imaginative minds professional learning community service plcm leaflet... · and update, e-learning...

“Absolutely invaluable”Marian Doyle

(Deputy Head – Sacred Heart High School – London)

Support your drive to excellence with:

The best professional practice library available, anywhere

Created by the outstanding thinkers, writers and practitioners in education

Updated by CPD publications that are acclaimed internationally


The best professional practice library


Updated by CPD publications that are
















Imaginative Minds

Professional Learning Community ServiceTurn your staff team into a dynamic learning community!

What is the PLC service?Ofsted, finally, seems to have recognised the importance of professional learning and innovative teaching and learning practice. But in order to keep up with best practice the whole school needs to become a dynamic learning community which is constantly reviewing all aspects of its performance.

The PLC has been designed to support this drive – to create a truly professional learning community in your school every leader and teacher should have access to the best practice models and expertise they need for their role.

Our Professional Learning Community service provides online access for all staff to the acclaimed CPD magazines including School Leadership Today, Leadership Briefing, Creative Teaching & Learning, Professional Development Today, Every Child Journal and Update, E-Learning Update and Learning Spaces.

All staff also get unlimited access to:

Knowledge Banks of tightly focused articles on key themes which can support classroom or whole school initiatives.Weekly information updates on government reports and new education research and educational law.Access to online cross curriculum classroom resources, which are carefully integrated and have a serious pedagogic underpinning.Online and telephone advice by top consultants for school leadership teams on immediate issues affecting their school.

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“The Professional Learning Community allows the AST Team to review the most up-to-date thinking on key aspects of learning and teaching, professional development and leadership. There is no doubt that the articles and case studies have helped us to shape our own support programmes and how to strategically manage them. It is important for ASTs to be leading thinking in their school or authority and a key part of this responsibility is to find out what is happening beyond your context. The Professional Learning Community is a cost effective and valuable way in which to achieve this.”

Angela Moore, AST Co-ordinator, Danum Academy, Doncaster

What do schools say about the PLC?

“Imaginative Minds’ Professional Learning Community service has at its heart a professional development library which is unlike anything else available. It’s a profound and growing database of best practice articles which can support advances in leadership and teaching at every level of the school. It has constantly updated education information, but its real value, in my view, is its orientation towards practice and reflective leadership and teaching. Every school, primary or secondary, seeking to have a dynamic, learning staff team should have the service as a pre-requisite.”

Richard Churches, Principal Consultant, CfBT Education Trust

How do you use the PLC?Subscribing to the Professional Learning Community package is the equivalent of creating, over-night, the most excellent CPD staff library you could wish for.

All your staff gain access to this information and skills base, be they classroom teachers (who are themselves leaders of learning, and managers of TAs), curriculum leaders, heads of year, departmental heads or members of the school leadership team. We will send alerts on the release of new updating publications to nominated key staff, so they can select articles to pass on to individual teachers or groups within the school or even send alerts to all your staff directly.

We will assign your school login details, which will allow all your teachers 24/7 unlimited access from home or school to the publications and newsletters as they are posted.

You can search subjects by key words, browse themed collections called Knowledge Banks, review past editions, or look up your favourite education writers.

Many schools use the articles or Knowledge Banks to launch new projects or to stimulate best practice debates within their department or learning communities. If your school starts a new initiative, like coaching and mentoring, the PLC is a good place to start. If a department wants to adopt a new teaching and learning approach, the PLC is where to go first. If your school wants a new policy on religious education the PLC library will be able to help.

What are Knowledge Banks?Within the library your staff will be able to access special themed collections of articles by renowned experts. They are tightly focused packets of knowledge which can give your leadership team or teachers a rapid, but in-depth briefing about a pedagogy, a strategy, or leadership direction.

Visual Learning Tools – Buzan and CaviglioniPhilosophy for Children – Steve Wiliams and Sue LyleThe Research Led School – Graham HanscombeSystem Leadership – Professor David HopkinsLearner Driven Learning – Chris WatkinsCoaching and Mentoring – Richard ChurchesSchool Fundraising – David PoppittWhat really works in CPD – Sara Bubb & Peter Earley

Coming up: The new Teaching Standards and Performance Management Framework.School Self Evaluation in the new environment.New Knowledge Banks are published at least twice a month and can be accessed by PLC subscribers.

