North Lanarkshire Council: Learning and Leisure Services

A Guide to the Online Professional Learning Plan & Record on CPD Manager for Teachers In addition to this guide, a set of slides is available providing a visual walkthough. To access the slides, just click Help at the top of the screen after you’ve logged in, then click on user guides, and on Plan and Record walkthrough.

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Getting Started

• To begin, go to: http://northlan.cpdservice.net You will need your login and password for CPD Manager.

• You should also have to hand your GTC Scotland number and password for your MyGTCS account as you will be asked to check and update your registration details. If you haven’t already set up a MyGTCS account you will be asked to do so before starting your Plan.

• The year you allocate to your Plan should be the school year in which you will mostly carry it out. For example, if you have your annual PRD meeting in May 2013, you should allocate 2013/14 as the Plan year even though your meeting took place in session 2012/13.

Professional Learning Plan Select PLAN from the top of the screen. In the My PLANS page you can add new Plans, view Plans, edit the Plan for the current session and future sessions and generate a Word version of any Plan. You will have one PLAN per session. To add a new plan, click on the Add New Plan text.

Before adding the Plan you are invited to visit the GTC Scotland website and check that your details are up-to-date. If required, update them and then return to the site and check the box to confirm I have updated My GTC Scotland details, then select the cross and return to your Plan. Creating a Plan is a 2 step process. Step 1 Select the overview details of the Plan, including the session it applies to, review dates, the name of the reviewer and your Current Professional Intentions. Head Teachers: Please select your main reviewer not your peer reviewer. You can email a copy of your Plan to your peer reviewer once you have saved your Plan as a Word document.

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Step 2 Insert the Title of the Area for Development and then select from the pick list the Area(s) for Development. For each Area for Development you should select the agreed Types of Professional Learning and, for each type, the professional learning activities you plan to undertake. You can select the activities from a list of options or you can add your own choices and provide the details of “other” activities in the text box provided. You should also indicate if these areas for development are: Carried over from last year; Further development from last year; Individual Development Need linked to GTC Standards; Departmental/Faculty or School/Establishment Improvement Plan (Secondary). Now select the Add This Area for Development button. You should continue to add additional areas to your plan. Three or four may be an appropriate number. Once you’ve added all of your development areas for your Plan, Select Finish. This will save your Plan. You can return to the Plan to delete, amend and add additional areas. When you have completed your Plan, you should complete the sign off details at the bottom of the first page. Once your Plan has been signed off by your line manager it is locked and then cannot be edited or deleted. An alert is sent to your line manager inviting them to confirm that your Plan has been signed off. This will have been discussed and agreed at the annual PRD meeting between you and your line manager and this is an opportunity to record the agreed sign off. Once your manager has signed off your Plan you will receive a message confirming this the next time you log on to CPD Manager.

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Record

• Current Session In this section you can record, edit and delete your professional learning activities. If you attend a North Lanarkshire professional learning event, some details will automatically appear on your record and you will be asked to evaluate it. This provides you with an electronic copy of a Record of these activities. Select Record and then Add New Activity

You can enter details about your professional learning activities. Step 1 Enter relevant details about the activity. (An activity template may be available if the school coordinator has set up an activity, for example, during a school in-service day and, if so, the template populates the fields for you.) All fields require to be completed. In the second field you can link the activity to a development area from your Plan, including an option for an activity not in the original plan. When you select an Area for Development you should then select a Professional Learning Activity (from drop down list). Type in a description of the activity and then rate it from the pick list provided. Step 2 This records the date the activity took place. Enter the date of your activity, then select Add Date and then select Finish. If the activity extended over a period of time, please enter the finish date. You can enter further details of dates, if you wish, in the description field of the activity.

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Edit Professional Learning Activity

You can edit and delete an activity which you undertook. Select Record from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Against each activity a number of options are available: Select the magnifying glass icon to view an activity, the pencil/notebook icon to edit an activity and the cross icon to delete an activity.

