Big Idea - How is our curriculum delivered? What does it look and feel like in our classrooms?

 

Pedagogical Approaches and Practice

Our teachers are experts in their subjects who use responsive, research-informed techniques that support long-term retrieval, ensuring consistency of delivery and deep learning. In order to ensure that we maximise what our students learn our teachers:

• Possess expert subject and pedagogical knowledge that delivers an excellent quality of education though a deep understanding and love of the subject they teach
• Provide opportunities for students to revisit previous learning at the beginning of each lesson.
• Introduce new knowledge and concepts in small steps, to ensure lots of opportunities for students to practise what they have learnt.  
• Share models and worked examples so that students can see precisely what they are expected to achieve.
• Provide temporary scaffolds so all students are supported to access learning and demonstrate what they understand.
• Routinely and skillfully check students’ understanding through effective questioning and give feedback to help them constantly improve.  
• Anticipate and tackle head on misconception, errors and gaps.
• Reinforce knowledge that deepens understanding and promotes the transition from novice to expert, with fluent comprehension and application of specialist vocabulary. The transition is supported by evidence-informed strategies of rehearsal, including retrieval practice and elaboration.
• Provide opportunities for independent practice 

Lesson structure and pedagogical framework

Our pedagogical principles framework provides all teachers with a guide through which they can adapt and deliver the collaboratively planned lessons. Although much of this framework is already planned into the lesson, teachers may use this flexibly when considering the adaptation needed to suit the students they are teaching. 

There is not an expectation for teachers to rigidly adapt every lesson using this framework; however, we do expect aspects of this lesson structure to feature, at appropriate points.  We recognise that every subject is unique and that subject specific pedagogy must be developed within each discipline to ensure the integrity of the subject is maintained. For this reason, subject leaders have adapted this pedagogical framework to ensure it suits the unique needs of their disciplines as required.

Core Classroom Routines:

To ensure our students access and engage with our ambitious curriculum effectively, we have established consistent expectations around classroom culture, across the academy.

There are clear routines for starts and ends of the lessons (e.g. every lesson starts with a retrieval practice and ends with a consolidation activity)  and core routines within the body of the lesson (e,g think, pair share, sharing learning intentions, how students self-assess with teachers circulating). 
 

Pedagogy 

With our approach to everything, we are evidence informed and use the best research available to guide our practice.

Our expert teachers utilise techniques to establish high expectations in their classrooms. The precise focus on pedagogical techniques coupled with the shared language this framework provides, ensures our student experience consistently high expectations, regardless of the teacher or the lesson. 

Lessons within the curriculum and sequence of learning have these pedagogical approaches planned into them. Below is what you would expect to find within various phases within these. 

