Teaching and Learning

Introduction
Worthwhile education concerns the promotion of knowledge over ignorance, of truth over falsehood, of concern for others over selfishness and of effort over sloth. This philosophy of excellence is brought to life by ensuring challenge for all. Indeed our motto, ‘Love as Brethren’, obliges us to do justice to the educational needs of the range of pupils that make up our school community.

Provision
We ensure excellence for all via our Teaching & Learning Charter. This document encapsulates best practice and is ordered around six vital areas:

Planning – benefit from and contribute to the sharing of best practice, joint planning and peer observation;
Lessons – model lessons on starters, active learning and plenary approach;
Challenge – ensure lessons provide differentiation for pupils;
Homework – regular setting of homework;
Marking – regular marking of books, offering targets and assessing progress against targets;
Intervention – targeted support for pupils after each TRIPS (tracking & reporting) round.

Challenge
Challenge animates all of our thinking and practice. It involves a positive, ambitious and empowering approach to teaching and learning. Challenge is distinguished by the following:

Establish the correct starting point: include input from pupils on what they already know and understand, prior to planning – use questioning, mind maps, etc.
Use a range of higher order, open-ended questioning: encourage critical and creative thinking across and beyond the curriculum – encourage pupils to justify their responses with reasons.
Encourage the development of learning skills: move praise beyond outcomes and attainment to traits such as persistence, use of appropriate strategies, problem solving and effort (learning to learn).
Increase learner participation and understanding: develop self and peer assessment to recognise what can be improved, which is then acted upon to ensure progress (assessment for learning).
Encourage learners to ask questions they can pursue independently: celebrate the asking of questions as much as the answering of them.
Develop an ethos of high expectation: reflect this ethos in planning, pitch of lessons and the classroom environment. Include high level subject specific language and quality resources.
Discuss and exemplify high level responses: use real examples of pupils’ work with explicit reference to KS3 L8 & Exceptional Performance and GCSE & A Level A*.
Set ambitious pupil targets: utilise data generated targets as the minimum expectations – organise these as appropriate, clear steps.
Use flexible pupil groupings: there should be criteria for effective group work.
Plan opportunities to develop pupils’ ability and skills to work independently: provide rich research opportunities, with reference to quality materials.

Assessment
Assessment for Learning is very different from Assessment of Learning. The latter tends to be summative and is carried out periodically, e.g. at the end of a unit, year or key stage. This kind of assessment is used to judge how well a student is performing. Conclusions are typically reported in terms of grades, marks or levels. Along with information acquired through other means, these help to inform the school’s TRIPS process, which, because the grades and levels used are set alongside national standards, students and teachers are able to evaluate performance against others and the school is able to track progress over time.
Assessment for Learning (AfL) on the other hand is formative and takes place all the time in the classroom. It means using evidence and feedback to identify where students are in their learning, what they need to do next and how best to achieve this. In practice, this means obtaining clear evidence about how to improve individual attainment, understanding between teachers and students on what they need to improve and agreement on the steps needed to promote sound learning and progress.
AfL values quality of learning rather than quantity and presentation. It raises self-esteem by concentrating on advice for improvement whilst avoiding the demoralising effects of comparing students repeatedly and negatively with more successful students. That is not to say all comparisons are necessarily negative, but care should be taken. Further, AfL leads teachers to work with a more complete picture of the students’ learning needs and therefore, with carefully considered feedback, it helps students to learn more effectively.