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UCS TEACHING AND LEARNING REVIEW 2018–19

UCS TEACHING AND LEARNING REVIEW...4 UCS TEACHING AND LEARNING REVIEW UCS TEACHING AND LEARNING REVIEW 5 UCS provides a distinctive, liberal education focused on the individual. It

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UCS TEACHINGAND LEARNINGREVIEW2018–19

U C S T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G R E V I E W 32 U C S T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G R E V I E W

which emphasised the conscientious and thoughtful manner in which we all go about our work at UCS.

Collaboration is key to success at UCS. We are a school where staff talk to each other. The TeachMeets continue to provide rich and engaging mini-presentations which frequently nudge teachers to tweak their practice. The coaching programme also continues to underpin what we do. All new staff are trained in it as part of their induction and with 49 colleagues now trained in basic coaching skills it is increasingly an integral aspect of life at UCS. Coaching offers tools and resources to increase personal awareness, confidence, fulfilment and self-sufficiency. Coaching has helped to develop the supportive and collaborative culture where people flourish.

Educational research has traditionally been one-way traffic. Research has been something done to teachers and not something done by teachers. This has led to a history of teachers being given answers to questions they didn’t ask and solutions to problems that never existed. Add to this, the gap between theory and practice, poorly implemented research and little time for teachers to engage with the demands of complex material and we have a profession that has been far behind other fields. The work of our Research Fellow attempts to

This inaugural review of Teaching and Learning at UCS celebrates the excellent work done by members of staff in every academic department. Whilst, UCS is committed to exploring new approaches in teaching and learning, and teacher collaboration, one of our distinguishing features is the way we support teachers to become the best version of themselves. In the course of a day, a student will experience several different teaching approaches. We are proud of this diversity, and believe that it makes for one of the most rich and rewarding aspects of the school. Whether the technology used is old or new, the feedback written, oral, peer or self-generated, one thing that pervades our approach is a belief in independent learning and academic rigour – students are encouraged to question and to challenge, to push their own learning forward.

Our formal professional development training encourages teachers to deliver their subjects in varied and interesting ways, and to share different approaches with colleagues. All of this work has one aim – to improve the learning outcomes of our young people. The launch of our Professional Development Portfolio (PDP) in the Autumn Term replaced the Teacher Performance Review process. It put professional development into the hands of every teacher. PDP topics identified by colleagues

change this. Working alongside Research Schools International, UCS has been investigating the ways in which the new AKO Classroom can be used effectively to promote positive learning relationships. The results of this significant piece of work will be fully disseminated next year. Three teachers have also investigated the impact of low stakes testing. This research has already had an impact with 87% of respondents in a recent survey reporting that they have made use of this strategy on the back of the teachers’ research findings.

What follows is a snapshot of the work we have undertaken at UCS to maintain high standards in teaching and learning. It includes highlights and feedback from students and staff. Taken together, it provides an insight into the professionalism and passion of all of our teachers. It also testifies to their appetite for their subjects and for their love of learning for its own sake.

Jessica Porter and Katie ReevesCo-Directors of Teaching and Learning

Foreword

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UCS provides a distinctive, liberal education focused on the individual. It aims to foster intellectual curiosity and independence of mind by encouraging students to develop as lifelong learners. Key to this is becoming an effective learner through our four UCS Learning Values. Developing students’ application of the Learning Values takes place every day in lessons where subject departments work tirelessly to build the learning power of their students.

This year, the use of the Learning Values was enhanced through two new exciting schemes for the Entry and the Shell.

In the second week of September the Entry students were introduced to the Values through the Learning Values week. Each morning, students had time allocated for them to take part in practical activities which aimed to raise their awareness of both what the Values entail and crucially, how they can use them to enhance their learning. Then, in March 2019 the Shell students took part in a “Learning and Working Values Afternoon” where they considered the relevance of the Learning Values to the world beyond school.

Enrichment Weeks

“We found the sessions useful. It was good to learn about the values through doing stuff rather than being told what they are.”

“I learnt that the Learning Values feature in all aspects of lessons

even if it doesn’t seem like it and that I should always be aiming

to use them.”

