TEACHING AND LEARNING

POLICY

This policy was updated: October 2017

This policy will be reviewed: According to need

Statutory policy? : No

Source: School

RAVENSHEAD CE PRIMARY school

LEARNING AND TEACHING POLICY

Introduction

This policy states the learning and teaching philosophy we have in order to achieve continuity and progression in the learning and teaching which takes place at our school, and it is a clear reflection of the mission statement of Ravenshead C of E Primary School.

Vision

Together, the best that we can be.

Reflecting Christian values expressed in all aspects of the school's life displaying acceptance and mutual respect.

Caring and nurturing with children and adults having high expectations, celebrating success and making their contribution to a safe, fun, positive and stimulating environment.

Exceptional Children who are encouraged to make exceptional progress in academic, creative, moral, social and spiritual development and to become lifelong learners.

Partnerships with strong relationships between children, families, staff, governors, the church and the community as a whole.

Growth Mindset

At Ravenshead C of E, we believe that the mindset of the children has a very significant impact on their learning and behaviour.

We encourage the children to have a Growth Mindset by teaching them that it is okay to make mistakes as this is how we learn; that resilience is key to achieving; that instead of saying that we can’t do something, we accept that we just can’t do it yet; that we need to face challenges in order to improve and that we shouldn’t expect to get everything straight away; and that believing in yourself is very important.

Our mascot for promoting a Growth Mindset is Gerald the Giraffe from the book ‘Giraffe’s can’t dance’ by Giles Andreae. Each class has a Gerald mascot and when children show a good Growth Mindset, they are given Gerald to look after for a period of time.

The Growth Mindset approach underpins everything that we do as a school.Teaching Styles and Strategies

The Foundation Stage classes are managed on an integrated day principal in line with the new Early Years Foundation Stage framework. In Year 1 we maintain elements of the integrated day principal. In Year 2 more whole class teaching takes place encompassing group and individual work where appropriate.Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 are taught in parallel teaching groups.

It is acknowledged that learning is an active process and that the development of skills and practical experiences are important. It is similarly acknowledged that teachers need to create a climate for learning, which is inspirational, positive, secure and with challenging expectations.

We provide opportunities for:

  • Investigations, problem solving situations and research encouraging children to share their personal experiences and knowledge;
  • a variety of stimuli to enhance the learning experience, including role play areas in Foundation and Key Stage 1;
  • a range of teaching styles, appropriate to needs, subjects and tasks – individual, collaborative, group and whole class teaching;
  • opportunities for children to learn, contribute, reflect, consolidateand make improvements to their work;
  • a curriculum which offers opportunities to develop thinking skills and higher attainment;
  • encouragement for children to be flexible in their approaches to challenges, to take risks with their learning, and to make mistakes and learn from them;
  • focused, carefully constructed, levelled questions which encourage independent thinking, reflection and independence;
  • a forum whereby children with particular needs are encouraged to participate in all activities appropriate to their own learning levels;
  • a learning environment which endorses access of opportunity for alland challenge for all;
  • opportunities for children to develop and extend their learning at home through homework;
  • cross curricular learning in a real life context, when possible starting with a visit;
  • opportunities during each term to learn in the school’s outdoor environment, e.g. woods/quad.

The Curriculum

  • The National Curriculum objectives will form the basis of the planning.
  • Planning will be based around a themeor a book and will give considerationto the child as part of a community and wider world.
  • A visit and/or workshop or experience will be planned each term.
  • Long term planning for each year group should show how different areas of the curriculum are covered each term.
  • Medium term planning will be done at the start of each new term and will break down the learning into weekly foci.
  • Each term, a curriculum letter, giving some detail about the foci for the term will be sent out to parents.
  • Short term planning will be done in blocks of one week. There will be a weekly plan for English(including guided reading and spelling work), one for Maths (including mental maths work) and one for Topic work (including Science and ICT).
  • All planning will be but on the school server in a central location so that members of the Senior Leadership Team can access it. Staff will also keep a hard copy of their planning in a folder which is accessible for SLT.Staff are asked to annotate their planning with notes for AFL (Assessment for Learning) and changes / adaptations made. For monitoring, SLT will collect in hard copies with annotations.
  • Medium and short terms plans may be flexible in subject content and time allocation but there must be coverage across the year/term.
  • Teaching points will be covered when pertinent to the individual class and should be delivered in a variety of ways to suit learning styles.
  • Learning will be made clear to the children through the use of clear learning objectives which are broken down into layered bronze, silver, goldand gold plus (extension)success criteria.
  • Children should be taught the skills to become independent learners and to take charge of their organisation.
  • The amount of independence will increase as the children get older.

Encouraging independence

The intention is that children will be encouraged to be as independent as possible. This will be built on as the children progress through school.

