Brandles — A staff CPD journal built around one repeating reflection spread

The brief

Brandles came to us for a CPD journal that would sit with each member of staff across the year — somewhere to log every course, book, webinar and podcast they engaged with, what they took from it, and what they were going to do differently as a result. The department wanted one consistent format repeated through the book, so a teacher opening it for their tenth entry uses the same fields as their first. The journal also needed an opening page that set the tone — CPD as a conversation about how we interact and grow, not a box-ticking exercise.

What we designed

Working with Brandles, we built a 68-page CPD journal anchored on a single repeating template.

An opening reference page built around the PAC Model from Rethinking Education — Parent, Adult, Child — laying out the controlling parent, nurturing parent, adult, free child and adapted child modes side by side, with a set of "Adult moves" prompts underneath: recognise that changing how we interact is hard, be proactive rather than reactive, agree ground rules, start with why, ask honest questions, give honest answers.
A repeating two-page CPD spread used for every entry: the title of the PD session, course, book, webinar or podcast at the top, an overview section, an open notes panel, then on the facing page key takeaways, next steps and impact — closed off with the school's "Be present, be brave, be kind" line and a reminder to complete the Microsoft Form for each CPD record.
The same template repeated through the journal so there's no decision to make — each new piece of CPD goes in the next blank spread.
A patterned full-bleed cover built from the school's palette — pinks, oranges, greens, navy and yellow geometric blocks — with the Brandles crest and a name panel on the front so each staff member's journal is clearly their own.

The finished book

68-page CPD journals land at Brandles for the staff body, giving every teacher a single book to carry through the year — one place to record the CPD they've done, what they took from it, and the next steps they're committing to.