Teaching
High quality teaching and learning is at the heart of school improvement priorities. Assessment for learning drives teaching at Pyrcroft Grange Primary School. Each class teacher plans and delivers engaging lessons that meet the children at the point they are at on their individual learning journeys. This requires teachers to observe, question, reflect, amend, stretch and feedback.
Children come to us with a huge range of experiences but we know that some have many more opportunities than do others. Our approach to ‘Cultural Capital’ seeks to ensure that children at Pyrcroft Grange Primary School get to encounter a wide range of experiences that will help to prepare them for the next stage of their learning journeys and ones that will enrich their time with us.
Subject leaders have carefully sequenced a child’s learning journey from Early Years to the end of Year 6, with the driving aim for children to “know more and remember more over time”. Subject specific progression maps support teachers with their medium-term planning. Subject leads monitor their subjects by regularly doing learning walks, pupil voice, looking at planning and books. Open, honest professional conversations between staff are embedded into the school culture.
What does high quality teaching and learning look like?
- Using a range of teaching styles and experiences that aim to foster in the children a love of learning and a passion for enquiry.
- Active teaching in which children have ownership of their learning and strive to achieve excellence.
- Secure subject knowledge is evident
- Pitch of the lesson is built upon an understanding of the children’s prior knowledge and skills. (Assessment for learning)
- Planning demonstrates sequenced and progressive learning.
- Children understanding their learning as part of an interconnected bigger picture. Activation of prior knowledge is key.
- Daily teaching promotes a growth mind-set.
- Lessons are planned to ensure enough time is given to explore and deepen key learning.
- Use of high-quality technical vocabulary. Pre-Teach is a tool that is integrated into daily teaching for identified pupil to access the lesson with prior knowledge.
- Present and prior learning is reinforced through the use of a knowledge organiser. (sticky knowledge)
- Use of higher order questioning to stretch children’s thinking and push them beyond their comfort zone.
- Development of critical thinking skills.
- Opportunities for children to articulate their thinking and identify their next steps.
- Children demonstrating the skills of independent learning. They are able to use and take care of a range of resources, able to organise themselves, able to complete a task.
- Carefully planned interventions that address gaps, consolidate understanding and stretch.
- Feedback integrated into a lesson, so it is relevant to the children at the point of delivery. Misconceptions are addressed, understanding of key concepts embedded and children’s thinking process is stretched.
- Learning environments promote and celebrate learning through the effective use of working walls, carefully planned displays, models of excellence on display.
- We aim to make all the necessary adaptations to both the physical environment and to the curriculum to allow all pupils to access school and make progress.
Professional collaboration
Planning high quality professional development for all members of staff is essential, if teaching is driven by a continuous improvement approach. This takes place within the school community and beyond, working alongside staff from other schools within the Bourne Education Trust.
