive way. We ensure that the language used by those facilitating worship avoids assuming faith in all those participating. A new course from ODBE is designed to support schools in developing their understanding of spirituality and this is woven into the worship workshops and networks offered.
RE
Effective RE makes a significant contribution to pupils' academic and personal development. It also plays a key role in promoting social cohesion and the values of respect and empathy, which are important in our diverse society. The high-quality provision, profile and priority given to RE within schools is paramount to ODBE. Training will develop a confident workforce to deliver excellent RE to children and young people across the diocese.
Governance
The role that governors and trustees have is an instrumental part of the functioning of an effective Church school. We have crafted a comprehensive suite of training which includes The introduction to Governance session, a must for any new governor or trustee at a Church school. Additional governance training covers the roles and responsibilities that governing boards have through the lens of being a Church school or academy. From SIAMS to the role of governors in monitoring the Christian vision, our training is tailored to the needs of the school communities and range of experience on a governing board. Schools signed up to S4S, our service level agreement, are also able to buy Governance+ which enables all governors to attend our governor training at no additional cost.
Contact
For booking queries please email Donna Finlay or your school's ODBE adviser.