Primary CPD courses?

zeebre12

I'm on my 4th year out primary teaching after covering various maternity leaves. I have not done any CPD courses at all. I got called for some interviews and some want evidence of doing courses. I know permanent teachers do courses to get EPV days but just wondering can anyone recommend some for me to do? Or are there any free online CPD courses that I could do online that would be worthwhile? Do they take long to do or how do you do them? I know I probably should have some done at this stage.

kandr10

I don’t know of any free ones but cpdcollege.ie have a good range across all subjects. They’re usually around €80 but you can usually get a buy 2 get one free offer. I’ve done a good few there through the years. Also check out cocoon education for IT based courses (I’d imagine this would be useful in upcoming interviews given distance learning is likely if schools close again).They also have decent offers on price. All courses would have a minimum of 20 hours usually so a couple of hours a day is recommended. They’re usually broken into 5 topics. It involves reading through material and watching videos/slides. After each topic you have to write a short entry in a discussion forum. Then at the end of the course you have to write some sort of reflective piece on what you’ve learned. It’s pretty straightforward. As far as what course to do, generally you’d choose an area that you want to develop so it depends on your own experience. I’d definitely recommend doing them regularly though to build up your cv. It’s definitely not just permanent teachers that do them. Also FYI, temporary teachers can also use the epv days accrued by doing courses. I would have always done a course as a sub (which was the first 5 years of my career).

byhookorbycrook

Permanent teacher here . CPD courses aren’t all about EPV days . Many of us are interested in CPD, which is why we do lots of courses that don’t give “ days .” You will struggle to find free summer courses . I’d suggest you chose a course that interests you, rather than one in terms of “ days .”