There’s an awful lot to fit into the start of the school year.
The Autumn term is one of the busiest times for any school staff. New teachers and support staff need inductions, existing teams need training updates, and everyone needs time to get familiar with the policies and procedures that have changed and affect their work.
It’s easy to view training as just another thing to ‘get through’ before the term picks up pace. All you have to do is send out the handbook, assign the courses, and then chase the certificates, right? Tick. The spreadsheet starts turning green, but how much will people remember when they need it?
Read this blog to learn:
I spent over seven years leading operations and health and safety across an eight-site primary MAT and an infant and junior federation. Believe me, I know how tricky it can be to give training the proper attention it needs when there are so many other demands on the school day.
I also know that asking someone to complete a course doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve understood it. If the material feels irrelevant or takes too long to get to the point, people may focus on finishing rather than learning.
For school teams, that matters a lot. Staff need to know how to put their training into practice, whether they’re responding to a concern, checking equipment, or keeping an evacuation route clear.
Three problems come up frequently. But don’t worry, I’ll tell you what you can do about them shortly.
A long presentation can cover everything you want staff to know without giving them much chance to absorb it. We think carefully about how we explain things to pupils, how much information we introduce and whether they’ve understood it. Surely staff training deserves the same care?
If a course is full of policy wording and examples that have little resemblance to school life, people have to work harder to see how it relates to their job. A caretaker, teaching assistant and lab technician may need some of the same knowledge, but they’ll use it in different situations.
Training records are useful. You need to know who’s completed a course, and who needs a little nudge.
But a certificate alone won’t tell you whether someone knows what to do if they discover a fire, encounter an unfamiliar visitor or find a chemical spill. Staff also need to understand the school’s procedures, the limits of their role, and who to contact for help.
A completed course is just a starting point. Conversations, practical demonstrations and opportunities to ask questions help you check whether the learning has sunk in.
Across a trust, even finding out who has done what can become a job in itself. One school has a spreadsheet, another keeps certificates in a shared folder, and someone else has put all the updates into an email. Before a board meeting or inspection, the central team has to piece it all together.
That’s time school business leaders and site teams could spend on the work the training is there to support.
So, what can you do to help your team tackle these challenges? Here are my top tips:
Staff bring experience, habits, and plenty of other things to every training session. They might be planning their next lesson, dealing with a pastoral concern, or trying to get a contractor on site. Training needs to recognise that. At iAM Academy, we propose three useful ways to approach it.
The real value of training shows up in everyday decisions. That might mean:
These are useful things to talk about in team meetings. Has someone spotted a problem early? Is there a procedure people are unsure about? Does a recurring issue suggest that staff need a refresher or a clearer explanation?
Those conversations help you understand what people have taken from their training and where they still need support. They also make it easier for staff to raise concerns without feeling they should already know every answer.
Staff need clear guidance, and trust leaders need a reliable picture of training across their schools.
A shared learning management system can bring records together, helping teams see who has completed assigned learning, where training is still outstanding, and when refreshers are due. That makes it easier to follow up with the right people and plan ahead.
It also means less precious time wasted gathering records from individual school offices when governors, trustees or auditors need that information.
Those records should sit alongside other checks on how staff apply what they learn. They provide evidence of completed training, while practical checks and conversations help establish whether someone can carry out a task safely.
iAM Academy gives schools and trusts unlimited access to more than 400 animated, bite-sized courses. All courses are CPD-accredited, with IOSH approval applying to selected courses, too.
The courses use storytelling and relatable situations to explain topics, with sessions lasting between 5 and 30 minutes. The included learning management system helps teams assign training and track progress, while learning pathways can bring courses and policy documents together.
For school leaders, that can mean a more organised way to manage staff development. For staff, it means learning they can fit around their work and relate to the situations they face.
We use iAM Academy to deliver most of our school staff training now, saving hundreds of hours against traditional providers. Feedback has been that it’s clear and finds the right balance for staff in schools, both in terms of information, length and the great animation approach we’ve come to love and expect with iAM Academy.
- Simon Faircloth, Chief Operating Officer at Concordia Multi-Academy Trust
This autumn, it’s worth looking beyond the list of courses staff need to complete. Think about what you want them to feel confident doing afterwards, and whether the training gives them enough help to do it.
That’s what makes the time spent learning worthwhile.
Explore iAM Academy to see how it could support staff training in your school or trust.
Ready to transform staff training across your school or trust? Explore how our engaging, accredited learning library saves time and builds confident teams.