Abbey Gate Prep School POLICY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

ABBEY GATE PREP SCHOOL

POLICY FOR TEACHING

AND LEARNING

This Policy relates to all children in the school including those in Early Years foundation Stage and those receiving ‘Out of School’ care.

Written by Mrs Rhodes-Leader & SLT

Reviewed July 2016

Next review July 2017

The Purpose of this Policy

This policy is a statement of Abbey Gate Prep School’s aims, principles and strategies for teaching and learning and forms the context in which all other policy statements should be read.

It lays the foundation for the whole curriculum and is written for the benefit of all members of the school community.

What is Teaching and Learning?

Teaching and Learning is the purpose of our school. It is the method through which we offer a curriculum which is broad, balanced and meets the requirements of the Education Reform Act relating to the National Curriculum and religious education and collective worship.

The Aims of Teaching and Learning?

  • Children must be stimulated and motivated to achieve their full potential academically, creatively, artistically, physically and spiritually.
  • Children will develop tolerance and understanding of others and will learn to respect and value the rights, opinions and practices of all people whatever their cultural or religious background.
  • Children will be encouraged to develop a positive attitude to work, learning both to work independently and also to co-operate as part of a group.
  • Children will be encouraged to see themselves as part of a wider community by taking part in activities beyond the classroom, to help prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
  • Children will be taught to care for the environment and to respect all living things within it.
  • Children will be encouraged to question, investigate and to research information for themselves using a variety of methods.
  • Children must be esteemed as individuals, respect being given to their rights, values and beliefs.

To be most effective, teaching must be a partnership between teachers, classroom assistants, visiting speakers, parents and children.

Teachers Work Towards The School’s Aims

  • Providing a challenging and balanced programme of work designed to help all children, whatever their ability, to reach the highest possible standard of personal achievement.
  • Providing differentiated work where necessary.
  • Ensuring that learning is progressive and continuous.
  • Working as part of a team, able to draw on the expertise of other members of the team where this would be to the children’s advantage.
  • Establishing links with the local community.
  • Acting as a role model for the children.
  • Maintaining an up-to-date knowledge of the National Curriculum.
  • Assessing and monitoring the children’s learning constantly, marking all work promptly and consistently and recording all marks.
  • Creating a classroom environment which is well ordered and stimulating.
  • Being aware of their own needs for developing and updating skills and to have a positive attitude to change.

See the Staff Handbook

Pupils Work Towards The School’s Aims by:

  • Attending school in good health maintained by adequate diet, exercise and sleep;
  • Attending school regularly, eschewing term time holidays;
  • Being punctual and ready to begin lessons on time;
  • Being organised – bringing necessary kit, taking letters home promptly, returning reading books regularly;
  • Conducting themselves in an orderly manner in line with the expected code of discipline;
  • Taking growing responsibilities for their own learning;

Parents Work Towards The School’s Aims by:

  • Ensuring that children attend school in good health, regularly and punctually;
  • Providing support for the discipline within the school;
  • Being realistic about their children’s abilities and offering encouragement and praise;
  • Participating in discussions concerning their child’s progress and attainments;
  • Ensuring early contact with school to discuss matters which affect a child’s happiness, progress and behaviour;
  • Giving due importance to homework, hearing reading and assisting in the learning of tables and spellings;
  • Allowing their children to take increasing responsibility as they progress through school;

Organisation of Teaching at Abbey Gate Prep School

The Early Years Foundation Stage

All children in Early Years follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile as set out in the Policy for the Foundation Stage.

All the children are given the opportunity to work as a class, as a small group and individually. The tasks or activities being organised and the resources being used influence how the class is set up.

Some activities are adult led and initiated by them, while others are child initiated, with both indoor and outdoor space being used.

Activities involving English and Maths skills are incorporated into the school day, as are physical and creative ones.

Key Stage One

Work in Key Stage One is mostly topic based and there is much cross-curricular activity.

Most teaching is whole-class teaching, followed by group or individual work.

In Maths and English, children are encouraged to progress at their own speed and benefit from individual, daily help from the teacher.

There is some specialist teaching, namely in Sport and Music.

Key Stage Two

Teaching in Key Stage Two is entirely subject-based. Specialist staff include Mrs P. Barlow who teaches Music throughout Key Stage Two with the help of a professional musician who accompanies all our music and also professional coaches for swimming and physical education. Mrs Duerden specialises in English, RE and ICT. Mrs Barlow teaches French.

Subject co-ordinators supervise and monitor their respective subjects, ensuring progression and continuity with the safe and effective use of resources.

Subject Co-ordinators

MathsMrs Rhodes-Leader

EnglishMrs Duerden

ScienceMrs Barlow

Foundation PhaseMrs Brown

HistoryMrs Rhodes-Leader

GeographyMrs Morris

Physical EducationMiss McIntosh

Religious EducationMrs M Brown

ComputingMrs K Duerden

Art, Design & TechnologyMiss McIntosh

Peripatetic Teachers

Peripatetic teachers come for music, drama and languages. This gives the children wider opportunities to develop their creative and artistic skills.

Volunteer Helpers

Volunteer helpers help in some activities from time to time, such as sports activities, art projects, outings and visits and help in developing contacts with places of interest, with the local community or with businesses.

Secondary School Pupils and FE Students

These are accepted into school on work experience.

Resources

These are the responsibility of classroom teachers who ensure that:

  • there is a range of appropriate and accessible resources from which pupils select materials suitable to the task in hand;
  • all children know where materials are kept within their own classroom and know the rules about access and use;
  • all the children know what they must not touch for reasons of safety or privacy;
  • children are encouraged to act independently in choosing, collecting and returning books, toys and other resources used;
  • children and teachers act together to establish an attractive, welcoming and well organised environment engendering respect, care and value for all resources.

