From classroom practice to whole-school impact: Adam Patterson on the power of NPQs

Why did you decide to do an NPQ?

"The first NPQ I did with the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) was Leading Behaviour and Culture (NPQLBC). I was asked to cover behaviour, and I thought it’d be really useful to do something external and academic. I saw the NIoT’s advertising and thought it looked like a quality programme. I was looking for something high-level because I’m not new to leadership, but still wanted to learn more.

The fact that it was fully funded was really appealing, what with school budgets being so low. If the government is funding you to do something, you may as well do it."

How was your experience of the programme?

"I’m one of those teacher nerds, but the programme had something for everyone: you could delve deeper into the research if you wanted or look more at its practical application for your particular context.

The in-person sessions were great. The guy leading the course was an Assistant Head who was in charge of behaviour, and he was excellent. I did the programme for self-challenge, and I liked having someone to ask questions. It was great to work with secondary schools too, so you could see how some of the practices we did carried up and carried down. I built great networks on the programme and am still in touch with some of the people I met."

How did you balance it with your existing workload within school?

"I found balancing it fine. There were fixed submission points and in-person events, but everything else you could fit in during self-study time. I’d say I did 1-2 hours a week on my NPQ, so it was easy to fit in.

90% of the teaching staff at our school are doing, or have done, an NPQ. It’s really beneficial to have multiple staff on programmes because they develop a shared language, and life at school is easier when everyone understands the shorthand. When things instantly make sense to people, you get more buy-in, and everyone starts to use the same processes.

Some staff have concerns about workload when they start an NPQ, but those concerns stop after the second term when they realise they can fit the work in and it isn’t as scary as they think. Some people put off applying because they think they don’t have the knowledge or the ability, but then they get on the programme and realise it’s just a way of framing what we already do. As teachers, we don’t get huge amounts of feedback, just the odd observation or Ofsted inspection, so the NPQ gives you confidence that your thinking and your instincts are correct.

We all want to be experts, but with an NPQ we become experts; we sound like experts."

What impact did the NPQs have on you and your school?

"The NPQ opened the doorway to development that carried weight. It’s far more long-term and strategic than a lot of internal training. It’s also far more transferable: it’s good for your career progression as well as your school. If you go to an interview and have it on your CV, it’s impressive. It’s the gold standard of development, and it says this person cares about developing their practice.

As a result of doing the NPQLBC, there’s better and more consistent behaviour management in our school. Following the NPQ, we moved to a more trauma-perceptive model and moved from a system that was punitive to reflective. The NPQ teaches you how to deploy and maintain, and it worked from day one. As a result, behaviour across the school has improved: the children are calmer and happier, and there are fewer parental complaints.

We've since signed up four more teachers for the NPQ. We’re happy to fund the cover rather than spend thousands on training that isn’t government-funded. We’d always rather our staff were developing. If you don’t develop your staff, they’ll go somewhere that does.

I went on to do Leading Primary Maths (NPQLPM), which I’m really enjoying. Once you’re in the habit of doing an NPQ, it’s easy to keep it as part of your job. I already had time set aside in my calendar, so it just made sense to continue. There’s also transferability between the courses because the academic theory behind them is similar: good academic theory works across education.

Our school is one of the top-performing schools in the country, and we achieved that partly through NPQs."

There is only one cohort of NPQs this school year. Scholarship funding is available but limited, so please apply by Sunday, 23 November. Apply now.