Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 1 of 8

Teaching and Learning Policy 1.0 Our Purpose / Mission Statement Is to enable our children to develop skills, knowledge, confidence and attitudes to continually adapt, contribute and create in a changing world. Our children will be fulfilled, happy, safe, and able to build positive relationships now and in the future. At Guillemont Junior School we believe in unlocking and developing the potential of the whole child. Where there are barriers to learning, these are acknowledged and we endeavour to overcome them. We ensure equal opportunities and success for all. Our children will be competent learners that are:

questioning and inquisitive creative independent and evaluative thinkers emotionally literate (they know themselves as learners and are empathetic)

They have skills to work collaboratively, as well as the confidence to make decisions and the resilience to face challenges and overcome mistakes. Our children are encouraged to be inquisitive about their learning and the world around them. They are also encouraged to ask questions and follow and develop their own lines of enquiry; they use research skills to facilitate this. Our children approach their learning creatively and understand that there is more than one way to achieve an objective. They enjoy participating in open-ended tasks. Our children are active citizens understanding rights, responsibilities and respect for self and others), which enables them to make informed choices. This means they will be able to lead and enjoy an active life. 1.1 Our Vision Is to develop confident, inquisitive and independent learners, both children and staff who are:

Willing to learn by trying, knowing its acceptable to make mistakes, by challenging themselves and by succeeding

Keen to learn and eager to try their best Able to express themselves with confidence Able to receive and to give feedback positively Willing to stretch themselves and their thinking Eager to make a positive contribution to their community.

Every child will feel:

Safe Valued Included Happy

We will achieve this by creating a culture of learning and discovery that is stimulating and enjoyable for both children and staff. Our staff work together expertly and enthusiastically delivering the curriculum in a caring and positive learning environment. At the end of their time at Guillemont Junior School, our children will take with them:

Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 2 of 8

A sense of belonging to their junior school Knowing that the staff cared about them At least a secure knowledge of the basics skills so that they are secondary ready The ability and desire to build on that knowledge A strong set of practical, social and emotional life skills A sense of self-worth A sense of personal achievement and pride in their school and their community High expectations for themselves and others.

1.2 Aims We believe that every child in our school is entitled to the best possible education that we can provide. We ensure that all our pupils achieve their full potential and gain the skills and knowledge necessary to become successful in the future. We believe that high quality teaching and learning is the key to achieving this aim and this policy reflects our high expectations of all staff and children who work in our school. The aim of this policy is:

To ensure that high quality learning takes place in every lesson, which results in high standards of pupil achievement

To embed an agreed range of good practice across the school To ensure consistency throughout the school To provide new staff with a clear vision of the school’s expectations To provide agreed focus for monitoring learning and classroom practice

2.0 The School’s Expectations of our pupils. These are built on our core values of:

Respect Fairness Responsibility Honesty Resilience Teamwork Independence Planning learning Reflection Making links and building relationships Curiosity Creativity Emotional awareness Motivation Enterprise Caring

2.1 Our expectations can be summarised as:

Treat everyone, including yourself, with respect including each other’s cultures and beliefs

Always listen to others and tell the truth Work hard and do your best at all times

Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 3 of 8

Help staff and others to help you learn Attendance and punctuality target of 96%

2.2 SEND Provision for children with additional learning needs is detailed in a separate policy (SEND Policy). A copy can be obtained from the school’s website. There is also a copy of the school’s Information Report and a link to the Local Offer. These are documents that relate to the Government changes to Special Educational Needs legislation. 3.0 Teaching We expect:

Staff to have secure subject knowledge and understanding – when support is needed teachers can seek advice from Senior Leaders or subject coordinators

Staff to plan appropriately for all groups of children and access high quality resources That every lesson has a clear Learning Objective/Outcome which is explained to the

class and which remains on display throughout the lesson or is regularly referred to That all lessons demonstrate key elements of good Assessment for Learning (AfL)

practice That activities are differentiated to ensure that children explore, develop and

practice new skills and concepts That staff cater for a range of differing learning styles and cultural diversity thus

ensuring pupil participation and understanding including: o the use of visual stimuli o practical activities o use of representation (concrete resources) whenever possible o ability groupings o peer and teacher modelling o visual support o repetition o emphasis on speaking and listening o scaffolding o talk partners o use of responsive marking

Staff to provide appropriate resources which support learning outcomes and provide challenge for the more able

That time targets are set within lessons to ensure pace is maintained That staff have high expectations of presentation, quality and quantity of work Staff to assess children regularly and gather evidence for Pupil Progress Meetings

(PPMs) That staff are not chair/desk bound in lessons. Furniture is flexible and can be

moved for purpose LSA’s to be fully involved in lessons; they have access to planning Staff to regularly mark children’s work and regularly update the school’s tracking

system LSAs responsible for delivering intervention programmes feedback to teacher

regularly and update class records daily

Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 4 of 8

Staff to encourage children’s independence All lessons to have a plenary when the learning during the lesson can be reviewed

and assessed against the lesson’s success criteria All planning documentation is to be stored and is accessible electronically to all staff

via the school’s intranet. Weekly planning is uploaded onto the network by 9am every Monday.

