<< Everything you need to know about CPTD points (part 1)
In the previous post, we looked at everything you need to know about CPTD points. In this post we are going to look at activities for CPTD points and how many points you can get for each. But first a disclaimer, I have spent hours studying the PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT POINTS SCHEDULE that you can find on the SACE website, and I am still confused. Some statements contradict each other. The biggest question for me is the maximum amount you can claim for a type of activity. For example, if you look at the tables provided it implies that you can claim a maximum of 20 CPTD points for research and development, but if you look at the example they provided you can earn up to 40 CPTD points. OR according to the schedule, you can get 12 points for reading four books, but when I logged my books, it only gave me 10 points for four books. So while the following can serve as a guideline, you will only know for sure how many points you have once you log them. That is why it is essential that you register as soon as possible and log activities on an ongoing basis.
Types of Activities for CPTD points
As I said in the previous post, CPTD activities are divided into three types. The best way to distinguish between them is by who initiate them. However there seem to be some grey areas, so it is worthwhile to study the schedule carefully to determine what is the most effective way to claim activities. For example, you can get 10 Type 1 CPTD points for starting your own school/community project, but you can get 20 Type 2 points for being part of a school project. Depending on what your project is, you might want to get the school to claim it as a Type 2 activity.
At the moment you can only log type 1 activities on the CPTD web portal. However, it would be prudent to keep proof of your Type 2 & 3 activities, so that you can produce it should you ever be asked.
Type 1 – Self-initiated activities
Type 1 activities are something that nobody tells you to do and usually doesn’t cost much.
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- Reading at least four educational articles (max 10 points per year) – this doesn’t have to be only academic articles, like academic journals and periodicals, you can also include magazines, newspapers and blogs. To log it you need to keep records on author, publication, date and what it was about.
- Engaging in at least 8 Electronic media Educational activities (max 12 points per year). This can include television programmes, podcasts, TEDtalks or completing an online assessment. There are only two criteria, the activity should be 30 – 60 minutes, so the short TEDtalks is not going to cut is, and it should add value to your professional development. Keep a record of the link, date and time visited.
- Participating in Online Professional development activity (max 8 points per year) This one is confusing me since it seems like any activity like the previous option, but longer than an hour will get you 8 points. But you can only claim one such activity per year.
- Attending at least eight educational meetings (max 15 points per cycle). Remember anything that is initiated by the department falls under type 2 or 3. So this goes for meetings that have got nothing to do with the department. Examples of this type of activity are meetings with teacher unions, other government departments or NGO’s. These meetings must last longer than an hour. Eight meetings will get you 10 points, 4 meetings 5 points and 2 meetings are worth 2 points.
- Attending an Educational workshop (max 15 per year) If a workshop is not SACE accredited (type 3), you can still claim type 1 points for attending. A half day workshop will get you 5 PD points, a full day workshop is worth 10 PD points and a 2-day workshop will get you 15 PD points.
- Mentoring & Coaching (max 10 points per year) This can either be coaching student teachers or learners. There is no indication of what coaching would entail, but you need to have proof of at least 8 sessions (for learners) or 6 sessions coaching a new teacher.
- Facilitating training sessions (max 10 points per year) You can get 10 PD points for facilitating at least 2 training sessions in a year.
- Participating in educational bookclub (max 12 points per year) The book club must cover at least 4 books per year. You will have to keep records of the title, author and what you learned from the book.
- Organising workshop/conference (max 10 points per year) Depending on your involvement and the length of the conference you can earn anything between 5 and 10 points for organising a conference or workshop.
- Belonging to a professional learning community outside school (max 12 points per year) if you can prove your involvement in a PLN that is not initiated by the school or department for more than six months you can claim 10 points. No examples are given, but I would guess it would be things like a GEG.
- Research and development (20 points per year) If you undertake research and write an article for a newspaper, magazine or journal you can get 10 – 20 points depending on how long the research took.
- Initiating a new school/community project (10 points per year) While the project does not have to be directly linked to the school, it must add value to you as a teacher.
- Matric marking (5 points per year) If you are appointed as a matric marker you can claim 5 points for that year.
