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Elthorne Park High School

Teaching & Learning Policy

Adoption – January 2015 Review frequency - annual

Next review – January 2016 Status – Non-statutory

Committee – Curriculum

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Contents

Section A: Our Philosophy at EPHS

Section B: Planning for Outstanding teaching

Section C: Behaviour and its impact on student progress

Section D: Assessment and monitoring student progress

Section E: Inclusive teaching

Section F: Homework and its role in extending learning

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Section A: Our Philosophy at EPHS

Our school’s mission statement is: ‘Achieving excellence in a learning community’. This is

not just a mission statement; it is central in our pursuit of offering the best learning

experiences to our students.

We believe students have the right to experience excellence in the quality of teaching they

receive. Students are not passive in experiencing excellent teaching and learning; they take

ownership of their learning and work with teachers to create an exciting, supportive and

purposeful environment. Outstanding learners celebrate their successes but are able to

reflect on their mistakes, learn from them and develop further.

At EPHS, our aim is to develop students academically, socially, morally, spiritually and

culturally. We base our student experience around the core principles of the EPHS Learner

profile.

In lessons, teachers develop students’ ability to become:

o Independent inquirers who enjoy asking questions and are naturally curious about the world around them. They explore a range of ideas and issues and try to come up with knowledgeable responses and solutions.

o Deep thinkers who are able to look at ideas and issues critically and creatively. They can grapple with abstract ideas as well as draw out key issues.

o Confident communicators who can work well collaboratively. They express themselves clearly in discussions and are able to build on other people’s ideas to develop a considered point of view.

o Resilient risk-takers who approach new situations with a ‘can-do’ attitude. When work is demanding,

Across the school community, staff work together to develop students who are:

o Principled in their actions, who have a strong sense of fairness and respect for individuals, groups and their community.

o Open-minded in how they address people with different viewpoints and cultural experiences.

o Caring towards all members of our school, who make a positive difference to those around them.

o Balanced in their approach to life, who understand the importance of their own and others’ well-being.

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they don’t give up; instead they relish the challenge. They think things through carefully and make appropriate decisions.

o Reflective learners who think carefully about their learning experiences. They know their own strengths and areas for improvements so they can make progress in their learning.

The student teaching and learning council play a vital role in shaping the learning culture at

EPHS. These students work together to develop teaching ideas and learning events. The

students created an illustration below, stating how they learn best.

Section B: Planning for Outstanding teaching

Excellent planning is at the heart of outstanding teaching and learning. In the words of

Benjamin Franklin: ‘He who fails to plan, plans to fail.’ There are different levels of planning;

each level complements the other.

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Teachers need to have a curriculum map for each year group, which details the long term

overview of what is to be studied. In the curriculum map, teachers need to know:

o What topics to cover

o How long each topic is

o What key knowledge, understanding and skills to teach

o How the learning will be assessed

In addition, teachers need to have a medium term plan for each topic or unit of work. In the

medium term plan, teachers need to know:

o The learning objectives and learning outcomes for the learning episodes

o The main teaching activities

o Homework activities

o What assessments need to take place

o Resources required

o Opportunities to develop the social, moral and cultural aspects of learning

o Opportunities to develop reading, writing, mathematics and communication.

Curriculum maps and medium term plans are the overall responsibility of subject leaders

and must be given out to their team at the start of the year. Curriculum maps must also be

available to publish on Frog and the school website. Senior leaders will monitor the

curriculum maps and medium term plans to ensure there is clear progression of knowledge,

understanding and skills across the year groups.

All teachers need to plan effectively using their staff planner as a recording tool, taking

into consideration where they are in the medium term plan. During an appraisal

observation, a lesson plan, using the school’s lesson plan proforma, should be provided for

the observer. When planning individual lessons, teachers need to take into account:

o What is the learning objective?

o What is the ability range of the class?

o What are the differentiated learning outcomes and what differentiated tasks are

there which are matched to the learning outcomes?

o What activities are there to consolidate learning and introduce new learning to the

students?

o What opportunities are there to monitor student progress against the learning

outcomes?

o How are the needs of groups of students (PP, SEND, EAL, Accelerated Learners) and

individual underachievers being met?