“Now, I know more about them [the Learning Values] I will try and

put my hand up in class less and instead try to figure out the answer

on my own and try to be more resilient when things don’t

go to plan.”

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Approaching your learning with confidence. Never giving up and always motivating and challenging yourself to become a better learner.

Taking charge of your learning, starting with outstanding punctuality and organisation.

Treating others’ views with kindness and consideration, and working with your peers so that you can help others learn as well as learning from those around you.

Knowing how to develop your own academic identity and interests; capitalising on the resources available to you.

Resilient learners:

• Focus in lessons and manage distractions, thinking before acting

• Deal with difficulty positively• Show self-belief• Persevere when completing a task

Responsible learners:

• Are prepared for lessons and bring the right equipment.

• Meet deadlines• Organise their notes• Respond to marking to improve learning

Positive learning relationships are based on:

• Actively listening to others• Respecting others’ right to learn• Understanding other people’s thoughts and

opinions• Communicating your own thinking to help

others’

Resourceful learners:

• Pay attention to detail so that they understand issues accurately

• Apply their existing knowledge to other subjects and contexts

• Think on their feet, so they stay calm when put under pressure

• Conduct research by selecting appropriate sources and prioritising information

Resilience

Responsibility Relationships

Resourcefulness

UCS Learning Values

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Coaching at UCS

Coaching is one of the most powerful tools for unlocking a person’s natural abilities to foster awareness, leadership, community, and personal development. At its core, coaching places the ownership and responsibility on the coachee. A coaching approach is founded on the premise of ‘ask, don’t tell’. That means a coach draws out the insight, confidence, and motivation already within the coachee, facilitating their ability to access the innate wisdom and answers within.

There are opportunities at UCS to coach, be coached, and receive coaching feedback. UCS has developed the capacity in-house to deliver a two day introductory course to coaching. This course now forms an integral aspect of new staff induction. Termly Coach Meets provide opportunities for colleagues to develop their “coaching muscle” and share ideas and in the Summer Term, coaching trios provide the opportunity for coaches to receive feedback on their coaching style.

UC S T E AC H E R

UC S S T U DE N T

UC S T E AC H E R

UC S S T U DE N T

“Through coaching I have forged meaningful and lasting connections

with colleagues, far beyond my own department. It has been truly

rewarding to see the impact coaching has had. Coachees’ heightened

awareness of their priorities and the options open to them has led to

positive, purposeful action and a real sense of empowerment, change and

development. Personally, as a coachee I have been able to gain clarity,

arrive at conclusions and make huge decisions with the support of

my coach.”

“The coaching sessions throughout this year have helped massively.

I’ll be honest, I struggled for mostof the year, and the transition to

A levels was difficult. But my coaching sessions often calmed me down, and I believe I made better

decisions as a result of them.”

“I wanted to say a huge thank you, I have found the two coaching

sessions incredibly valuable and insightful. As an unqualified and new teacher, I will use these skills

and I really believe they will be highly effective at making my

lessons land.”

“I found the coaching sessions very beneficial to me not only as a student but also as a person. The

sessions helped me resolve personal and academic issues I was facing,

most notably my sleeping schedule. The coaching sessions helped give me gain an additional perspective on the issues I had and helped me talk about things that I probably

wouldn’t have talked with anyone about if not for the sessions.”

UC S S T U DE N T

“Mini-therapy sessions that help to sort out small problems before

they become big problems.”

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“It helped to secure that knowledge that was on the edge of being forgotten. Because of the questions, I found that my recall in practice tests was better without previous revision.”

Action ResearchBuilding confidence through no stakes and low stakes testing in the classroom.

In February of 2019, Katie Reeves, Emma Taylor and Andrew Quirke presented the results of their completed action research project to staff. The aim of this project was to assess how using a specific form of retrieval practice (low stakes and no stakes testing) regularly in lessons affects students’ overall performance across Key Stages 3 and 4. Overall the results of the project were extremely positive, and using this strategy consistently in lessons was shown to have a positive effect on academic outcomes. The group found that students were able to articulate how the intervention had supported their learning and they could identify evidence of personal academic improvement across the term. Furthermore, the evidence shows that the intervention has helped to improve student confidence in a more formal test setting.