4.0 The Learning Environment The physical environment, in which children’s learning takes place, should be one which supports and enhances their learning and reflects the ethos of our school. Its’ creation is fundamental to the learning process. It is crucial in helping children to enjoy learning, to reflect and grow in confidence. We believe that children should be taught to take care of and have pride in the school environment. They should also be encouraged to take responsibility for the physical environment. 4.1 We will ensure that each classroom has:

Clearly labelled resources School expectations are displayed Procedure for Fire drill Staff responsible for first aid / each class teacher has a first aid bag Standardised room identification will indicate class names (each class takes its name

from their teacher’s initials e.g. Class MP Teachers desk are tidy and key documents are clearly visible and accessible. These

include: o SEND folder containing the class provision map and intervention tracking

documents (Specialist teacher/LSA reports/external agency reports) o Planning and progress data – plans should be annotated o Cohort Leader/Subject Leader folder containing the relevant data and

information. 4.2 Displays:

Teaching staff are responsible for classroom displays and displays in shared areas of the school. There is a rota is displayed on the staff notice board

Displays should reflect cultural diversity and should have labels in a range of languages including community languages when appropriate

Display should be of a high standard and all children should have the opportunity to have their work displayed either in the classroom or shared areas around the school. Displays should be well maintained

Each classroom must have: o Visual timetable o A celebration wall displaying high quality work from the children; clearly labelled and explained o Working walls that support current (daily) learning for literacy and numeracy lessons o A learning Journey showing the steps and end point of current learning o It is recommended that teachers also display rewards charts and have a system of rewarding/displaying attitudes to learning (behaviour) e.g an engagement

Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 5 of 8

ladder. 5.0 The Curriculum The whole curriculum should enable learners to:

Acquire knowledge, skills, understanding and practical abilities with the motivation to use them

Develop qualities of mind, body, feeling and imagination Extend the effective use of language Develop the effective use of number Appreciate human achievement in all areas of activity including art, music, science,

literature and technology Acquire an understanding of the social, economic and political nature of society Help develop the full potential in individuals for their lives at home, at work, at

leisure, in the community and as active empowered participants in society Develop a sense of self-value and self-respect and to understand and respect the

right to social and cultural differences amongst others Comply with legislation regarding the National Curriculum and its assessment.

Guillemont Junior School has developed a curriculum which we feel is relevant and exciting and addresses the aims above. It is a skills-based curriculum which aims to draw curriculum links in a meaningful way and takes into account the new national curriculum introduced in September 2014. 6.0 Assessment At Guillemont we share the belief that consistent use of assessment for learning (AfL) will:

Enable children to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do Be used to make children aware of the level at which they are working Ensure children are aware of the learning outcomes (LO) and success criteria (SC) to

support their means of achieving success Give children positive reinforcement that celebrates their achievements Provide useful information that enables teachers to plan differentiated work that

addresses the learning needs of each child Involve children and teachers in recognising what needs to be done to improve work

(Next Steps abbreviated to ‘NS’ in children’s books) Inform the target setting process by identifying areas that will support the progress

of individuals and groups of children Be used to provide information for parents during consultations and progress

reports sent home Set homework tasks to support their child’s learning at home Provide information to inform whole school evaluation and strategic planning

6.1 Forms of assessment We recognise the importance of formative, summative and diagnostic assessment and plan opportunities for all three to take place. 6.2 Formative assessment

Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 6 of 8

This involves both child and teacher in celebrating successes that have been achieved as well as identifying areas for development so that next steps can be carefully planned to meet individual learning needs. When formative assessment, or assessment for learning, is embedded in our daily classroom practice, it provides information that can be used to inform planning for teaching and learning that is well matched to children’s needs. This will give individual children the opportunity to make good progress and achieve their potential. Assessment for learning involves sharing learning goals, effective questioning and use of oral and written feedback. For further details about Assessment for Learning (AfL) see below. 6.3 Summative assessment This involves making a judgement of a child’s attainment at a point in time in order to assess their performance in terms of a particular standard. Children are assessed formally in all areas of the curriculum but the main foci are reading, writing and mathematics. A variety of assessment tools are used including:

past KS2 National Tests papers Optional Tests – particularly in Yr4 (sometimes referred to as Yr4 SATs) Pace questions Timed arithmetic questions Mental maths questions Challenge questions using Test Base – teacher resource Active questioning by the teacher – based on Bloom’s Taxonomy Teacher/HLTA/LSA assessments of children’s written work against nationally