3 Ways Butterfly Classrooms can help you with Type 1 activities.
This reading list takes the pain out of reading educational articles. Instead of spending hours searching for something good to read, you will receive an email once a month with a link to an interesting article/podcast/TEDtalk. And it is completely FREE! Click here to sign up.
Reading is so much more fun if you have somebody to bounce your ideas and opinions off. Join me and Louisa and a group of teachers who love reading and teaching. Our aim is to read 4 books a year and have robust chats about them. Click here to join the group.
You can earn points for researching and writing an article for a newspaper or magazine, but if that is too scary for you, try your hand as a guest blogger on Butterfly Classrooms. Submit an article about Technology in the Classroom and eLearning to butterflyclassrooms@gmail.com.
Type 2 – School initiated activities
Type 2 points give you credit for those activities that you have to do in any case, like attend meetings. While the school is supposed to keep a register and log these points, it is vital that you also keep a record, for example, keep the agendas of the meetings you attended.
- School meetings (at least 10) of more than 1 hour (10 points per year) This includes staff, subject, SGB, cluster and any other committee that you serve on.
- School-based workshops (max 40 points per year) This can include workshops on leadership and management, discipline, special educational needs, HIV/AIDS, diversity or any other relevant topic. It also includes providing feedback to the staff on any conference/meeting you attended. Each workshop is worth 5 PD points up to a maximum of 40 points per year.
- School-based PD in key strategic areas (10 points) In addition to the previous workshops you can claim 10 points for activities responding to national priorities. These key strategies are
- Teaching learners how to read
- Mathematics
- Science
- CAPS
- Technology/ICT
- Languages
- School project (20 points per year) It is not very clear what the difference is between this and the Type 1 project, so I am going to assume that it depends on who initiates the project. If the project forms part of your extra-murals claim it as type 2, you get more points.
- Professional Learning Community (max 10 points per year) Again if you join a PLN on your own initiative you claim Type 1 points, but if it initiated by the school/cluster, you, claim it as Type 2.
- Addressing two needs identified in the School Improvement Plan (max 10 points) If you address at least two needs that were identified in the SIP, you can claim 10 points. I suppose I will have to start reading those documents.
Type 3 – Provider lead activities
Type 3 activities are easily identified, they cost money. Maybe not all, but the majority. Which raise the valid question, who is supposed to pay for them?
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- Attending meetings organised by Provincial/National Department (max 6 points per year) You can claim 3 points for every two meetings you attend.
- Workshops by Department (max 15 points per workshop). If a workshop is arranged by the department, you can claim it as Type 3 (as opposed to type 1 workshops). A half-day workshop gets you 5 points, a full day (6-8 hours) is worth 10 points, and if it is more than a day, you can claim 15 points. There doesn’t seem to be a limit as to how many workshops you can claim in a year.
- Conferences (15 per conference) Some conferences are accredited for a certain number of SACE points, if not, you can claim 5 points for half a day, 10 points for a full day conference and 15 points for 2 or more days. Again it does seem like there is a limit to how many conferences you can claim.
- Completing an Online Self-Diagnostic Assessment administered by department (max 7 points per year) No examples are given, but I suppose the department will tell you if they want you to complete an Online Assessment.
- Any other SACE accredited course (accredited points) Some providers offer SACE certified courses. Each course gets evaluated and allocated a certain number of points.
Planning your Activities for CPTD points
After reading all of this, you might feel like running away. But it is really not that bad. I developed a CPTD planner that will get you on top of this in no time. This planner can be downloaded from my resource library that is available exclusively to newsletter subscribers. If you already receive the Butterfly Classrooms newsletter, you will find a link and password to the resource library in your last email. If you are not part of our community yet, you can sign up here.
Start by adding everything that you already do, like staff meetings (Type 2), matric marking (Type 1) and any workshop/conference that you attended.
You should tackle Type 3 activities first since they need the most planning. Remember your aim to have an even spread of Type 1, 2 & 3 activities, but it doesn’t need to be the same. After that, you see which Type 2 activities you can add, and lastly, you fill up your totals with Type 1 activities.
CPTD workshop
If you would like more information about CPTD points or feel that your school is not up to date, please contact me at butterflyclassrooms@gmail.com about my CPTD planning workshop.
You can also put any questions you have about CPTD points in the comments, and I will do my best to answer them.
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