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o What opportunities are there for students to reflect on their own and others’

learning?

o What homework should be set to extend the learning of students?

Delivering outstanding student outcomes means taking into account how lessons match the

requirements of the Ofsted framework. The criteria for Outstanding Quality of Teaching are:

Much teaching over time in all key stages and most subjects is outstanding and never less than consistently good. As a result, almost all pupils currently on roll in the school, including disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs, disadvantaged pupils and the most able, are making sustained progress that leads to outstanding achievement.

All teachers have consistently high expectations of all pupils. They plan and teach lessons that enable pupils to learn exceptionally well across the curriculum.

Teachers systematically and effectively check pupils’ understanding throughout lessons, anticipating where they may need to intervene and doing so with notable impact on the quality of learning.

The teaching of reading, writing, communication and mathematics is highly effective and cohesively planned and implemented across the curriculum.

Teachers and other adults authoritatively impart knowledge to ensure that pupils are engaged in learning and generate high levels of commitment to learning across the school.

Consistently high quality marking and constructive feedback from teachers ensure that pupils make significant and sustained gains in their learning.

Teachers use well-judged teaching strategies, including setting appropriate homework that, together with clearly directed and timely support and intervention, match pupils’ needs accurately.

Subject leaders will carry out lesson observations which will form part of their self-

evaluation and report to the headteacher every November and March. Analysis of lesson

observations will take place each term by senior leaders to identify strengths and areas for

improvement for each department. Coupled with this, learning walks with specific foci will

take place each term to get a picture of how the school is addressing elements of the Ofsted

framework. To ensure that students experience high quality teaching, the school’s focus is

on the following: students acting upon feedback; setting challenging learning objectives; and

three levels of differentiated tasks, incorporating opportunities to work independently and

collaboratively, to ensure all students are appropriately challenged.

The areas that we are focusing on fall under the umbrella of three crucial aspects of

pedagogy: assessment for learning; developing independence; and stretch and challenge.

Assessment for Learning

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Assessment for learning is at the core of outstanding lessons because it enables teachers and students to identify what has been learnt and what are the next steps that need to be taken in order for students to progress further.

How does this look in the

classroom?

Possible strategies

Dialogue

There is a significant proportion of the lesson where students are talking with each other about: their work; how to improve; questions and problems they have and strategies they plan to use.

Using agreed criteria, students carry out a peer-assessment ‘learning conversation’ with a partner identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of work

Student-led feedback from a task (home and away tables; pairs to fours; students being counter–arguers/devil’s advocate in response to other students’ feedback)

Use of different roles in a group talk task (e.g. De Bono’s Hats)

Sharing learning intentions and

criteria

The teacher shares the learning intentions with the class in such a way that they explore and question what they will be expected to learn.

Cloze activity where students identify missing words from the learning objective

Students rewrite the success criteria in student-friendly language

Students guess what the learning objective was/will be based on the outcomes of the lesson

Progress

There are numerous planned opportunities within the lesson where the teacher, other adults and students consider what they have learnt and where they are on the learning journey.

Questioning ‘pit stops’ where students pose questions part way through the lesson based on what they have learnt or still need to learn

Graffiti wall where students leave comments on a specific aspect of the learning and read other students’ comments

Students respond to a question at the end of the lesson on a card which they hand to their teacher on the way out

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Developing independence The aim for all of our students at EPHS is for them to become responsible for their own learning and to be able to learn in a range of contexts for extended periods of time.

How does this look in the

classroom?

Possible strategies

Behaviour for learning

Students listen to other people’s ideas and encourage each other’s learning. Students are able to self-manage for extended periods in a range of tasks.

Use of sentence stems to encourage positive conversation (e.g. ‘That’s a really good idea, why don’t we...’).

Teachers and other adults highlight and reward processes as well as outcomes to encourage students of all abilities to participate.

Teachers model the use of ‘progress checking’ tools for students to use during extended tasks.

Display board made by students where they create top tips for dealing with challenging situations during class.

Collaboration

Students are responsible for their own learning as well as the success of their peers’ learning.

