Continuing Professional Development

Kick off the term rejuvenated and inspired. Our professional development series seeks to explore, understand and debate the issues facing educators today. Each year experts and enthusiasts share their innovative ideas for use across the sector, looking at everything from assessment methods, cross-curricular learning, misconceptions about pupil attainment, the importance of visual literacy, the inner workings of the brain, creative ways to learn and much more.

Our 2012 CPD events will be announced here in April. The CPD events from the 2011 Book Festival are listed below to give you an idea of the kinds of event you can expect in our CPD programme.

2011 CPD events

Keep them reading: Book awards
Thurs 18 Aug, 5pm - 6pm

Jacob Hope, Reading Development Manager for Lancashire County Council, organises the Lancashire Book of the Year; Yvonne Manning, the Principal Librarian for Youth Services in Falkirk region, runs the RED Book Awards. Both award Young Adult fiction and involve young people in the selection and voting process. These awards have proved a fantastic way to create a real sense of excitement and buzz around reading. Come and hear from Jacob and Yvonne how it’s done and how much readers and authors enjoy and benefit from the experience.

The multi-media reading experience
Tues 23 Aug, 5.30pm - 6.30pm

Neal Hoskins works with digital publisher WingedChariot to create beautifully simple digital picture books for pre-school children. Neal demonstrates the apps which feature text and narration, music and digital stickers to make the reading experience truly interactive. He is joined by Sue Palmer, writer, presenter and author of the bestselling Toxic Childhood to debate the impact of technology on young minds.

Getting to grips with graphic novels
Thurs 25 Aug, 5pm - 6pm

Girls don’t read graphic novels. Comics are a threat to literacy. School library spend should go on ‘real’ books. Dr Mel Gibson from the University of Northumbria, along with graphic novelist and artist, Emma Vieceli, debate these questions and more, and together demonstrate how to interpret the graphic novel as a medium in its own right and also as an addition to more conventional texts.

The library: the heart of the school
Mon 29 Aug, 5pm - 6pm

Librarian Chris Morrison and Modern Language teacher Judith Cohen, from Linlithgow Academy, give an inspiring talk about cross-department collaborations with the school library at the centre. Chris and Judith demonstrate a fantastic ICT initiative which has proved to be a fun and informative way for pupils to develop information skills whilst at the same time using French to solve a series of interactive Cluedo-style mysteries.

Booking CPD events

All CPD events cost £7 (£5 concessions). From June, when the public booking opens, you can Book here online or call our Box Office on 0845 373 5888. Schools can book when schools booking opens in April using the methods detailed in the schools brochure. Please arrive in good time for your event as we do not admit latecomers or give refunds.