ACADEMIC PLANNER

The academic planner outlining all meetings is available to download below. Staff are expected to attend the relevant published meetings outlined on this calendar.

Excel – Academic Year Planner 2022-23_v7

PDF – Academic Year Planner 2022-23_v7

A3 printed copies can be collected in September from reprographics. Please be aware sometimes the odd thing changes throughout the year and it is the online version which is updated – this can be accessed on your iPad Calendar app. There are 6 main calendars – staff, student, trips, CPD, exams and school holidays. If any of them are missing and you can’t turn them on then please see IT.

Our aim is to preserve Friday as a meeting free day.  Meetings should be purposeful and short! A good rule is to aim to finish by 5pm at the very latest.  They should not, however, take place for the sake of it so if you don’t need to meet then please cancel.  All meetings must have Learning and Teaching as the main focus of the agenda; otherwise we can get bogged down in administration and lose sight of why we are here!

COLLABORATION FOR MASTERY AFTERNOONS (CfM)

We have 5 CfM events scheduled throughout the year when the students will go home at 1.45-1.50pm so that departments can meet together from 2-5pm (dates on academic planner). The students in exam year groups should beset independent work for the period 6 and 7 lessons that they were due to have.

This ‘Collaboration for Mastery’ time, will be used specifically for the development of subject pedagogy and practice so that as a school we can better realise our vision for learning. All this time will be directed by the Curriculum Leader (CLs are the HODs of old!) based on their curriculum action plan. It is expected that all members of staff working on those days, will attend the meetings. Please see James or Anna personally if you wish to miss a collaboration for mastery for exceptional circumstances.  

DEPARTMENT MEETINGS (DM)

Department meetings dates/times are not scheduled centrally.  This is to allow CLs to schedule their meetings as and when is most appropriate for their team. We have regularly scheduled Collaboration for Mastery afternoons which may mean that additional department meetings are only necessary at time when additional administrative tasks are required. As a minimum we expect the whole department to meeting once per half term. Please get the dates directly from your CL so that you can put them in your diary straight away so that you can attend.

STAFF MEETINGS (SM)

This takes place once every half-term.  All teaching staff are expected to attend despite other commitments.  All support staff are also invited.   Please see James personally if you wish to miss a staff meeting for exceptional circumstances.  However, dates are published in advance so please make arrangements to ensure you can attend.  Staff meetings are led by Emily Cavell and learning and teaching will be the main focus of all staff meetings. There will be 30 minutes of ‘input’ all together followed by 45 minutes of time as a department to undertake set activities and discussions following on from the input.

YEAR MEETINGS (YM)

These take place once per half term. All form tutors are expected to attend these meetings despite other commitments. The meetings are led by the Head of Year.

INSET DAYS

Throughout the duration of the year there will be a number of days set aside for staff INSET days both internally and across Xavier CET.   Some of this time is spent as a whole staff where we may have an external speaker or alternatively colleagues present key strategies in relation to our school priorities.  You will also have valuable time working within your own department.

LEARNING GROUP (LG)

This takes place once per half term. Staff from across all departments, as well as the MAT, meet to share L&T ideas in relation to our school priorities. Staff at Learning Group also support research projects that are undertaken and support in trialling out ideas/ strategies before they are shared on INSET days or in staff meetings. Everyone is welcome to come along; please speak to Emily Cavell for further information.

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING TEAM (CLTs)

There are 3 CLTs that meet regularly each term to explore 3 specific aspects of learning and teaching identified as areas for whole school improvement. These teams are research driven, discussion based and staff within them trial strategies that arise from this. These are then disseminated through staff meetings and INSET.

This year (2022-23) the foci are:

• Sixth Form CLT – Feedback – Getting students to respond to feedback effectively
• 4C CLT – Disciplinary Literacy – Reading for pleasure & explicit vocabulary instruction
• Mastery CLT – Oracy and classroom talk

Everyone is welcome to join at any time during the year, please speak to Emily Cavell for further information.