Use of roles and responsibilities cards to encourage individual responsibility within a group task.

Students nominate others in their group who have worked well and deserve to be rewarded.

Use of students as observers of participation within a group to feed back to the rest of the class.

Groups work on an aspect of a task and then move it on to another group to add to, creating a whole class product, e.g. whole class essay.

Resilience

Students are inclined to stretch themselves and have a range of strategies that they use when they encounter challenge.

Resources are available but students can choose if and when they use them.

Teacher models strategies to use when you are stuck (e.g. ask the

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Students are able to work through these challenges without relying too heavily on the teacher’s input.

expert, stuck cards, phone a friend).

‘Pit stop’ plenaries or learning logs are used to highlight the social and emotional challenges of working independently.

Stretch and Challenge Teachers plan to ensure that all students, regardless of ability and starting points, will learn in an inclusive environment that challenges them to become successful and confident learners.

How does this look in the

classroom?

Possible strategies

Questioning

A variety of questions are posed during a lesson between adult and student as well as between students. It is evident that questions are differentiated to stretch and challenge all students.

Use of Bloom’s Taxonomy when planning questions for specific student groups.

Students write down a question and swap with a partner.

Teacher has a question board where students leave their questions on cards and other students can take one and respond to it for homework.

Students create exam questions to demonstrate their understanding of a topic.

Subject knowledge

New ideas and concepts are introduced in an accessible and engaging way. Although students have confidence in their teacher’s subject knowledge, the teacher models being a good learner by exploring different interpretations and acknowledging the different viewpoints and expertise of their students.

Use of strategies to assess prior knowledge before introducing new learning. (Giving the test at the beginning of the unit, students mind mapping what they know about a topic).

Students become teachers/experts at points in the lesson.

Teacher takes opportunities to ask students for different interpretations, analogies or ways of explaining a new idea.

Resources are used to enhance the learning experience and cater for the range of needs within the classroom. Technology, where available, is

There is a choice of resources and the students decide which ones they will use.

Selected students are asked to create resources which will help

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Resources used as a tool for learning. the rest of the class to understand something new.

Technology is used by students to demonstrate their learning (e.g. podcasting, making films, recording songs to remember key concepts).

Section C: Behaviour and its impact on student progress

Creating a purposeful learning environment is essential if students are to make rapid and

sustained progress at school.

At EPHS, we believe that very few behaviour incidents arise when teachers deliver well-

planned and engaging lessons. If there are repeated incidents in the classroom, teachers

consider the following:

o Are the learning outcomes matched to the students in the class?

o Are the activities well-judged for the students in the class?

o Is the work suitably differentiated for the full range of ability in the class?

o Are students’ able to communicate respectfully to the teacher that they may be

finding something challenging or too easy?

o Are students’ achievements rewarded positively?

o Are students’ low-level negative behaviours dealt with swiftly using the school’s

behaviour policy?

If a teacher has to deal with a behaviour incident in class, the school’s expectations are that

they will:

o Reinforce their high expectations to students

o Have clear routines that the students know well

o Apply rules and sanctions consistently and fairly

o Avoid confrontation

o Adopt a solution-based response to conflict to ensure students can get back to

learning as quickly as possible

Below are some possible techniques that teachers can use to reinforce positive learning

behaviours.

Teacher

Techniques

Example

Gives pupils some control over a situation which is less likely to

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Choice

initiate point-blank refusal. Examples include: ‘I want you to get on with your work or (consequences), it’s your choice.’ ‘Are you choosing not to follow our rules on _______?’

Take-up time

Allows pupils not to lose face. Watching and waiting is, in a way, issuing a challenge. We need to be clear and confident about expressing expectations. Take-up time follows an instruction with a pause to allow pupils time to comply. Examples include: ‘Could you open your book and start work now, Jane. I’m going to see Bill who needs some help but I’ll come back in a minute if you need any.’

Partial agreement

Deflects confrontation with pupils by acknowledging concerns, feelings and actions. Examples include: ‘Yes, you may have been talking about your work but I would like you to ….’ ‘Yes it may not seem fair but….’