Lesson Phase 

Typical activities for each phase
Retrieval Practice/|Activating prior knowledge		All lesson start with a retrieval practice- a common approach across the academy * activating prior learning is not reserved simply for the start of lessons and in fact where possible and appropriate, elements of prior learning should be incorporated into new learning so that students are able to make links
Knowledge Development Explicit instruction and Explaining	I do	When in the explicit instruction phase: Sharing Learning Intentions/Curriculum Questions Clear and concise direct instruction – using an economy of language Use of pre-planned concrete examples and analogies to explain concepts Effective examples and non-examples  Presentation of information must be sure to reduce cognitive load i.e. removing superfluous and distracting material Explicitly teach vocabulary Revisit key material, concepts and key words (to be done multiple times throughout a lesson - not just at this point of a lesson) Explaining- explanations are: Specific - Break down instructions  Concrete - Small actionable steps  Sequential – Instructions follow a logical order  Observable – Instructions given in a way that teachers can seen they are being followed Concise – Use minimum number of words  Consistent – Using accessible language  Teachers will also consider the following when planning/giving explanations: Clear (lacking in extraneous cognitive load), link to prior knowledge and develop in a logical sequence to support schema development, engaging and interesting,  address common misconceptions,  include storytelling elements, analogies, anecdotes, links to the real world, models, examples and non-examples and are responsive to the students needs.
Guided Practice Modelling		Live Modelling- use of visualiser, narrating thinking Periodically stop to check the latest step in the modelled example is understood, checking their understanding. I do (teacher), We do (co-constructed), Providing exemplars Demonstrations Use of the visualiser Live modelling e.g. creating a model paragraph Deconstructing models with assessment criteria
Guided Practice Checking for understanding		Targeted questioning to check for understanding Target questioning to ask a student to repeat a process/definition etc. Think, pair, share Actively observing as students discuss their understanding with each other/independent practice
Guided practice Modelling with students	We do	After the modelling input (I Do), students are ready to start doing things themselves – the hand-over begins: Scaffolded, guided practice: first task, exactly like the modelled examples with a couple of partially completed examples for students to complete, checked via whiteboards/questions- everyone showing their completed examples. Invite students to contribute suggestions or to recall key steps in the procedure. (We Do). Short-feedback loops:  Students now practise examples on their own, set from the screen; each example is a short-answer form. For each one, students Show Call or respond with the Show Me whiteboard routine so the teacher can check for early success. Corrective feedback is offered; difficulties are discussed (We Do). Turn and talk  Co-constructing an answer on the whiteboard / under the visualiser taking ideas from the students Rehearsal Actively observing and hunting for good answers to CFU and for ‘Show call’
Silent Independent Study	You do	You do (Independent- but still part of Guided Practice): More extended practice. Now students engage in more extended guided practice, with a task containing repeat examples with gradual variation and difficulty incline. Teacher circulates actively, looking to see that the new learning is being applied successfully around the room. Show Call , evaluate, repeat/provide more practice if necessary (You Do). Independent task completion Extended writing Solving problems independently
Independent Practice		Students apply their new learning to a phase of independent practice. working for 10 or more minutes on questions or a task, on their own.  The task is designed with some key features: Tiered scaffolds: students can access the task with more or less support as required A gradient of increasing difficulty: there are opportunities to jump forward or to include more complex elements; additional practice questions available at various levels. Sustained attention- active in supervision to support students’ sustained attention without interrupting the Golden Silence of independent study – providing time cues, prompts and scaffolds in a non-intrusive way We define independent practice as  Students writing/working on cue, thoughtfully, for a significant period Purposeful Independent Practice (10 mins or more) High Participation and Think Ratio Focused, silent, thoughtful, reflective writing/working time Redrafting/improving where necessary Minimal teacher interruption- avoiding stop/starts
Consolidation/ Reflection		This is part of our core routines (ends of lessons). This will vary depending on the subject/discipline and nature/form of learning, but can include: RTP (Responsive Teacher Point- our name for assessments)- Low stakes/checkpoint (formative) or synoptic (summative) Self-assessment or peer assessment using a success criteria.  Meta-cognitive questioning linked to Show Call As an integral part of our responsive teaching approach this part of the lesson is crucial- to get a reliable idea of what has been learnt and checking Learning Intentions have been achieved. Consolidation/reflection activities should be:  Quick - Two or three questions; 1-2 simple recall, 1 more nuanced (RTM- Planned Questions) Specific - Questions should link to the lesson Varied - Some multiple choice, some one word, some sentence/paragraph Predictable - Questions are obvious and based on what has been taught Silent and Solo - Students are silent and work by themselves

 

Morning/Afternoon Meetings and Masterclasses

Year 7, 8 and 9 students experience collective learning everyday through either a Morning or Afternoon Meeting. These meetings support our students’ memory retention of core knowledge ensuring that the most important aspects of the curriculum are being returned to regularly and therefore remembered for the long term. They support our students’ in developing retrieval practice skills, their independent home learning and their readiness to learn through checking students have the correct equipment and books for the day. A vital part of our meetings is a reflection on one of our values, with students being issued with a daily challenge. These are not only based around our values but also around the development of character virtues (as set out by the Association for Character Education and the Jubilee Centre). This contributes to our wider character curriculum. Year 10 and 11 students attend masterclasses each week in English, maths, science (history and geography are included in Year 11). This allows for the modelling of exam style questions and the technique required by an expert teacher. 

Reading Programme & Literacy Intervention

We are committed to ensuring that our students develop high levels of literacy. 
Universal offer:

• Students in years 7, 8 and 9 take part in a Reading Fluency Program delivered during their Family Time. This is developed using evidence informed research and pedagogies taken from the Walkthrus series. 
• The programme is based around the work of Timothy Rasinski, Professor of Literacy Education at Kent State University, who developed a fluency development lesson structure and a corresponding rubric with which to measure success in reading fluency). We use this rubric at regular points throughout to help us understand the fluency of our students
• During the form time programme students read high quality, challenging texts daily.
• They hear fluent reading being modelled to them frequently by the teacher leading the reading sessions as well as following a reciprocal reading approach- a structured approach to teaching reading comprehension strategies rooted in 4 main strands. When reading the emphasis may be on modelling the reciprocal reading strategies of predict, clarify, question and summarise.
• The aims of this are to develop confident, fluent readers; to develop a love for reading through experiencing a range of texts across the academic year and to develop their character as we select a diverse range of books which expose students to a variety of perspectives thus developing their cultural capital.

