So what did I takeaway from my first TLT day other than a big pile of books and a cough? Well, firstly that it was great to be amongst such a large number of education professionals from all types of schools for the day. I chatted to lots of people, it was a lot more friendly than many training days I have been on.

I really enjoyed the opening talk from Chris Moyse and have started to read the book 'Legacy' which is all about the history of the All Blacks rugby team. It's a very easy read, I'm halfway through all ready.

The session from Dawn Cox on not using grading confirmed the direction that I and the department are moving towards already, it was interesting to hear from others in the room about whole school policy on assessment and grading moving in this direction. During the talk she mentioned that using too many forms of feedback is not good for students, I wonder what experience our students get across their A levels?

My next session turned out to be a great follow up, as David Fawcett was talking about strategies for less teacher input and more student output. I will certainly be reflecting on strategies to get more of my team doing less marking, it's an ongoing challenge for us.

One the main reasons for attending the day was getting the chance to hear from Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby. They only work down the road from me and I've taught lots of their former students but I've never managed to hear them in action. In common with Chris Moyse they mentioned starting an EduBook Club. I've recently discovered that lots of my team enjoy engaging with the theory side of teaching so I think we will have a go at a book club. I 'might' have bought a few books at the conference to read myself for ideas.... I'm hoping to get to some more of their training as the year goes on.

You always come across something unexpected when you go along to these events and my final session from The Brilliant Club wasn't what I expected at all. Their work with widening access to highly selective universities sounds really interesting and I'll be sharing it with my colleagues in the guidance team at college. Their session on setting intermediate outcomes was thought provoking and could be translated to working with students at the start of their A level programme.

Sadly, I had to leave at the very start of Lisa-Jane Ashes talk as the effects of the Lemsip began to wear off.

Overall, it was a wonderful day which I will be recommending to my colleagues for next year. I'm looking forward to being a much more active participant in the education twitter community.