Twinkl launches Subject Leads Segment

With 80% of Subject Leaders mentioning time constraints as their primary challenge, Twinkl’s Subject Leads segment arrives at a crucial moment to provide support for their work.

Subject leaders often labour tirelessly behind the scenes, their dedication and hard work often overlooked. However, at Twinkl, we recognise the invaluable contributions made by subject leaders in the field of education. We understand the myriad challenges they face, including time constraints, budget limitations, and the need for reliable resources to enhance their impact. Our commitment is to provide subject-specific, trustworthy, and up-to-date resources that empower subject leaders to excel in their roles.

The role of Subject Leaders

Ever since the introduction of the Education Inspection Framework, there has been an increased external focus on the intent, implementation and impact a school’s curriculum choice has. Subsequently, the role of the subject leader has increased in both status and accountability.

The recently updated reading framework from the Department for Education (DfE) emphasises the significance of language proficiency in students’ overall educational success. These updates have allowed education professionals to nurture proficient, fluent, and confident readers before they transition to secondary education, due to the framework now encompassing early years foundation stage to year 9 comprehensive guides.

The new framework has shown the pressures felt by those within the education sector, with focus laying on subject leads and their personal career development. A recent online survey conducted by Twinkl showed that 80% of the respondents mentioned time constraints as their greatest challenge.

Katie Rose, Subject Leads Segment Manager at Twinkl explained,

“Having led English for many years – both at school and trust-wide level – I understand how time and effort consuming it can be. As soon as a new guidance document is released, or staff members change, it feels like you have to start from scratch. Ensuring subject knowledge is strong in all staff members, that they fully understand and are invested in your vision and that you know what is expected of you in the role feels like a challenge, and one that is not always rewarded with additional time, pay or appreciation.”

As such to support and empower subject leaders to confidently lead their subject their way, Twinkl has launched its Subject Leads segment as part of its offer.

The carefully curated landing page is structured in an easy-to-use, time-efficient way. It organises the full Twinkl offer to support both subject and curriculum development alongside leadership needs. You will be able to collaborate with other leaders in nationwide networking and TeachMeet events to support your development and involve you in the global educational conversation. Furthermore, you will be able to access video content interviews with practising subject leads and members of SLT with recent deep dive experience. 

“I am passionate about supporting the variety of needs a subject leader may face. This includes providing subject-specific CPD, promotion of schemes, resources and content to underpin curriculum delivery, opportunities to share practice and network across the country with your peers, and access to tools and resources to enhance your leadership confidence and skills,” Katie further explained.

How networking could support you? 

In October 2022, Cambridge University conducted research to name the top five benefits for educators taking part in networking. This research was conducted in celebration of World Teachers’ Day and explored some of the best ways educators can connect with one another across the globe.

They found the top five benefits to include, the ability to share resources, the opportunity to ask questions, receiving emotional support, reflecting on professional experiences and finding new opportunities for career development.

With the challenges educators are facing, Twinkl understands and appreciates the pressures they are under, that is why we have developed our offerings to be able to incorporate more opportunities that will benefit educators.

From October, Twinkl TeachMeet will be hosting monthly networking sessions on Eventbrite so that subject leaders can collaborate and share best practice as part of a national conversation into the key areas of subject leadership, and be part of a global network.

Resources and career development

The newly developed resources, created by Twinkl SLT and Subject Leads empowers subject leaders to have an impact in their own setting with resources that develop both subject-specific knowledge and leadership skills.

In England, teachers are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) each year as part of their professional development. CPD can help teachers progress in their careers and is a valuable tool to help them to continuously improve their knowledge and skills in order to provide the best possible education for their students. However, teachers in England spent less hours than the OECD average on their Continued Professional Development.

At Twinkl, the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) team is formed of teachers, senior leaders and inclusion specialists with over 50 years’ combined experience who actively update and create relevant CPD content to support educators. 

The bite-size CPD and training modules are available on Twinkl’s website in a range of mediums, so that teachers can digest information, increase their knowledge and build their confidence at a time, and place that works for them. 

Everything included within Twinkl resources carefully align with DfE guidance documents and Ofsted Frameworks, whilst regularly being updated to respond to changes in the educational landscapes.

For more information about how Twinkl could support you, please visit our website.