When-then direction

Avoids the negative by expressing the situation positively. Examples include: It is better to say, ‘When you have finished your work, then you can go out’ than ‘No, you cannot go out because you have not finished your work.’

Privately understood

signals

This draws the class together and builds in sharing times. An individual pupil may recognise a gesture from the teacher as a reminder to concentrate on work. It is sometimes more effective than trying to get your voice heard over a large class. Examples include: Clapping your hands gently twice. Standing next to a ‘learning zone’ poster in the room.

May be appropriate for attention-seeking behaviour. This could be an example of secondary behaviour, so try to focus on the primary behaviour by concentrating on the pupil and not the behaviour.

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Tactical ignoring

Ignore the ‘target’ pupil but praise the nearby pupil. If target pupils change their behaviour, praise them. Examples include: The teacher may say to a nearby pupil: ‘Well done. You have remembered to put your hand up to answer a question.’

Redirect behaviour

Reminds the pupils what they should be doing and avoids getting involved in discussion about what the pupils are doing wrong. It may be possible to focus their attention on the required task. Examples include: ‘Okay Maria and Mark. We’re looking at the extract from Tennyson on page 23 of your books’.

Consequences and sanctions

Needs to be in line with school policy and be implemented clearly and consistently. Examples include: ‘Remember the school rule, Phil. If you are late for lessons without a pink slip you make up that time at lunchtime. It’s there on the poster to remind us all.’

Deferred consequences

Deals later with a pupil who is misbehaving and therefore removed the ‘audience’, that is the rest of the class who are watching the drama unfold, and also avoids a possible confrontation. Dealing with a pupil in a one-to-one situation is more likely to have a positive outcome. Examples include: ‘I’d like to sort this out, Amy, but we can’t do it now. I will talk with you at 10.30.’

For more information on dealing with more challenging behaviour, please refer to the

school’s Behaviour Policy.

At EPHS, we want to teach students to engage in positive learning behaviours such as:

o learning to collaborate with other students

o persevering when finding something difficult

o motivating themselves to work hard by themselves

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o having a sense of responsibility and pride in their own work

Teachers need to model these learning behaviours so students understand that we are all

learners at EPHS. Moreover, teachers need to plan opportunities for students to experience

challenging tasks that require students to learn with and from each other and that has a

clear outcome. The more students experience this kind of learning, the more their

confidence will grow as learners.

Section D: Assessment and monitoring student progress

Assessment plays a vital role in monitoring student progress. Without high quality

assessment, excellent learning cannot take place. Various forms of assessment are used to

ensure students make progress.

The most regular form of assessment is the day to day assessments that teachers do in the

classroom. This assessment can be done orally or in written feedback; a combination of both

is encouraged. Sometimes students will need instant feedback that assesses their thinking

when, at other times, it is best that students receive detailed written feedback.

End of unit assessments can be used as a formative and summative tool. Once the teacher

collates assessment data, the teacher might plan a set of lessons or modify the next learning

sequence to take into account the previous learning. On the other hand, the end of unit

assessment can provide summative data, which is inputted onto SIMs to provide a big

picture of a student’s progress in a subject.

The best quality formative assessment will:

o state clearly what a student has done well, linking praise to specific National

Curriculum or exam board criteria

o highlight what improvements are required to move the student forward to the next

level or grade

o set an action that the student must carry out to prove that they are engaging with

their target

o plan time for students to action their targets

Good formative assessment

Outstanding formative assessment

o The teacher marks a piece of work and gives the following feedback:

John, you have worked hard to improve your

use of vocabulary. What is needed now is for

o The teacher marks a piece of work and gives the following feedback:

John, you show that you are using level 6

vocabulary, e.g. your word choices ‘macabre’

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you to develop a more formal style when

writing for particular audiences.

o The teacher gives back the work to the student and asks him to read the feedback.

o The teacher does more vocabulary work the next term which gives John a chance to improve.

and ‘gruesome’.

Your target is now to develop a more formal

style to move up to a level 7.

Action: To replace the underlined words in

your work with more formal word choices.

o The next lesson, the teacher’s starter is to give students 10 minutes to action their target or sets it as homework.

