It’s easy to be busy in schools. There are always emails to respond to, meetings to prepare for and a never-ending list of priorities that crowd the calendar.
Against that backdrop, it can feel almost justifiable to let personal development slip - after all, the work we’re already doing is professional learning in itself, isn’t it?
For me, CPD has never been something I’ve ignored. I’ve always attended conferences throughout the academic year, and they’ve given me valuable insights that have shaped my practice.
Missing out on CPD opportunities
But when I reflected recently, I realised that it was the shorter, bite-sized opportunities - the one-hour online sessions, the free webinars hosted by education networks - that I was most guilty of overlooking.
Not because I didn’t value them, but because other commitments always seemed more pressing at the time.
The truth is, these sessions are often the most relevant - practical, timely and full of ideas that can have an immediate impact.
Yet I’d let many pass by. And when I looked around, I realised I wasn’t alone.
Our CPD coordinator does an excellent job of flagging high-quality opportunities, often tailored for staff in specific roles. But these messages were landing in inboxes alongside other important messages.
Teachers were saving links to attend “when things calm down”, and, of course, things rarely do.
Building a dashboard
Previously our system for pastoral CPD was fairly ad hoc - I’d share opportunities directly via email or during our weekly meetings, but there was no easy way to see what was available, who had attended or what had come from it.
So I decided to create a new approach that would make engagement easier, more transparent and, ultimately, more impactful.
I built a CPD dashboard - a single shared space that collates all pastoral and safeguarding opportunities from various providers in one place.
It’s hosted on our internal platform (using a simple shared spreadsheet linked to our staff site), organised by date, topic and relevance to different roles. Each session includes a short summary, registration link and notes on why it might be useful.
Rather than simply circulating links, I now assign sessions to staff who I feel would gain the most from them - perhaps because the topic reflects a current issue in their year group or connects to a safeguarding theme they’re exploring.
Sharing insights
It’s not a directive - development has to start from a personal desire to improve - but by matching people with relevant sessions and giving them first refusal, engagement feels purposeful rather than generic.
If the named colleague can’t attend, the session automatically becomes open to others, creating a sense of shared responsibility and opportunity rather than obligation.
The dashboard also includes a section where attendees upload key takeaways and recommendations, allowing others to learn second-hand from each session.
This has created a small but steady ripple effect: CPD no longer ends with the person who attended. It circulates through the team.
Since introducing the system, I’ve noticed a clear difference. Attendance at shorter CPD sessions has increased significantly, and we now have a much clearer record of who’s engaged with what.
More importantly, the discussions in pastoral meetings have deepened - colleagues reference new strategies, tools and ideas from sessions they’ve attended. It’s also made it easier for me to spot gaps and ensure a fair spread of opportunities across the team.
Finding space to grow
Personally, I’ve also benefitted. By curating the list and tracking sessions, I’ve become more intentional about attending them myself. It’s surprising how easily an hour’s time for CPD can appear once you start prioritising it.
As leaders, we all want to be better than we were yesterday - but growth requires space, not just intent. Shifting our focus from the occasional headline event to regular, smaller opportunities ensures that professional development becomes a natural, continuous part of our rhythm rather than an afterthought.
Whether you decide to build a similar dashboard or simply highlight sessions more deliberately, the principle is the same: when CPD becomes visible, accessible and shared, everyone benefits - staff, teams and, ultimately, the students we serve.
Ian Watts is assistant head of secondary (student wellbeing and community) at The International School @ ParkCity, Kuala Lumpur
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