HFCMAT Subject Lead Network Group
CPD Offer for Languages
This CPD series is available to staff from across the Holy Family trust free of charge and £100+VAT for those working in schools outside of the trust.
This series of professional development sessions is designed to support language teaching and leadership across the academic year, offering tailored guidance and resources for subject leaders. Each session builds on the previous one, fostering collaboration and reflection to improve language education.
Date & Time: 12th November – 15:00 – 17:00
Location: Virtual
Session 1 will cover the latest resources, updates, and news to support the ongoing development of effective languages teaching and leadership. Strategies for new initiatives will be shared, along with tailored elements requested by subject leaders. Sessions include sharing good practice, where leaders discuss and reflect on initiatives they’ve implemented and their impacts and overcome common challenges in the languages classroom.
Date & Time: 4th February 2025 – 15:00 – 17:00
Location: Virtual
Session 2 will evaluate the impact of actions from the previous term, share good practice across languages and phases, and focus on bespoke elements requested at the last meeting but looking forward to transition and building community with a languages focus as well as (the new) GCSE.
Date & Time: 15th May 2025 – 15:00 – 17:00
Location: Maritime Hub, Birkenhead
The final session will be face to face and will address bespoke elements from the Spring Term, with a focus on curriculum and resource review, planning ahead but in doing so identifying successful initiatives and how to embed this. We will revisit transition to support all colleagues and build community moving forward.
Crista has been a Head of languages, Head of Year and Assistant Headteacher teaching in a range of secondary schools for over 20 years and has been in Leadership for 19. She has worked across the UK and internationally with students, teachers and school leaders developing teaching, learning, relationships and behaviour.
She is an MFL specialist and specialist leader in education (SLE) for MFL known for seeking out new and innovative teaching and learning strategies which engage learners in their own learning journeys to help them become confident, inquisitive, happy and successful lifelong learners who can successfully navigate their way through challenges in school, education and beyond. She works with teachers supporting them (through training and support) looking how best to increase engagement, motivation and the opinion of languages, helping teachers to create engaging, relevant and memorable deep learning experiences which evokes her deep passion of creativity. And whilst in the classroom Crista would use film, music and drama in the languages lessons to deeply engage learners but also to motivate and enthuse them in Languages. High levels of motivation and engagement from learners across a range of key stages ensued which resulted in happy language learning, happy teachers and departments.
Crista’s work has been published in educational books; There Is Another Way and The Working Class, magazines; Teachwire and Languages Today. Her first book Independent Thinking on MFL – how to make modern foreign languages teaching exciting, inclusive and relevant is available now and reached the final of the BESA Education Resource Awards 2021.
Course Details
Duration: 6 Hours
Sessions:
Date & Time: 12th November – 15:00 – 17:00
Location: Virtual
Date & Time: 4th January 2025 – 15:00 – 17:00
Location: Virtual