Following the staff presentation a recent survey has shown that staff are using the strategy and are reporting similar conclusions to the study from their own classes.

Have you been using low stakes or no stakes testing in your lessons? (31 responses)

12.9%

87.1%

UC S S T U DE N T

Yes No

UC S T E AC H E R

“Students respond well to the challenge it represents without the

associated threat of a teacher marked test. I have mostly been using it

with the Upper Remove focusing on knowledge (AO1) content and there has been a definite increase in the

students’ retention of that material – the equations they need to remember,

for example.”

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TeachMeets

A TeachMeet is an informal but organised meeting for teachers to share good practice,practical innovations and personal insights into their teaching. Teachers give ten-minute presentations on an element of their classroom practice. These presentations can plant a seed and encourage further collaboration outside of any formal structures.

This year, our TeachMeet programme included an exchange with one of our partner schools, the London Academy of Excellence; where five of our teachers travelled to the LAE in November and five LAE teachers held a TeachMeet at UCS in January.

The following teachers have prepared and delivered presentations on the following topics:

The impact of low stakes testing on learning – Katie Reeves and Emma Taylor The impact of coaching on Sixth formers – Stuart Cork

How do fixed learning sets impact collaborative relationships with students?– James Firth

Beyond academic skills: opportunities for leadership and communication in the Sixth Form– Russell Chapman and Lisa Jenkins The impact of feedback on confidence and communication– Lucy Birchenough

Using the AKO Classroom effectively to enhance peer feedback– Mark English

Strategies for promoting essay writing skills in the sixth form– Phil Miller

The importance of relationships– Adrain Barnish

Metacognition and plenaries– Henry Franks

Using debates for powerful effects– Justin Whitton

How do students learn?– Patrick Milton

Dual Coding– Katie Reeves

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The AKO CentreAn innovative space for teaching and learning.

During the summer of 2018 the Enav Library underwent a comprehensive refurbishment. It reopened in November 2018 as the AKO Centre, a flexible space specifically designed to support innovative teaching and learning across the entire curriculum.

The AKO Classroom, featuring write-on tables and walls, has given teachers the opportunity to escape the constraints of the traditional classroom and stimulate pupils’ intellectual curiosity with creative and innovative lessons.

The refurbished AKO Centre Library provides a range of study spaces for pupils, including a seminar room, booths and breakfast-bar seating. It has proved popular with all year groups: statistics show a 47% increase in library visits, with an uplift in book borrowing as a result.

Since the centre opened there has been a marked increase in the number of pupils taking advantage of one-to-one research sessions offered by librarians. In particular this has supported pupils undertaking the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), but those pupils undertaking research projects at all stages of the school have also taken advantage of this opportunity.

How can teachers effectively use the new classroom space to promote positive relationships?

In 2019 UCS partnered with Research Schools International to gather evidence about the use of the AKO Classroom and to make suggestions as to how it could be used to maximum effect.

Over 50% of the students involved in the sample (sample size of 57 students) said that writing on the walls was the differentiating factors of the space. Many students linked the writing on the walls to the ability to visualise and assess others work and make the lesson more fun.

The most popular arrangement of the AKO classroom was groups of two or three. Many students found this arrangement gave a good balance between cooperative thinking and focus.

UC S T E AC H E R

“Such an amazing and imaginative teaching

space. All students were fully engaged;

they were learning and having fun.”

S I X T H PU PI L

“As a space for working, the AKO Centre

really excels.”

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Department DevelopmentPlanning

In September 2018 all HoDs were asked to submit a working departmental development plan for 2018–2020. In this, departments looked at how the broad aims of the whole-school plan are relevant to their curriculum areas in order to align their departmental vision with that of the school’s aims and ethos.

Departments were asked to consider 4 separate areas; curriculum, the quality of teaching and learning, achievement and attainment, and community and outreach. In the spirit of collaboration, some of the key ideas, initiatives and progress of each department in the first of these two areas are shared below.

History of ArtEmbedding of AKO-specific lessons into the Sixth curriculum.

