At King’s Group Academies, we aim to offer exceptional professional development to all our employees.  Being part of a multi-academy trust means that there are plentiful opportunities to experience different roles, phases and schools.  As a trust, we offer training and development opportunities that nurture talent and help colleagues grow and develop in their career.

 

KGA Early Career Programme

Being an ECT, in both year one and year two, is an exciting time. King’s Group Academies has designed its own programme for our ECTs, ensuring that your training is bespoke to you and your context. 

The Early Career Programme (ECP) is a multi-faceted offering of professional development spanning the first two years of your teaching career.  The course will be delivered through the three main elements of self-study, regular mentoring and in-person training. 

 

KGA Early Career Mentoring Programme

A good mentor is critical in supporting ECTs in developing their expertise as a teacher.  The KGA ECM Programme ensures that all mentors have access to high-quality training and support to ensure that they have the tools and skills to support ECTs grow into highly effective practitioners.

 

Individual needs-based CPD at every academy

Each KGA academy has its own programme of professional development to achieve whole school priorities and offer bespoke CPD based on their individual contexts.  All colleagues can expect to receive regular training and development opportunities and the appraisal process provides further opportunity to discuss individual professional development needs throughout the year.

 

KGA Trust-wide Teaching and Learning CPD

King’s Group Academies is committed to ensuring that all staff are able to access high-quality, transformative and relevant professional development so that learning, teaching and outcomes are improved for the young people in our care.  

Our KGA trust-wide CPD consists of professional development and training that is relevant across the Trust, regardless of individual school or phase.  The professional development opportunities are selected in response to the teaching and learning priorities of each academy and based on the needs highlighted by the developmental drop-ins regarding the quality of learning and teaching. 

 

KGA Trust-wide Aspiring Leadership CPD

The trust-wide Aspiring Leadership CPD enables participants to develop their leadership knowledge and expertise to improve outcomes across our school communities.  It is an opportunity to develop leadership competencies and learn from other experienced and effective leaders within the trust.  

Subject and Phase Communities 

KGA Subject Communities enable Subject and Phase Leaders from across all our schools to collaborate on curriculum design, share best practice and access high-quality subject-specific CPD.

 

National Professional Qualifications 

The National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are Department for Education accredited qualifications for teachers and school leaders. They are designed to develop knowledge and skills in schools by providing evidence-informed professional development on what teachers and school leaders need to know to build their expertise.

There are two types of NPQs: specialist and leadership. Specialist NPQs aim to develop expertise in specialist areas of teaching practice, such as behaviour or literacy.  Leadership NPQs aim to develop expertise in school leadership.

The early career framework sets out what early career teachers are entitled to learn about and learn how to do when they start their careers. It underpins the entitlement of new entrants to the teaching profession in terms of two years of professional development, designed to help early career teachers develop their practice, knowledge, skills and working habits.

It provides Early Career Teachers with excellent grounding and training opportunities to ensure that they develop as expert practitioners whilst supporting mentors in becoming highly effective instructional coaches.

The KGA Institute has a comprehensive and innovative training offer for Early Career Teachers and their mentors for the full two-year programme.

Coming soon....a podcast from our ECT Director, Louisa Perkins, regarding the ECT Programme at King's Group Academies.

The National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are a suite of DfE accredited qualifications for school leaders, designed to support professional development and help school leaders and teachers become more effective in their practice.

Currently, KGA leaders facilitate the NPQLT and the NPQSL which are hosted at King's Academy Prospect.

Further information on the NPQs is available on the Best Practice Network website.

KGA colleagues interested in completing a NPQ should speak to their line manager in the first instance.

 

For the Academic Year 2025/26, we are running four Aspiring Leadership programmes:

 

Aspiring Leadership: Primary Curriculum
Aspiring Leadership: Secondary Curriculum
Aspiring Leadership: Pastoral Leadership
Aspiring Leadership: Senior Leadership

These courses are led by senior colleagues from King's Group Academies, all of whom have significant experience of leading successful primary, secondary and all-through schools.  

The Aspiring Leadership programmes are suitable for any colleague who is considering leadership with the Trust.

Further details can be found in the KGA CPD Offer Booklet.

In addition, you can find out more about leadership development by looking at the Leadership NPQs brochure.

At King's Group Academies, we believe that teaching and learning is of the utmost importance.  Every pupil deserves the very best teaching, in every lesson, every day.  This expert teaching comes from our skilled and passionate staff, who deserve the very best research-rich continuing professional development opportunities.

Professional development is at the core of everything we do.  All teaching staff receive personalised, instructional coaching to develop their teaching through our programme of Development Drop-Ins (DDIs) and WalkThrus.  All staff have access to a wide range of CPD within individual schools and across the multi-academy trust.

We believe that cross-trust collaboration is crucial in ensuring that expertise is shared widely across our family of academies so that our pupils are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and qualities to secure opportunity and success on a global stage.

For more information about teaching and learning at King's Group Academies, please visit our website.

Welcome to the Research section of the KGA Institute.  

We are currently developing the work of the Research Consortium with a view to providing a wealth of resources related to action research, self-directed learning and the key findings that emerge from our commitment to evidence-based practice. 

We believe that continuous improvement is essential to providing the best possible education for our students, and the Research Consortium aims to highlight the innovative approaches our staff are taking to enhance teaching and learning through a research-focused lens.

In time, from this section of the KGA Institute, you will be able to explore the various projects and initiatives which represent a diverse range of subjects and pedagogical approaches.  The Research Consortium encourages the members of our learning community to discover best practice, learn from the research experiences of colleagues across the Trust and engage with the ongoing research that informs our strategic vision and underpins our pursuit of excellence in KGA.  

We encourage you to delve into these resources, contribute to the ongoing dialogue, and utilise the findings to further enrich your own professional practice.  This platform serves as a testament to our dedication to collaborative enquiry and the power of shared knowledge within the King's Group Academies community.

For further information regarding the development of the KGA Research Consortium please contact Dr Nigel Matthias (nmatthias@kgalordwilson.uk) or Chris Harvey (chris.harvey@kingsacademies.uk)