Image of Hammersmith Academy

Case Study:
Hammersmith Academy

Hammersmith Academy is a co-educational secondary school for 11 to 18-year-olds, offering a stimulating and enriching learning environment for all pupils.

Jonathon Lisseman, Associate Headteacher, understands the value of high-quality CPD. With a School Membership from The National College, the whole school workforce is discovering new areas for professional development.

Joining The National College

Throughout the pandemic, face-to-face training just wasn’t something which was going to be a possibility, but School Membership was something that alleviated this worry.

Jonathon explained: “When we were in lockdown, we needed to consider how to keep CPD engaging and consistent.”

“Joining The National College was a very natural move; it was very reasonably priced too.”

“We joined with that in mind, and we had a great staff uptake!”  

“The National College was highly rated, and we found it extremely valuable.” he commented.

“It’s added an extra dimension to our CPD. You get a wide range of expert led CPD, and the quality is very good.”

Excellent feedback from the whole school workforce

Hammersmith Academy have seen a strong staff uptake since joining, and Jonathon is impressed with how the workforce has approached the wealth of training available.

He explained: “We run a CPD session and then ask staff to watch a particular webinar from The National College.”

“Staff really like that, as they can go away in their team and watch the webinar together.” he said.

He continued: “They can have discussions around that and then return for a wider conversation.”

“Staff are able to adapt the CPD and it’s very flexible.”

Jonathon added that The National College provides bespoke staff development, with individuals able to utilise our webinar and course programmes to fit their needs.

He said: “We like the subject-specific CPD too, they’ve been valuable and provided staff with confidence before an Ofsted visit that they are using the correct language and terminology.”

“It’s been quite powerful.” he added.

A wealth of benefits

Jonathon concluded by reinforcing just how valuable a resource The National College has been and will continue to be in the future for Hammersmith Academy.

“A few days ago, I pulled a report from the platform and looked at how many hours were completed so far.” he revealed.

He continued: “We’ve had around 26 full days’ worth of INSET from the webinars that have been watched on the platform.”

“In terms of value for money, it’s an asset to the school.” he declared.

Jonathon praised the fact that our CPD is available anywhere, at any time and on any device.

He said: “Staff like the easy access, on their phone, to be able to watch the CPD remotely.”

“It changes the dynamic entirely and that’s a very powerful thing.” he commented.