BiologyRedesigned the Shell syllabus with a focus on experimental design skills to address the struggles that GCSE students have in answering experimental design questions in the IGCSE Biology papers. Data was then analysed to see if embedding experimental design skills in their Shell year has impacted their ability to answer experimental design questions at the GCSE level.

ClassicsTeachers have been developing synoptic essay writing skills earlier on in the GCSE course than usual. We have done this by integrating thematic responses and exploring questions of characterisation with the Remove as we have read the prose set text, rather than waiting to finish it before tackling synoptic essays.

Implementing retrieval practice – in the Shell topics were re-visited over time. This enabled the boys to take pride in remembering what they had learnt before as well as solidifying the content and skills.

C U R R IC U LU M

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DramaWe have designed A5 stickers, for each lesson in the Lower Remove course, for use at the start and end of each lesson. The questions on these stickers are designed to introduce the lesson, or bring back the previous work, and based on low stakes testing. Each sticker also includes a QR code, which links to relevant additional information on the internet.

EconomicsIntroduced behavioural economics into both the Middle School and Sixth Form academic enrichment programmes, in order to make pupils aware of a wider range of ideas and approaches within Economics.

EnglishWe have introduced a successful Middle School enrichment programme concentrating on the theory and practice of literary criticism. Students have looked at post-colonialism, feminism and Marxism so far. We have also collaborated with the Drama department to build up a bank of dramaturgical words and phrases for pupils to use to focus effective Drama essays.

GeographyWe have developed a collaborative, reciprocal partnership with the Maths Dept to deliver the teaching of statistical skills for examination to our A Level Geographers. In turn the Geography department provided two sessions on geographical insights into the big data set A Level mathematicians have to handle.

History and PoliticsOne focus has been on ways of enriching the curriculum. There have been trips to the United States and to Berlin and Auschwitz. In the US students met Dorothy Zelmer, who had taken part in the Freedom Summer of 1964 and was a leading member for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Journalist Gabriel Pogrund spoke to the students on Trump’s America. Mark Levy spoke to students about the civil rights movement. He was also part of the Freedom Summer and knew Dorothy Zelmer from his time in the US. Professor Gary Sheffield visited and spoke to students about the Great War.

MathsFrom September 2019, Core Maths is an option for Transitus pupils and will be an important and integral part of the post-16 UCS curriculum. Core Maths, which is equivalent to an AS on the UCAS tariff, is a fourth subject, principally aimed at those students who wish to pursue some post-16 Mathematics, but who do not want to take the full A Level course.

Modern LanguagesWe managed and reviewed the introduction of Italian onto the main curriculum for LR and then for study at IGCSE level from the Remove year, starting in September 2019.

Continued the drive for further cultural input in the Lower and Middle School, including embedded cultural elements in the Italian curriculum, new elements in Shell French and updated versions in Middle School German.

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Put into place three Remove Enrichment Programmes: Film Studies, Linguistics, Translation and Codebreaking and Oriental Studies.

MusicEntry: Teaching of samba’s essential features through whole class singing and body percussion sop as to make more immediate and memorable those features to be used in composition.

Remove: Instigation of a Remove Performing exam (rather than a pure listening paper) to help facilitate successful completion of real coursework submission as early as possible in UR.

PhilosophyWe focussed on how to integrate the teaching of set texts into a broader scheme of work. Our favoured strategies sought to strike a balance between helping the students to understand the structure of a whole course and helping them to appreciate one of the texts within it as a unified body of thought.

PhysicsSignificant changes have been made to the Shell and Entry schemes of work to try to increase a students interest in science over the teaching of content. For both years the students focus on mathematical and practical skills in the context of a small number of topics, including skills that no longer are necessary in the GCSE and A-level specifications, such as soldering. Higher up the

school Silver CREST awards are being offered in Remove, encouraging students to undertake a 30 hour independent project of their own devising, and the department is now using Educake, an online test setting and marking program that students can use independently to generate revision tests focusing on knowledge.

PsychologyWe aimed to enhance opportunities for learning in novel places. To do this we ran a trip to Vienna where pupils could refer to real world applications of Psychology.

History of ArtCreation and curation of an online academic library (Alexandria) with thumbnails to key texts.

