High challenge and expectations

the Isle of Wight sits in a region of the country whereby geographically, it is surrounded by counties in a much stronger position. Does this mean that the Isle of Wight is excluded at this current time from receiving the necessary funding and resources to enable the advantage/disadvantage gap to be closed? For strategies to be successful and effective, school leaders and teachers must have an intricate understanding of the students’ needs, vulnerabilities and specific requirements. As ‘Tackling Educational Disadvantage: A Toolkit for North Yorkshire Schools, (Marc Rowland March 2017),’ demonstrate in their well-presented toolkit, data is valuable in informing starting points, progress and weaknesses but equally, the strength of the relationship between students and teachers is extremely important. For me personally, I wanted to be able to access a range of practical and relevant strategies to enable me to take forward strategies to apply to my own teaching practise. I explored a range of larger scale reports which highlighted the importance of a whole school approach and the importance of all members of the school and local community. With collaboration between a range of stakeholders, appropriate strategies can be adopted over the long time to improve attainment. Strategies whereby there is efficient, consistent and proactive utilisation of LSA’s was discussed in depth in Education Endowment Foundation (https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/) and specific classroom strategies were suggested in Lemov Setting High Expectations – Teach like a Champion (Doug Lemov (2010) ‘Teach Like a Champion’). Although some of these strategies were reminders and confirmation of strategies I already use, I was provided with several fresh approaches and lines to use. I think that sometimes it is easy to ignore behaviour that reflects disengagement in students but being reminded that ‘it’s not ok not to try’ (Lemov Setting High Expectations – Teach like a Champion (Doug Lemov (2010) ‘Teach Like a Champion’) and students should always feel that they have the support and reassurance around them to always give everything a go. This opens the dialogue for further stretch and challenge. To finish, what specifically will I be taking forward? Continued use of LSA’s by meeting, staying in email contact and sending resources through to LSA staff prior to the lesson. Reaffirming my strategy to stretch every individual and set high expectations, even when target grades are low. Liaise with colleagues across the school (subject and pastoral) to collaborate and plan for individua

High challenge and expectations