A Barry primary school teacher has become one of the first in the country to complete a groundbreaking new training module aimed at making Welsh educators the cream of the crop.

Mike Chapman of Cowbridge, a member of staff at Oakfield Primary School, took part in an extended pilot module under the General Teaching Council for Wales’s (GTCW) Chartered Teacher Pilot scheme.

The programme is being developed by the GTCW to give experienced teachers in the middle of their careers the chance to receive professional recognition and to help raise the status and standard of teaching in Wales.

After completing a year-long trial of the accreditation route, which enabled him to build a portfolio of evidence of his teaching career and experience, Mike volunteered for the extended pilot to further widen his knowledge and skills.

Entitled ‘Self Evaluation, Reflection and Personal Development’, the module was organised by SWAMWAC, the Southwest and Mid Wales Consortia of Local Education Authorities, and Trinity College, Carmarthen.

Mike Chapman has been teaching for 14 years - after four years as a supply teacher in Cambridge and South Wales, he has spent the past decade at Oakfield – and was involved in the very first Charter Teacher module, ‘Talk for Thought’, in 2007 after responding to an advert in GTCW’s newsletter.

“I fancied having a go at it, was fortunately chosen, and went to Swansea Metropolitan University to complete my action research project,” he said.

His unusual take on the research project has resulted not just in Mike benefitting from a new outlook on his teaching style, but also in his pupils developing their self confidence.

“I started with the idea of asking the children how they thought they learned, and who they thought they learned from,” he added.

“The majority, of course, thought they learned from me.  But the plan was to try to bring the Assessment for Learning ideas into the classroom, with children learning from themselves and from eachother, as well as the teachers.”

Mike expected the adaptations to be difficult.  “It also required me to make a substantial change in my approach because I was quite comfortable being the fount of all knowledge.  But the more I taught the module, the more I saw the children questioning themselves.”

The result was that the changes in the children were ‘amazing’, said Mike.  “They became such a self-confident group of kids, and I’m very pleased with that.”

After a residential course at Trinity College and further work at home and school, Mike submitted written work to the GTCW earlier this year before being told he had achieved the standard.

The college sessions focused on the importance of a personal development plan to enable teachers to reflect on their personal abilities and areas of strength allowing them to view their career honestly and objectively.

Advising on the pilot was Independent consultant Lynne Walters Andi Morgan, School Improvement Adviser with Carmarthenshire County Council.

“This sort of advanced level training for people who have been teaching for years is very helpful because it’s not available anywhere else,” said Mike.  “And it was both academically testing and very enjoyable.”