In classroom situations, independence is also promoted through:

  • providing appropriate resources in readily accessible areas;
  • providing each child from Year 1 to Year 6 with their own pencil case of equipment which they are responsible for;
  • encouraging selection and use of appropriate materials and resources;
  • working independently and in collaboration, leading to growth of self- discipline e.g. listening skills, taking turns, concentrating and staying on task;
  • teaching and encouraging reference skillsinvolving children in tasks which use and develop appropriate language skills;
  • the active encouragement of life skills e.g. dressing, being responsible for their personal belongings;
  • opportunities for children to behave responsibly in all areas of school life;
  • opportunities for children to take an active role in the organisation of their classroom e.g. tidying up, selecting materials for themselves;
  • children being given opportunities to be responsible for a certain job or role e.g. cloakroom monitors, art monitors, etc.

Management of Curriculum Areas

In each of the classrooms the following areas will be evident through resources, displays and/or both:

Sanctions and rewards display (this will include Ravenshead Rules, School Vision, reasons for green/yellow/red cards).

Maths and English display (to include material relevant to the year group and ‘working walls’).

Themed displays. Stimulating and regularly changed displays, with appropriate labelling which reflect all children’s work.

Growth Mindset display reflecting the ideas and values which the school is promoting, encouraging the children to believe in themselves, take risks, learn from mistakes and never give up.

Differentiation

This arises in all areas of the curriculum and teachers acknowledge that children can be at varying levels of attainment in different areas. For effective teaching and learning to take place, teachers are aware that differentiation can occur by task and by expectation of outcome:

  • Teacher assessment, statutory assessments, the analysis and focused use of performance data, record keeping, planning and an awareness of the child’sAFLtargets and school’s targets impact upon successful curriculum delivery.
  • Cohesive long term, medium and short term planning ensure that needs are met and progression is maintained.
  • Work will be challenging but attainable.
  • Layered success criteria, bronze, silver, goldand gold plus (extension), will be used to enable children to access the learning objective at their own stage. As children move through the school, they will become more autonomous for choosing their own level of success criteriaand will be encouraged, on occasion, to write their own.
  • Individual or group ‘next steps’ targets (Next Time Targets – NTT) for reading, writing and maths will be given to the children and updated regularly (see Marking and Feedback Policy). They will be shared with the children in an age-appropriate way.
  • Effort and success will be reinforced and celebrated.
  • Flexible ability grouping of children is beneficial for effective teaching and learning.
  • Thinking skills and problem solving will be used to extend all children. ‘Working at Greater Depth’ tasks will be used with pupils who are accessing this part of the curriculum.
  • Teaching assistants and other adults will be used to support groups of childrenof all abilities.
  • Where appropriate, ICT will be used to effectively support children with special needs.

Classroom Management

Teachers prepare work for their class with skill, reference to the appropriate documentation (National Curriculum2014,school data and planning, School Improvement Plan), collaboration with their team of teachers and subject co-ordinators where appropriate, and with guidance from Senior Leadership Team when needed. Children’s work must be regularly marked with purposeful comments made and dated(please see school’s marking and feedback policy).

Teachers are expected to be in school at least 20 minutes before the start of the school day and 15 minutes at the close of the school day so that they are available for staff and parents.

Clear, consistent classroom routines support a secure learning environment. An effective routine with clear expectations helps children establish behaviour patterns appropriate to different activities during the school day and beyond.

All classrooms need to display the Ravenshead Rules and Mission Statement, and guidance on rewards and sanctions, and reference to a Growth Mindset approach.

The aesthetic appearance of the classroom will influence the learning which takes place. Teachers will ensure that:

  • displays are child centred, well maintained to reflect the value placed upon children’s work and regularly changed;
  • surfaces will be used for displays of artefacts, books or plants but not clutter;
  • furniture is arranged to enable effective learning to take place;
  • resources are labelled.

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Performance Indicators

The Senior Leadership Team will know that the school is performing well through observation and monitoring of:

  • The provision of high quality learning for all children through high quality teaching;
  • Children focused on task and appropriately challenged, motivated to concentrate and complete tasks;
  • Teachers’ high expectations of each child’s capabilities, reflected through enthusiasm, inspiration, quality of planning and delivery;
  • Rigorous long, mediumand short term planning;
  • Differentiated work which allows all children to succeed;
  • Appropriate individual targets for children in English and Maths which allow all children to know what their next steps are;
  • Performance data being used to guide planning;
  • Achievement of applicable School Improvement Plan targets;
  • Independent learners in a secure but challenging environment, where all children feel and believe that they are achievers;
  • Teachers recognising how children learn and meeting their needs;
  • Assessment for learning within lessons;
  • Children with learning difficulties and disabilities having their needs met to allow inclusion. These children will be tracked carefully and appropriate additional support put in place as appropriate.
  • Pupil Premium children. These children will also be monitored carefully and supported with additional intervention in order that they may reach their full potential.

Monitoring

Leaders will carry out the following monitoring activities to ensure that standards are maintained:

  • Informal day to day monitoring by the Strategic Head, Head of Pupils and Personnel and Head of Teaching and Learning;
  • Formal lesson observationsand learning walks linked to Appraisals and SIP;
  • Planning and work scrutiny;
  • Interviews with pupils;
  • Parent questionnaires;
  • Analysis of target setting and data through RAISE online and use of Target Tracker;
  • Interviews with staff (both formal and informal as needed).

Teaching and Learning Policy

Ravenshead CE Primary SchoolPage 1 of 6October 2017