Ogden CPD journey
Published: 18 November 2020
“We want to support, empower and celebrate teachers at every stage of their career. Retention of physics teachers is a significant challenge and we hope our partnership CPD will help nurture and support teachers, giving them the knowledge, confidence and resources to deliver inspiring practical physics from primary school onwards.”
Wendy Cox, Head of Education, The Ogden Trust
Ogden partnerships are underpinned by a comprehensive programme of CPD and support from Early Year Foundation Stage through to secondary school physics. The programme has been developed to help improve the teaching and learning of physics; empowering teachers so they can inspire their students to take physics further.
You can download a pdf overview of the Ogden CPD provision for 2021/22 here
For partnerships that include primary and secondary schools, the CPD provision begins in Early Years Foundation Stage with a half-day Science Talk session. This programme was devised to work with the youngest learners as they discover more about the world. The activities in Science Talk encourage children to be curious, observe the world, ask questions and begin to develop their own scientific ideas.
“One of the first things that really resonated was how the Science Talk session chimed so well with our focus as a group of schools on supporting children to develop a growth mindset, to collaborate, question and become resilient learners. The session showed how practical science fuels young children’s curiosity and how teachers can develop thinking and vocabulary through these activities. Teachers really enjoyed that they had opportunities to get practical!”
Jenny Smith
Partnership Co-ordinator, London Brixton Partnership
The Ogden Phizzi CPD programme is now well-established. The four-year cycle covers each of the main areas of the physics curriculum in Key Stage 2: Earth & space; light & sound; electricity; and forces. It addresses common misconceptions and provides a comprehensive teacher guide of 10 investigations for each area together with the resources needed to support scientific enquiry. Ogden Phizzi CPD encourages and facilitates purposeful, practical science in the primary classroom. Over the four-year cycle, partnership schools receive resources to the value of more than £1,200.
The Phizzi CPD programme is further enhanced by Phizzi Forward in year five of a partnership. Phizzi Forward provides an opportunity for schools to consolidate and review how the Phizzi CPD is being implemented, how the resources are being used and how teaching and learning has improved. A further Phizzi Future programme is available for teachers wishing to develop their science subject leadership.
Primary teachers wishing to develop a science subject specialism also have the opportunity to take part in an in-depth CPD residential at CERN, although only limited places are available. ‘Playing with Protons UK’ seeks to develop participants subject knowledge and confidence and help them develop creative approaches to encourage primary students to engage effectively in physics, discovery and innovation.
The extensive programme of primary CPD has helped to inspire a generation of young scientists. We want to ensure that this enthusiasm and knowledge is not lost at KS3 which is often taught by non-specialist teachers and with limited knowledge of what has already been covered in primary schools.
With this consideration in mind, the Trust has developed a KS3 physics CPD programme to support non-specialist teachers. Termly-twilight CPD sessions will cover the topics of forces, waves and electricity to ensure progression in KS3 physics. The sessions will provide engaging and challenging classroom approaches, and each topic will include a supporting box of resources so that teachers can easily take the new ideas into the classroom.
Alongside this, we are now offering RQTs and NQTs at first year partnerships a programme of coaching and mentoring to give them the ‘wow’ and the ‘how’ when it comes to delivering physics. This programme will comprise six half-termly sessions delivered to small peer groups by regional mentors; each session will include a topic-based element covering misconceptions, challenges and classroom suggestions. The topics covered will include: Earth & space; light; sound; forces; energy; and electricity. Time for reflection, questions and planning will be built into each session to ensure teachers can take their new learning straight to the KS3 and KS4 classroom.
“I really enjoyed the sessions yesterday and I finished the call ‘buzzing’. It has been a long, hard half term full of difficulties and doubts. To have people acknowledge it is hard and to offer so much help is absolutely brilliant. It is good to see different ways to demonstrate concepts and to be given ways to tackle misconceptions. Today at College I have felt calmer than I have for a few weeks, knowing that yes, I am doing a good job, and yes, I can teach.”
Gavin Hopley
Exeter College
(participant on RQT/NQT coaching and mentoring)
For any teachers that have been involved with an Ogden partnership (or other Ogden programmes), they can access ongoing support and opportunities as part of the Teacher Network. This network provides professional development experiences for teachers of physics at all levels, including transformational trips aimed at inspiring teachers; and funding and scholarships for subject knowledge courses, high-level extension courses and education research opportunities. An annual conference will bring the Teacher Network together to share practice, ideas and the latest thinking in education research and evaluation.
“We want to support, empower and celebrate teachers at every stage of their career,” says Wendy Cox, Head of Education. “Retention of physics teachers is a significant challenge and we hope our partnership CPD and Teacher Network will nurture and support teachers during their career, giving them the knowledge, confidence and resources to deliver inspiring practical physics from primary school onwards.”
Looking to form a school partnership in your area? Applications open annually between September and February. Find our more on our partnership pages.