Leadership ResourcesManager’s Briefcase – Information and Practical Leadership Resources. In the archive there is a vast array of pre-developed proformas, questionnaires, implementation guides and policy documents so that you do not have to re-invent the wheel in your school. It’s a highly acclaimed resource currently used by thousands of school leaders. Some Briefcase entries are:

Complaints proceduresConfiscation policyConfiscation recordsSafeguarding training guideEvery Child Matters checklistSafer recruitmentLearning outside the classroomInformation literacy policyTracking and monitoring pupil progress

Leadership Briefing: Each week we will send you a briefing bulletin which will alert you to new government reports and guidance and education research reports, professionally summarised with links to the reports themselves. It also carries important legal briefings from top education lawyers.

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“I have just completed an MBA in Educational Leadership at the Institute of Education. Throughout this course I regularly used articles from the Professional Learning Community to inspire my research as well as adding to my knowledge on particular topics.

The variety of articles in the publications ensures that it covers the interests and needs of everyone involved in education. I would recommend this resource to every senior leadership team in schools.”

Desi McKeown, Assistant Head Teacher at The Deanes School, Benfleet, Essex

“I give our curriculum leaders an article from Creative Teaching and Learning magazine when we meet every fortnight and use it as a basis for discussion. There are always articles that are thought provoking or inspiring. It’s a great resource.”

Andy O’Brian, Deputy Head, Accrington Academy, speaking to a conference of Creative Partnerships schools.

As one Deputy Head from Santamu Academy in Hull said when shown the power of the library: “It would have taken me three days to develop a Religious Moral and Social education policy across the curriculum. The library will save me three days work on this alone!”

How can the PLC help you respond to Ofsted?

Over the next 12 months we think the service will become more critical. In all four key areas of priority under the new Ofsted Framework there will be in-depth guidance and case studies.

Leadership: Preparing for Ofsted is a critical issue. In School Leadership Today we have some advice from Heads who have just been through inspections using the new criteria. Less defensively, we have articles from Andrew Hargreaves and Michael Fullan on their latest research into school improvement.

Teaching and Learning: This is one of the ‘raising-the-bar’ priorities of Ofsted with inspection teams required to look at learning quality and reducing teacher-performance grades unless there is evidence of engagement, progress, challenge and independence. This is where Creative Teaching and Learning lives, and we have published Knowledge Banks and exciting articles on new approaches to teaching maths, questioning skills, information management and strategies for gifted and talented.

Child Protection: This is another key priority for Ofsted. In Every Child Journal and Update we look at the Well-being Index, the future of safeguarding in schools, how safeguarding hubs are sharing information and intelligence across agencies and how children from very deprived communities are being supported.

Behaviour: Low level disruptive behaviour is emerging as one of the key ‘mark-down’ issues in inspections, according to reports being received by School Leadership Today. In order to prevent inspectors picking up mistaken impressions, schools need to have accurate data and school wide behaviour plans. In School Leadership Today we have articles on data-driven interventions on behaviour and in Every Child Journal we have good practice articles on peer-led anti-bully strategies and restorative justice.

Alternatively, return completed form to: Imaginative Minds, 309 Scott House, Gibb Street, Birmingham B9 4AA

For Libraries, Universities & Trade orders please telephone 0121 224 7578 as different prices apply.

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Package includes Whole School Licence Price Tick

Primary Schools £475.00 +VAT

Secondary Schools £600.00 +VAT

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New Services Curriculum Resource BankWe have just launched a new Curriculum Resource Bank to support our mission to make lessons more exciting and creative.

The Resource Bank consists of Cross Curriculum projects which are well thought out, integrated, and have a strong underlying pedagogy. They are an extra charge to Non PLC subscribers but will be free to you. New projects, issued bi-monthly, will generally be for KS2-KS4 and will cover:

Light and Dark, Conservation, Minibeasts, The Oceans, Who Is Running The Country?, Contemporary Slavery, River Child...a Muslim Child in Africa, Arctic Stories, The Sinking of the Titanic, Thinking Through Art, Maths Crosswords, Science Crosswords and Start Thinking.

We estimate the value of these to be in the region of £300 a year if bought as products from our catalogue, but they will be free to PLC subscribers.

Advice and Research ServiceFrom September, if you cannot find the information you need in Leadership Briefing, or our best practice library we will be offering an advice and research service to support schools with any questions they might have about school policies, the curriculum, personnel issues, including legal matters to do with staff, and pupil disciplinary issues, behaviour management, safeguarding, the building, Ofsted and current government regulatory guidance.

The service will be staffed by top consultants from the Society of Education Consultants and will initially be by email. But you can request a telephone conversation after this. Your contact will be direct with the consultant after the initial enquiry.

Is there a better way to spend your CPD budget?

imaginative minds professional learning community service plcm leaflet... · and update, e-learning...

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