Outstanding teaching and learning will encourage students to become more reflective and a

good way of developing skills of reflection is to carry out self or peer assessment. Self or

peer assessment should not be confused with self or peer marking. The latter is about

asking students to grade their peers. The former involves students engaging with the set

criteria and suggesting improvements. Self or peer assessment will only work if the criteria is

accessible to students. Best practice would be for students to rewrite the generic mark

scheme in their own words. Although self and peer assessment is a valuable skill to develop

in our students, the teacher should still check the accuracy and quality of the students’

judgements to ensure the comments are helpful and meaningful.

Marking for literacy is also very important at EPHS. Teachers in all departments need to be

consistent in using the agreed symbols when marking students’ work. Teachers should circle

the error and write the following code:

Meaning

Sp Spelling error

^ Word(s) missing

Cap Capital letter needed

Fs Full stop needed

Apos Apostrophe error

// New paragraph needed

Senior leaders and subject leaders will carry out work scrutiny throughout the year. There

should be clear evidence in students’ work of: quality written feedback from the teacher

in line with the school’s Marking Policy; examples of self or peer assessment activities;

marking for literacy errors.

Summative assessment is equally important; teachers need this data to get an accurate

picture of how their students are progressing. Students should receive a National

Curriculum level or exam grade either once or twice a term depending on how many

lessons are timetabled per fortnight.

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All teachers are responsible for looking at their class data and highlighting underachieving

students and deciding on suitable interventions. They must input their termly data onto

SIMs, according to the staff calendar, to support subject leaders and the data manager in

data harvesting.

Alongside each curriculum map, subject leaders are responsible for monitoring that

teachers carry out assessments that are in accordance with the assessment map.

Departments should use the following template for their assessment map.

Here is an example of a completed assessment map for Year 7 English

Year 7 Unit of study from the

SoW

Specific objectives covered in the unit

of study

1st practice assessment

Opportunity for students to action their

targets

Assessed piece

Autumn 1

The Quest Creative Writing

- Understanding genre

- Developing vocabulary

- Punctuation - Sentence Variety

A descriptive writing paragraph

In starter activity after giving back practice assessment

The Quest Short Story

Autumn 2

Novel Study: Private Peaceful

- Reading for meaning

- Language analysis

- Writer’s themes and viewpoint

A PEE (point, evidence, explanation) paragraph on the character Grandma Wolf

Follow up homework on PEE paragraph for another character

Series of questions on final chapter

Spring 1

Advertising in the media

- Language Devices

- Audience and purpose

- Text organisation

To create a poster promoting a new product for a target audience

Self-assessment activity in class to annotate around poster, explaining how it could be improved.

A marketing campaign using radio and magazines

Spring 2

Literary Heritage: Chaucer and Shakespeare

- Reading for meaning

- Language analysis

- Social context of texts

Annotating a small extract from A Midsummer Night’s dream

Follow up homework where students use annotations and teacher feedback to write a paragraph

A presentation comparing the role of women in The Wife of Bath’s tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Summer 1

Modern Poetry

- Sentence Variety - Developing

vocabulary - Text

organisation

Write a poem in the style of Benjamin Zephaniah

Activity where a student reads another student’s poem and then in

Mini poetry anthology to include a ballad, a sonnet, an ode and an

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Section E: Inclusive Teaching

EPHS is proud of its Inclusion Quality Mark award. All students at EPHS should have access

to the curriculum and experience outstanding teaching and learning.

Ensuring inclusion involves setting appropriate, differentiated learning challenges,

responding to students’ diverse learning needs and working to overcome potential barriers

to learning and assessment. PP/SEND/EAL/Accelerated Learners information must be

recorded in teachers’ planners and be used by teachers to inform planning, monitoring and

intervention.

If teachers have a teaching assistant in their class, then the role of the TA must be clearly

defined and planned in advance. The TA should be given specific work to do with students

and regular conversations should take place between the teacher and the TA on how to best

support the learning of targeted students.