Family Time Reading Session Structure

Each family time session has been written and scripted to include the following:

• The pages of the text to be read  and includes any guidance on pre-reading and reading to be done at home. 
• Modelling of fluent reading by the teacher
• Identified key vocabulary and deliberate vocabulary development.
• Scripted questions about the text and comprehension discussions 
• Choral reading and rehearsed reading of the parts of the text by students. 
• Guidance on assessment and use of Rasinski Rubric

In addition to this, 

• Vocabulary development has been a feature of our new curriculum across all subject areas with a focus on etymology and disciplinary language
• Development of the library as a key resource open to all students across the academy with planned lessons and activities to support students.

Additional Interventions

• 1-1 Reading intervention for identified students with SAS of below 80 take part in a 15 week support focussing on comprehension, inference and fluency.  Pupils attend 2 x 30 min sessions per week.
• 1-1/small group intervention for pupils identified who require phonemic awareness. The Fresh Start Program by Read Write Inc is used to support students in addition to additional reading strategies that support comprehension and analysis skills. 
• 1-1 and small group support for those students identified with a diagnosis of dyslexia or displays dyslexic difficulties. 

SEND

We are relentlessly ambitious for all of our students, including students with SEND; therefore, we do not narrow our curriculum for any students. We do however, recognise that some students will require more support than others to access our ambitious curriculum. This support comes from our specialist SEND team and most importantly, from each classroom teacher through the way they scaffold and adapt the ambitious curriculum to support student learning. Where students struggle to access the curriculum significantly due to low literacy and numeracy levels, additional interventions are in place outside of lesson time to support our students to catch up. 

Teaching groups

Our most vulnerable students access learning in smaller class sizes wherever possible. We endeavour to ensure these groups are taught by the most experienced subject experts to ensure learning is effectively scaffolded to meet individual needs. Where we have additional teacher capacity outside of subject specialism, we have team teaching/classroom support from teachers within these classes. We have a small Nurture Class in Year 7 that helps to support our high-needs students. A proportion of their learning is as a discreet Nurture group, with the remaining part of their timetable integrated into the year group. When in both the general population and in Nurture, students continue to follow our ambitious, inclusive curriculum.

Seating plans

The most vulnerable students and students with SEND are seated strategically in every lesson to ensure the teacher is able to actively-observe and provide support frequently and easily throughout every lesson.

Pedagogy

We recognise that good teaching for students with SEND is good teaching for all. Our teaching and learning practices and wider curriculum implementation strategies  are developed with the SEND and most vulnerable students in mind. We know that students who have additional needs often require the following teaching strategies:

• Regular retrieval of previously learnt content to secure understanding and memory (Do Now)
• Deliberate repetition of core knowledge in lessons to ensure this content becomes automated, thus making more complex learning more accessible (drilling)
• Chunking/scaffolding of knowledge and tasks, so information is taught/learnt in small steps (Take the steps)
• Regular checks for understanding following the delivery of new knowledge (cold-call/pre-call)
• Regular feedback (Active-observation)

Students with SEND will benefit from a structured approach to teaching and learning. Our approach to pedagogy provides a very structured approach ensuring high quality teaching takes place for all students, including those with SEND. We have drawn upon the research of the EEF to ensure our teaching and learning practices support students with SEND. 

The development of our curriculum, assessment approaches and analysis have allowed us to develop our practice to ensure quality first teaching is at its highest. Responsive teaching allows teachers to respond to the needs of pupils at the point of delivery. It allows teachers to refine their practice based on the needs of pupils. Responsive data days provide intense focus opportunities to address the different ways we can support students and drive action planning on a half term basis to support students in school and allows all teachers to be fully immersed in the assess, plan, do, review process.

Teaching Assistants also analyse data using the same strategies and similar data sets to class teachers to focus on how they can adapt their support in lessons or through interventions. 

Memory retention

Students with SEND can often require additional support to learn and remember the curriculum for the long term. Our focus on memory retention throughout curriculum planning and delivery ensures that all of our students, especially those with SEND are being supported to learn more and remember more.

• Interleaved curriculum with each lesson starting with retrieval practice via the ‘Do Now’
• Low stakes, granular assessments that regularly check for understanding
• Clear systems that support independent learning and study
• Checking for understanding strategies consistently employed across all lessons