recognised criteria. 6.4 Diagnostic assessment This is used when a child is identified as not meeting age related expectations. They assess a child’s learning strengths and difficulties so that the appropriate help and guidance can be provided. This may be in the form of additional interventions. This is organised and led by the school’s Inclusion Manager. This role includes that of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). The diagnostic assessment(s) may involve consultation with agencies working in partnership with the school to support individual children. This often informs the process of setting individual IEP targets for children on the SEND register. The Inclusion Manager is responsible for deploying support staff and planning an overview of intervention programs to meet the needs of children that require additional support. 6.5 Feedback At Guillemont, staff use a marking policy consistently across the whole school. The Marking Policy is a separate document and can be downloaded from the website. The children are taught about the policy and understand it. Verbal and or written feedback will focus on the lesson’s main learning objective (LO) rather than constantly correcting technical inaccuracies. Evidence shows that if there are too many comments or annotations, the child may find it overwhelming which may affect their motivation and self-esteem. Teachers therefore use their professional judgement to correct errors, eg spellings, grammar, punctuation, calculations and factual inaccuracies. We believe it is important to emphasise the positive aspects of a child’s work to maintain their motivation.

Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 7 of 8

Work must be marked promptly and discussed with the child where possible. Teachers use a green pen to mark work and LSAs use a purple pen. Children respond to the teacher’s feedback using a blue pen. Children need to understand the marking criteria so they know what the teacher’s expectations are. Teachers also use pink and green highlighters. Pink is used to highlight inaccuracies and green to set next steps. Teachers will use marking to model correct answers/techniques. Children need opportunities to read their teacher’s feedback in subsequent lessons and be given the opportunity to respond and improve their work. This is called response marking. Comments should be written in language which is easily understood by the child – it is age appropriate. It is not always appropriate or useful to mark every piece of work in depth but it is essential that the teacher acknowledges that the work has been viewed. 6.6 Moderation Moderation exemplars are used throughout the school to level all work but the main foci are reading, writing and mathematics. Assessments are regularly moderated by teachers, members of the Leadership Group and, periodically, external agencies. We also moderate between ourselves and partnership school twice a year – cross phase moderation. 6.7 Reporting to parents and carers The school has an ‘open-door’ policy. Parents can discuss their child’s progress/attainment/achievements at any time. The process of reporting is currently under review as the school moves away from using National Curriculum Levels to ARE (Age Related Expectation). During this interim period, the School will hold parent/carer meetings in the Autumn and Spring Terms were the class teacher discusses progress and sets targets for the rest of the year. During the Summer Term parents/carers receive detailed summative assessment of progress and attainment for English (Speaking and Listening, reading and writing), mathematics and Science. Children also receive effort grades. Yr6 pupils also receive their performance data from the statutory National Curriculum Tests at KS2. Yr3 receive and additional ‘Interim Report’ after the first 4-6 weeks of the Autumn term. 6.8 Grades There are three grades for ARE:

Met – the child has met the Age Related Expectation Exceeding – the child exceeding the Age Related Expectation Below – the child is working below the Age Related Expectation

There are three grades for progress:

B – the child has made expected progress as assessed by the teacher A – the child has exceeded the teacher’s expectation C – the child has not made the expected progress as assessed by the teacher

There are three grades for effort:

B – the child effort is at the expected level as assessed by the teacher A – the child effort exceeded the teacher’s expectation C – the child effort has not made the expected level as assessed by the teacher

Governors Policy Document – Teaching and Learning Policy Ratified March 2017 (Review March 2018)

Page 8 of 8

7.0 Assessment for Learning (AfL) All lessons should contain these AfL elements. At the planning stage:

Use assessments from the plenary of the last lesson assessment related to success criteria to ensure children secure or require reinforcement that there is an opportunity for peer or self-assessment

Generate open ended questions, differentiated to assess understanding of the more able to provide further challenge in next lesson during plenary

Use information from marking responses from children to teacher’s comments (evidence of response marking – see the Marking Policy).

During the teacher input to every lesson:

If appropriate, the teacher will spend time re-visiting feedback from the last piece of work marked

Recap on previous learning eg What did you learn in our last lesson? Share Learning Outcomes (LO) for the lesson e.g. What does this mean? What do you

know already? Introduce Success Criteria (SC). Older children can generate their own eg what will

make this a good piece of work? How will know I have been successful in this lesson? Model the activity Use ‘representation’ (e.g. concrete resources) in conjunction with modelling Use focussed questions to check understanding Ensure activities are engaging and varied.

Main Activity:

Identify in the planning a single ‘Focus Group’ to work with for the duration of the main activity (Rotate this between groups during the week)

Use mini-plenaries for example to revisit LO and SC to share a good example eg have they achieved all elements of the learning objective?

Use extension activities for those who complete early and also means for pupils to be independent/self-checking whilst the staff are working with focus groups.

Plenary (summary to a lesson or section of a lesson):

Revisit LO and SC e.g. What have we been learning about today? Have we achieved all the success criteria?

Peer/ self-assess work against success criteria eg How could I make an improvement?

Visual signs eg use of thumbs up / thumbs down Use of Talk Partners.