1. Pick the one you’re most likely to say.

A. Can’t think how I’ll ever get anything into young Darth Thycke’s head.

B. I came into teaching because I love my subject, but ...

C. I feel like part of the furniture.

D. If I were the head I know just what I’d do.

2. You have a perfectly well-behaved pupil in your physics group who seems unable to retain what you say. What do you do?

A. Blame the soft drinks machine.

B. Raise your voice.

C. Get herto work the Geiger counter and the light refractor so she can learn by doing.

D. Ask colleagues what she’s like at their subjects.

3. Your Year 6 group is responding well to a game you’ve made up to improve mental maths. So ...

A. So what?

B. So the SATs results go up, of course.

C. So I wonder if similar techniques would work for other topics?

D. So I’ll video it for our schools network.

4. A young colleague is looking down in the mouth and working all day with no breaks. What do you do?

A. Take him out for a drink.

B. Put the staffroom copy of the healthy schools initiative in his pigeonhole.

C. Have a word with his line manager or the head.

D. Nothing. It’s always tough when you’re young.

5. Imagine you’ve been teaching for 30 years this year. How do you mark the anniversary?

A. By taking early retirement.

B. Seeing your continuing professional development co-ordinator for a fresh direction.

C. Offering to do mentoring

D. With a visit to the website of the local university - just looking, of course.

6. You’ve been given a teaching assistant for your Year 3 class. What do you do?

A. Give her straight back.

B. All sorted. Give her a list of duties.

C. Go into shock. After all, it’s your classroom.

D. Find her strengths and have a three-way meeting with your line manager.

7. Greener Grass College down the road seems a great place to work. Is it time to ...

A. Try for a job there?

B. Apply for one of those sabbaticals and have a break?

C. Set up inter-school links for support?

D. Ask yourself what’s really bugging you and what you can do about it?

8. There’s nothing exciting for you in the new school development plan. So you ...

A. Are obviously working in the wrong school and hand in your notice.

B. Try to work out what sort of school would suit you.

C. Get yourself on the next development committee.

D. Try to change your priorities to suit the plan.

9. You’re really fed up with teaching double award science to uninterested kids. It’s about time you ...

A. Thought about teaching in a selective or other type of school with well-motivated pupils.

B. Signed up for a part-time MSc.

C. Suggested setting so you could teach the top set.

D. Found out about different teaching methods through one of the subject associations.

10. Your school has untold working parties, forums and groups. This makes you feel ...

A. Part of a vibrant learning community.

B. Tired.

C. Part of an unfocused talking shop.

D. Out of date.

11. The school is oversubscribed, well led by a young team and not offering you a management route up. Do you? ...

A. Leave.

B. Ask for a secondment.

C. Ask about management training in school.

D. Visit the National College for School Leadership website.

12. Your head offers you funding for her usual accredited training week on a Buggins’ turn basis. You ...

A. Ask to use the funding for training of your choice.

B. Go anyway: it’ll be a break.

C. Say you’d rather spend the week observing in another school.

D. Suggest a school CPD working party.

Q1

A: 0 pts - So exactly how many teaching methods have you tried?

B: 0 - are you in the right school?

C: 0 - emergency professional development: everyone sits on furniture.

D: 0 - go for leadership then.

Q2

A: 1 - for fizzy drink awareness.

B: 0 - tut, tut.

C: 4 - for knowing about learning styles.

D: 2 - for not being isolationist.

Q3

A: 0 - broaden that horizon.

B: 1 - a little league-table obsessed, are we?

C: 3 - and this will be a good subject for your next development meeting.

D: 4 - you’ve got it!

Q4

A: 2 - for being a good mate.

B: 1 - does he really need more paper?

C: 4 - for doing the right thing for your colleague and the school.

D: 0 - If it was good enough for you, eh?

Q5

A: 0 - get real. There’s a pensions crisis.

B: 4 - you still have a lot to offer.

C: 3 - could be just the job.

D: 2 - admit it, you want a new direction.

Q6

A: 0 - coward!

B: 1 - hardly a display of collegiality.

C: 1 - it could be a good thing, you know.

D: 4 - what a lucky TA.

Q7

A: 1 - maybe, but maybe not.

B: 2 - it could help.

C: 4 - very impressive.

D: 3 - better still, ask others too.

Q8

A: 1 - could be.

B: 3 - sensible idea.

C: 3 - but when is it?

D: 1 - only if you’re really tied to the place.

Q9

A: 4 - Yep. It’s certainly a tough job, but then again someone’s got to do it..

B: 3 - only if you do something else as well.

C: 4 - definitely worth a try.

D: 3 - Well, it could work if you’re flexible enough.

Q10

A: 2 - for enthusiasm.

B: 0 - get in there and then judge it.

C: 4 - so how about a leadership experience for you?

D: 1 - you could be right, so update yourself.

Q11

A: 1 - see what in-house tasters there may be first.

B: 4 - good for you.

C: 4 - good for you and the school.

D: 3 - then act on it.

Q12

A: 3 - worth a go!

B: 1 - not much initiative there.

C: 4 - though you’d have to make it happen yourself.

D: 4 - great idea, with some support from a few like-minded colleagues.

your score explained

33 and over: A very high CPD savvy rating. Spread the word among your less aware colleagues.

20 - 33: You know there’s probably a better way but you don’t always take the trouble to find out what it may be. Time to be proactive.

10 - 20: Get out of the mental rut and think much bigger.

Under 10: Oh dear. You need to read every bit of this supplement. Twice.