BiologyEach member of the Biology department completed a number of in-department peer observations. These were followed up in departmental meetings, with the aim of sharing ideas, resources and best practice.

QUA L I T Y OF T E AC H I NGA N D L E A R N I NG

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ClassicsUse of low stakes testing at the beginning of lessons. Use of the AKO Classroom to develop collaborative and cumulative essay writing with the Sixth. Students use different colour pens for essay writing on tables and boards, so they can see material contributed by each member of the class and model different essay structures by moving tables around. Expansion of Doceri video commentaries of GCSE set texts to include the Greek Homer text.

Computer Science Teachers took the time to showcase interesting T&L methods in mutual lesson observations. This included showcasing a compsci lesson in the AKO Classroom which utilised the whiteboard tables and cafe-style room layout; students live programming; utilising Google Colaboratory (an online programming notebook) for a series of tasks that thoughtfully scaffolded and layered a new level of difficulty with each question.

Design and TechnologyTime allocated in lessons for students to act on feedback. This has included a focus on the use of WWW and EBI for all KS3 projects and peer and self-evaluation in starters and plenaries.

The ‘Three before me’ strategy has been used by teachers in the regularly. Students must ask three other students before coming to the teacher for help, thus encouraging resilience.

DramaThe Team Drives for GCSE and A Level have expanded considerably with useful resources and guidance documents, exemplar essays, video examples of best work, and documents with terminology and technical detail.

EconomicsWe introduced ‘A Lesson That Worked’ as a standing order item on the agenda for departmental meetings, providing regular opportunities for the sharing and discussion of best practice in the classroom. At each meeting, a different member of the department describes a lesson that he feels was a success and highlights the key reasons why.

EnglishMembers of the department have chosen subject-specific PDP titles, including one on teaching Modern Drama, which ties in with our curriculum planning. A number of members of the department have been committed to using the AKO classroom and have shared their ideas in departmental meetings.

GeographyUse of low stakes testing with KS4 and KS5.

History and PoliticsThe focus has been on deepening our understanding of the current syllabuses in History and Politics. To achieve this colleagues attended Edexcel Politics and History CPD and debriefed the department and the students

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on the boards’ current interpretation of its requirements. Departmental meetings have been dedicated to agreeing common approaches to source and essay questions on the current syllabuses. We have instituted after school revision sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays for Sixth History and Politics students and will continue with this next academic year.

MathsWe have been starting to embed pedagogical principles and methods, as detailed in “How I Wish I’d Taught Maths” by Craig Barton (2018). These include: weekly low-stakes tests with every all classes; deliberate practice (breaking down skills into sub-skills and practising those first to avoid cognitive overload later); goal-free problems; and “silent teacher”.

Promoting healthy, effective revision by having “Cheat Sheet” Tests in which pupils are required to create a cheat-sheet in advance that they can use freely during the test. In practice, the act of making a cheat sheet means the pupil often doesn’t actually need it after all.

“Maths in Motion” in Activities Week; Students participate in a school-wide QR Code treasure hunt around the school, solving clues to take them to the next Maths problem. The rest of the day has students considering the Maths of every day motion. In the morning, they work through a carousel of eight 15 minute activities ranging from network problems to the flight of projectiles. In the afternoon they hear a talk from Rob Eastaway

about the hidden mathematics of sport, gaining an appreciation for some real-life applications of Mathematics.

Modern LanguagesWe have undertaken department resource sharing meetings to share and discuss best practice We have reviewed the training and involvement of staff in the Oxbridge preparation programme.

MusicColour coded marking of set work and contextual essays to aid students in seeing the sizeable proportion of context and related repertoire required in relation to analysis of their set work.

Teaching of principle features of set works by setting them as structured unfamiliar listening exercises.

Remove: Incorporating regular low stakes testing as a way of revisiting and building knowledge and vocabulary around the GCSE set works.

PhilosophyOne of the Philosophy Department’s projects this year related to target-setting. We experimented with the formulation and communication of setting targets for students. As we went from one term to the next we made them more individualised and conveyed them to students in a greater variety of ways.

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PhysicsThe new IT infrastructure in the department has caused significant changes in the teaching and learning in physics, with new software such as One Note being used widely. Similarly, online applets have been used to demonstrate key parts of the content that are hard to demonstrate clearly under normal circumstances.