Select the magnifying glass to view the details entered about the activity. Select the notebook/pencil beside an activity to edit the activity. Select Next to move to Step 2. You can amend the date and then Select Update Date to confirm the change. Select Finish, and the changes will be added to your Record. Changes to your Plan Although you cannot change your Plan once it has been signed off by your manager, it may be the case that you undertake professional learning activities that were not included in your original Plan. You can add such activities by selecting Record, then New Activity and then Area for Development. From the drop down list, select Activity not in original Plan, then give it a title, a brief description and a rating.

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Impact of Plan Towards the end of your PRD year you can add the impact that your Area(s) for Development within your Plan have had on you and your work. Select Plan from the main menu and beside each Session listed the Add

Impact for Areas for Development icon is available against each year: Select the icon and the Area(s) for Development for a Session is listed. For each Area of Development identified select the edit icon and insert the impact that your professional learning activity has had. If required, you can return and amend this comment.

There is also an option to Add Impact for Activities Not in Original Plan. You should record the impact that any new activity has had. To do this, go to Plan, then Add Impact for Activity not in Original Plan, and then enter text to describe its impact. If you undertook more than one new activity that wasn’t in your original Plan, you will need to use a separate line or paragraph for each one in this impact box. There is more information below on recording the impact of your professional learning Complete the relevant details in the text box provided and select Submit to save it The Area for Development Impact is also available from the current version of your Record. Select the text: Add Impact for Areas for Development and this opens the same page.

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Sign Off Record The Sign Off Record option is available from the start of the session that your Record is for. A link to this is available on the Record summary page for that session. Select Record from the Main Menu.

The following icon and text are used to access it: Sign Off Record

When the Sign Off Record link is selected the following options are available: A radio button is available for you to confirm that you’ve completed the additional 35 hours of CPD and a text box is available for optional comments by you (the reviewee). Add comments if you wish and then add your GTCS Professional Update details (see below). An alert is sent to your line manager who may choose to add their comments about your professional learning. Once your manager has signed off your Record, you will receive a message confirming this the next time you log on to CPD Manager. If it is your Professional Update year, the message makes it clear that the manager’s sign off applies not only to the previous year’s Record but also to your Professional Update process. You will have met with your line manager and agreed the Record sign off before you complete the details of this. For Professional Update there are two fields. One asks you to indicate the date of your First or Previous GTCS Update and the other to indicate the date of your Next GTCS Update. If you don’t have these dates, just leave these boxes blank. Then you are asked to indicate whether or not this is your Professional Update year, as allocated by GTC Scotland, by choosing Yes or No. If it is your Professional Update Year please select the Yes option. You are then asked to confirm a statement that

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you’ve engaged in on-going professional development in line with GTCS Professional Standards and that its impact on your professional learning has been discussed with your line manager as part of your Professional Review and Development Process. To confirm this statement, select Yes at the bottom of the page. If it is not your Professional Update year, the statement does not appear. Once this has been completed, select Sign Off. The dates relating to your Professional Update and the confirmation of your activities and discussion of their impact are recorded and then once your reviewer has signed the record, GTCS will automatically receive this confirmation if it is your Professional Update year. Select Current Session from the top of the page and you can view your Record as a Word document or PDF which you could save for your records. Two formats are available: Your Record as a Word document and as a PDF (useful if you don’t have Word).

The dates when your plan and record were signed off are also recorded on the home page of the CPD site.

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Sample Record – Word Document

You can also print your current Plan and Record in one document.

Plan Record

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You can View your Record Sign Off Details by selecting this text beside the magnifying glass icon top right of screen. Here is the Record Sign off page which includes comments by you (the reviewee) and reviewer and if relevant further details about your Professional Update Year.

Previous Sessions Select Record from the top of the screen. In this section you can record, edit and delete the activities from previous sessions if you have recorded them using this site. You will be able to view the activities for a particular session by selecting it from the dropdown.

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You can generate a Word or PDF document of the selected session or you can create a complete record document which will include all activities you have entered from the start of using this site.