The steps that a teacher needs to take when considering how to ensure a positive learning

experience for specific students are:

o create a trusting and supportive learning environment in the class

o build a relationship with the student to secure high levels of motivation and a ‘can-

do’ attitude

o provide equality of opportunity through a range of teaching strategies

o use appropriate assessment approaches to ensure students can evidence their

learning

o set SMART targets with their students

o create opportunities to reward positive behaviour with credits in line with the

school’s behaviour policy.

o liaise with specialists and key workers to seek advice and update them on key issues

Questions to ask when considering provision for specific students are:

pairs create a joint poem using teacher feedback

elegy.

Summer 2

Reading Project

- Reading for meaning

- Writer’s themes and viewpoint

- Social context

A short précis on a book of their choice

Half of the next lesson after feedback given to students to edit précis.

A reading activity booklet for a new reader based on the book of their choice

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Where should I sit them?

What questions should I ask them?

How do they like to learn?

When are they most comfortable?

When are they least comfortable?

How will they react to challenge?

What sort of homework should they do?

What is their most significant barrier they need to overcome if they are to make

progress?

Section F: Homework and its role in extending learning

Homework enhances the learning that takes place during lesson time. Homework should do

the following:

o Raise a child’s level of attainment

o Contribute to the development of excellent study habits

o Reinforce as well as consolidate class work and extend students’ learning

o Provide experiences in problem solving

o Increase students’ background knowledge and conceptual understanding

o Increase independent engagement in the learning process

o Develop skills, attitudes and disciplines that students will need for successful lifelong

learning

Teachers need to think very carefully about the frequency, type and purpose of the

homework they set. Teachers should bear in mind how much homework they are

expected to set and realistic timeframes for its completion in accordance with the school’s

Homework Policy.

Questions that should be considered are:

Is the task being set helping students prepare for new learning or is it extending their

learning?

Is the task being set challenging for students and will it engage them?

How much time is appropriate for the students to complete their homework to an

excellent standard?

How much choice or input do students have in how they present their learning?

Does the task allow students to develop skills in:

o independence

o creativity

o higher-order thinking of analysis, problem-solving or evaluating

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o research and wider reading

o communication and presentation, either written or orally

o using ICT?

Homework activities should feature at least two of the key skills above. If they do not, then

a discussion needs to take place on how to adapt homework to ensure it is developing these

key skills.

The school is committed to using the MLE to encourage more meaningful homework

setting.

At key stage three, students are set one homework project a year in each subject as well as

smaller homework tasks that consolidate or extend learning in class.

At key stage three and four, teachers are encouraged to use Frog to assign homework and

produce rich, multimedia content for student resources.

In 6th form, students will experience the Flipped Classroom model which will replace

traditional ideas regarding homework. This new model will prepare students for the

demands of university and the wider world.

There are two approaches to Flipped Learning; both are equally acceptable and based on

Bloom’s Taxonomy. It depends on the subject and the ability of the group.

o Approach A is to get the students to watch the videos at home and this is using

remembering and understanding skills. Then in class, over a period of time, the

teacher guides students through the higher level of Bloom’s (analysing and

evaluating) through discussion, group collaboration and independent learning. At the

end, students create something new to prove they understand the topic that has

been covered.

o Approach B is to start at the top of Bloom’s and it’s more experimental. Students

undertake an enquiry-based project such as: What would happen to new start-up

businesses if there was no Facebook? (Business Studies) They then plan their project,

using higher level Bloom’s skills and take pitstops when they need to know some

new information. This is when they use the videos in the video library on the MLE.

The monitoring of homework is, initially, the responsibility of subject teachers. Appropriate

sanctions must be given for students who fail to do their homework. Coupled with this,

students should be rewarded, using a range of options as stated in the behaviour policy,

when it is clear that they have made an excellent effort into producing quality work. Subject

leaders carry out regular work scrutiny to monitor standards of homework. A further layer

of monitoring is put in place through SLT carrying out student planner checks and book-

looks to get an overview of homework at EPHS.

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Final Thoughts

This policy provides clear guidance on what is expected of teachers at EPHS. Teaching is our

core purpose; thus we strive to give the best learning experiences for all of our students.

Teaching should always be the number one priority for all teachers and nothing should

detract from what we do best: teach.