To help increase the sharing of good practice in the department we are now team planning units of work, a program in which a number of teachers look over a particular part of the course, identify common misconceptions, supply useful resources and explain teaching strategies that have proved to be highly beneficial. This is all then placed in a single document and shared with all teachers in the department.

PsychologyObjective: High academic achievement through refined teaching methods / Approach implemented: Reviewed SOW linking streamlining the content, 1:1 sessions offered to underachieving pupils (6 sessions only), mentoring programme between 6th form and Transitus (once a week meetings), better selection of resources used (new textbook, revision guides, revision cards).

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The Professional Development Portfolio

In the Autumn Term the PDP was launched. This offers an opportunity for teachers to reflect on a specific area of their work, be it subject-based, or pastoral, or theoretical, and to investigate it further. It is based on trust and challenge and belongs to the individual member of staff, who is responsible for the effective completion of her or his own process.

Some of the PDP topics being explored by staff are outlined below. They give an insight into the huge range of interests of staff and also indicate the multifaceted nature of a teacher’s role.

• Using coaching more in a pastoral context

• Embedding and promoting purposeful practice as a means of differentiation

• Neural Pathways not Rope-swings (aka Effective Questioning)

• The skill of conveying new concepts and ideas, to make abstract, complex ideas clear and concrete in Further Core Maths

• Incorporating Barak Rosenshine’s principles of instruction into departmental policy

• Understanding and giving adequate support to the anxious learner

• Effectively tracking the academic progress of boys in the UR to ensure successful subject choices at Sixth Form?

• The physical space in which children learn

• How can coaching help in the UCAS application process (inc Oxbridge prep)?

• Mentoring new teachers with a focus on pastoral and PSHE

• Uncovering strategies to promote independent problem solving/next steps (Resourcefulness & Resilience)

• Pose, Pause, Pounce, Bounce: effective questioning in the classroom

• How to develop independent learners via improved metacognition in the classroom environment

• The theory behind marginal gains and how we can employ this in Modern Languages

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Routes into Qualified Teacher Status

With an increasing amount of evidence-based knowledge about how people learn it is our responsibility as teachers to engage with the science of learning. However, teaching continues to be an art which we hone and practice each time we are in the classroom. All new teachers at UCS who have not done a recognised teacher training qualification work towards Qualified Teacher Status by means of the Apprenticeship programme. 2018–19 saw the first cohort of UCS “teaching apprentices” achieve QTS.

As part of the programme teachers have a six-week placement at a second, contrasting school in addition to taking part in a full and formal programme of observations and reflection at UCS.

Congratulations go to the first 4 UCS “teaching apprentices” who have achieved QTS this year:

• Ben Vliegen, in the DT Department, who will be taking on the role of Head of DT at UCS in September 2019.

• Henry Franks, also in the DT Department, who will be taking on the additional role of Middle School Enrichment Coordinator in September 2019.

• Sam Tiffin, in the PE Department, who is leaving UCS after two years to join Cedars School in September 2019 as Head of Rugby.

• Mohamed Mohamed, in the PE Department, who is returning to UCS in the short term.

In addition four teachers have successfully completed their NQT year, following their PGCE. Congratulations go to James Firth (Geography), Connor Abbott (Drama), Susannah Maze (History & Politics) and Alice McVicker (Art).

“The second school placement was an absolute eye-opener for me; seeing how severe cases of SEND are dealt with and teaching large groups of

mixed gender students. The overall intensity and high expectations meant

that I have had the opportunity to identify my weaknesses and reflect on them, as well as developing my

strengths, even further.”

“I have particularly enjoyed theTeachMeets where I have hadthe opportunity to learn from

other teachers’ experiences and recommendations. The coaching course has helped me with asking purposeful

questions in relation to tracking & reporting, mentoring students, and in difficult situations. Even though I have only had the initial coaching

training, I have felt the advantages and effectiveness that come with it. The

main impact on my teaching was the feedback and one-on-one training by my visiting tutor. With his guidance, I have developed my assessment and teaching strategies, as well as a high

standard of lesson planning.”