Teaching and Learning at Southglade Primary and Nursery School

'Ensuring every teacher is supported in delivering high-quality teaching is essential to achieving the best outcomes for all pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged among them.’

(Education Endowment Foundation)

We recognise that any attempts to further raise standards at Southglade Primary and Nursery School, must be focused upon the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. Continued and sustained improvement is dependent upon improving the teaching and learning that is taking place on a daily basis. Across our school, the expectation is that all pupils are provided with high quality learning experiences that lead to consistently high levels of achievement. At Southglade, we empower the teachers in the school to become the most effective practitioners they can be by using principles established from evidence based and best practice research, cognitive science and experience.

Cognitive Science is revisited regularly with staff to reinforce the following key points:

• The capacity of the working memory is limited
• Only when knowledge is committed to the long-term memory has that knowledge been learned
• Knowledge can be forgotten from both the working and long-term memory
• Unless we give pupils opportunities to retrieve and remember knowledge from the long-term memory, it will be forgotten
• Our understanding of how to optimise the working memory and manage cognitive load, ensures staff make deliberate decisions around lesson design and learning environments

Our core Teaching and Learning principles encompass Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.

At Southglade, as part of our ongoing evidence based CPD, staff have researched the Rosenshine principles and reflected on how these principles support our planning and teaching so that all learners are supported in their learning and make progress. Teachers are clear that their role is to teach using these principles, which makes it possible for all children to engage successfully with tasks at the expected level of challenge.

At Southglade, we have the following in our lessons:

1. A daily review of previous learning using retrieval practice strategies.

2. New material presented in small steps, with teachers ensuring that each step is mastered before moving on.

3. Teachers asking a variety of open questions, and using a range of questioning techniques, to establish children’s understanding.

4. Teachers model clearly, using equipment, visual and/or other aids to show children how to solve problems.

5. Time for children to do guided practice.

6. Teachers check all children’s understanding in a variety of ways.

7. Children have a high rate of success, with enough mistakes to show that they are being challenged.

8. Scaffolds are provided for all.

9. Children are given opportunities to practice independently.

10. There are regular reviews of learning.

At Southglade, we have created symbols that are used across our curriculum to support pupils with retrieval, challenge and assessment. These symbols are used consistently across year groups, so that our pupils are familiar with the meaning of the symbols and know the expectations of the task when they are their completing work.