Other resources available to staff are kept in the Staff Room or the Art/Science Room or in the Computer Suite or the Hall.

Time is a resource that we value. To maximise its use;

  • in Early Years, the day is divided into 3 or 4 sessions and children begin to appreciate simple concepts of time such as ‘before’ and ‘after’;
  • as children progress through the school they are encouraged to take greater control of their own learning, including the use of their time;
  • time wasting is reduced as far as possible by ensuring that tasks are made specific and are clearly defined;
  • all children engage in useful activities upon entering the classroom and know what to do between the end of one activity and the beginning of another.

Libraries are a valued resource.

There are two libraries, one for Early Years and Key Stage One and the other for Key Stage Two, although they are not necessarily for the exclusive use of any one group of children. Both contain fiction and non-fiction books.

Both libraries are looked after by pupils under the guidance of the English co-ordinator.

Most classes also have a small library within the classroom with story books and some reference material.

Health and Safety issues are the responsibility of all who work in the school.

Any problems should be reported to the Health and Safety Officer.

(see Health and Safety Policy)

The Celebration of Excellence

Excellence is celebrated in display and performance:

  • each child is given opportunities to have work displayed in classrooms or corridors in the Hall:
  • drafting and reworking is encouraged to enhance standards;
  • school events such as concerts and drama productions are seen as opportunities for all children (not just the most gifted) to demonstrate their own performance;
  • each child is given the opportunity to perform in local festivals in music, drama or dance and to take part in events in the community;
  • pupils are encouraged to believe that any exhibited work (performance or display) should represent their highest standards of personal achievement.

Strategies for Ensuing Progress and Continuity

Planning is a process in which all teachers are involved:

  • subject/topic plans are drawn up by staff and are carefully balanced to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum (where followed);
  • schemes of work for individual subject/topics are developed by class teachers
  • regular staff meetings, held every week are opportunities to discuss various aspects of the curriculum and its implications.

Feedback to Pupils is achieved through the regular and systematic marking of work.

Effective marking:

  • aims to help children learn; comments must be positive and constructive;
  • is usually done while a task is being carried out, through discussion between child and teacher;
  • if written is used sensitively and with direction so that a child can assimilate a limited number of corrections at one time- this will vary according to age and ability.

Assessment and Recording Policy

Assessment of children’s work must be a continuous process. It measures progress made, informs future planning and is also a diagnostic tool. Strategies should be used to assess the learning of individuals, to identify those achieving as expected, at a higher than expected level and those under-achieving who may require formal assessment leading to specialist help from a special needs teacher.

Assessment should show up any weaknesses or gaps in the curriculum and any misallocation of time to particular subjects. Staff should evaluate all such assessments and plan their teaching accordingly.

Assessment can take many forms:-

  • Observation of children in the classroom
  • Discussions with small groups of children or with individuals
  • Reading with individual children
  • Written and/or oral tests at the conclusion of a topic
  • Regular testing of spellings, tables etc.
  • The use of commercial tests e.g. Nfer Nelson or Schonell Reading Tests
  • School examinations at the end of the school year
  • Teacher Assessed (SATS) tests at both KS1 and KS2
  • The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile

Through national tests the school is able to measure children’s performance against a national standard and thus to measure the success of its own teaching policy.

Results of each child’s SATs results are made known to the parents concerned and an overall statistical profile of our own and national results is displayed in school and is therefore available for all parents to see.

Records of progress kept for each child are:

  • updated as appropriate by class teachers and contains samples of pupil’s work which may have been photocopied;
  • retained throughout the child’s time at the school;
  • passed on to their next school

Records of all assessments and test results are kept by each class teacher who also keeps an up-to-date planning record book with details of lesson plans, evaluations of lessons and ideas for improvement.

Pupil Tracking

Whole school pupil tracking is achieved by utilising the on-line Insight Pupil Tracking system.

Reporting to Parents occurs regularly:

  • Effort Cards are sent to parents at the end of each half term, grading the level of effort gained and also the level of behaviour;
  • written reports are sent at Christmas and at the end of the academic year
  • Parents’ Evenings take place twice a year
  • Personalised Attainment targets are sent to parents each term
  • Parents may meet with their child’s class teacher by appointment or informally before or after school hours to discuss particular concerns

Homework Policy

Homework is an integral part of the learning process at Abbey Gate Prep School. It helps to consolidate work learnt in class and sets good study habits for the future. It also enables parents to become more closely involved in their children’s work. Older children benefit from the chance to independently and to research from a variety of sources as part of a project.

As soon as children are ready to embark on their first reading book, they will read daily to their teacher and to their parents or guardians at home. They will have a small notebook in which both teachers and parents may write comments for each other about any difficulties encountered or any other concerns about reading progress.

Daily reading at home will continue throughout Years 1, 2 and 3 and beyond that if necessary.

In Year 1, 12 spellings per week are set and are taken home to be learnt and a short piece of English or Maths is given each day to reinforce work done in class. The homework in total should take no more than 15 minutes per night.

In Year 2, some written work or learning is given each day in addition to reading.

This may be English, including spellings, Maths or Science. Again, it will be exercises that will reinforce what has been learnt during the school day and will be no more than 20 minutes.

When children enter Key Stage 2, the amount of work expected each evening gradually increases.

Year 3 – 20 minutes

Year 4 – 30 minutes

Years 5 & 6 – 45 minutes

We believe that if children are taught to use homework time constructively, it will help them to face any external examination with confidence and will also prepare them for the homework that will be expected of them in their senior schools.