Acorn Summer 2017 by Woodrush High

Woodrush Acorn Summer 2017

Woodrush Teaching School Alliance

‘Fostering Excellence through teacher training and lifelong learning for all staff within our schools.’

Meet the rest of the Woodrush TSA Team

Welcome to this Summer edition of The Acorn. I am Elizabeth Lawson and Director of Woodrush TSA. I am passionate about Leadership, Learning and Teaching and the moral principle of the Teaching School in increasing our capacity to impact positively on even more students in our care. When I talk of ‘OUR’ I am referring to the Alliance of schools in the Woodrush TSA and we are growing and adding new schools to our Alliance.

Sam is ITT coordinator for Woodrush TSA, she oversees all primary and secondary School’s Direct places across the alliance, ensuring that student teachers are well placed throughout their training year. Sam designs and delivers school-based training for our School Direct trainees and visits them on placement to observe and give feedback. Sam is also senior mentor for all PGCE students on university-led routes and organises and delivers their whole school issues training. She has built strong relationships with 3 local universities; Birmingham, Warwick & Worcester to ensure we cover a wide geography. Sam is a maths teacher and has a passion for numeracy across the curriculum.

The Teaching School is still quite a strange principle- what do we do?! What does it actually mean to be a Teaching School?! In brief, our role is to cover ‘The Big Six’ strategy areas: 1. ITT (Initial Teacher training- this covers our different routes into teaching and also NQT and RQT support) 2. CPD/Leadership Development 3. Succession Planning/Talent Management 4. School to School Support 5. Specialist Leaders of Education (SLE) 6. Research & Development (R&D) (-or sometimes now referred to the ‘Big Three’ (identified in bold)- which are of central importance in the Teaching School. Within our team we have designated members of staff who lead in these areas and we work closely with the Leads from our Alliance of schools. We are closely connected to Woodrush High School – an Outstanding 11-18 Secondary school on the edge of Birmingham (and I still serve as an Assistant Headteacher and English teacher in the school) and we do utilise this strong link, yet within our Alliance we have effective partnerships which access our training feed into support each other and the schools we are associated with. For example two of our Strategic Partners are St Andrews Primary School in Barnt Green and Nunnery Wood Secondary School in Worcester and we work in close partnership with these schools. However, it is our aim to increase the collaboration of our schools in the Alliance and develop our ability to share the capacity to lead and support in these areas. We are justifiably proud of our long history of partnerships with both schools and Universities (Birmingham, Warwick and Worcester.) We quickly react to Government agenda - and adapt to National and local needs – for example in teacher training shortages, in the face of the need to recruit more teachers and in the re-launch of the new NPQ courses. We listen to our partners’ needs- personalising and adapting our training and support to react quickly and for the best interest of our Partner schools. Centrally planning for an even stronger CPD offer in 2017-18, will increase the TSA’s capacity and enable us to support each school or delegate/s.

Samantha Bullivant Initial Teacher Training Coordinator

It is free to join our partnership, and you can access or give as much or as little from the Teaching School as you wish. It is also worth noting that you can choose to work with more than one Teaching School, if this suits the needs of your school. Attending any of training or working with us to train teachers immediately makes you one of our ‘Woodrush TSA Alumni’- where we will build on strong links built in the future. We pride ourselves on our personal and professional manner and in our ability to adapt our training and support to suit the needs of our delegates and training teachers. Our trainers are experienced, friendly and ensure that you leave with practical strategies to support your particular need. If you would like to join our TSA as a partner, or simply wish to contact me to talk through CPD or support you could offer or need, please contact me via our Teaching School Administrator Abi Zaman at teachingschool@ woodrushhigh.worcs.sch.uk. You can also follow us on twitter @woodrushTSA, and if you frequently look on our website woodrushtsa.co.uk you will find adverts for our CPD- which will update throughout the year- both will help you to follow the work of our Alliance and partner schools. If you would like to receive email updates from us, please also let us know. I do hope you enjoy this edition of The Acorn and that it gives you a small insight into the way in which we work. We always offer our Partner schools the opportunity to contribute within The Acorn, as this is a publication to celebrate and share great ideas and practice between colleagues- from all key stages and phases in Education. If you would like to contribute next time, please let us know- I would welcome your contribution! As we navigate through such changes in our Educational and political landscape, it is even more essential that we work together to support, inspire, and share the best of what we do, together. I do hope you join us for a fantastic 2017-18 and a year of inspiring partnership collaboration for us all. I look forward to meeting you soon. Elizabeth Lawson Director of Woodrush Teaching School Alliance

Laura Hollingworth Professional Development Coordinator Research and Development Coordinator Research and Development Coordinator Laura is Head of year 12 and has many years experience of responsibility in our Science faculty. Laura is one of Woodrush TSA’s 2 R&D and CPD coordinators. Laura is currently responsible for applying for research grants and organising research and CPD events across the alliance. Laura is particularly interested in active research and life long learning.

Claire Croxall Professional Development Coordinator Research and Development Coordinator Claire is Head of MFL at Woodrush and is one of Woodrush TSA’s 2 R&D and CPD coordinators. She is currently responsible for organising CPD and networking events on behalf of the alliance for local schools and is passionate about teaching and learning with a particular interest in assessment for learning. Janine Metcalfe-Taylor Professional Development Coordinator Janine is an experienced Head of English at Woodrush and is one of Woodrush TSA’s CPD coordinators. She is responsible for organising CPD and networking events on behalf of the alliance, and is passionate about supporting teachers and Educators to be the best they can be (regardless of their experience.) She is passionate about sharing best practice and approaching education with creativity, ensuring that our training (and pedagogy) reacts and adapts to meet the needs of all our students. Amanda Bennett Lead Teacher for NQT Accreditation Amanda is an outstanding MFL teacher at Woodrush and an experienced mentor. She is passionate about Teaching and Learning and has a particular interest in mentoring trainee teachers. Amanda is our Lead Teacher for NQT Accreditation and works to support mentors, Induction Tutors and NQTs at other schools, as part of our NQT Accreditation support packages, to ensure that their NQTs meet the Teacher Standards and pass their NQT year competently and confidently. Abigail Zaman Woodrush Teaching School Alliance Administrator Abi is Woodrush TSA’s Administrator. After graduating from University Abi knew she wanted to work within the educational field, and thoroughly enjoys coordinating the administration for the TSA, as well as recruiting for teacher training. You will regularly see Abi at teacher recruitment fairs, or at Woodrush TSA CPD events.

Research and Development

Woodrush TSA Research Event June 2017

Using Lesson Study to Develop Inquiry Based Learning in Secondary Science Initial Teacher Training Since Autumn 2015, I have been part of a joint research study between the University of Nottingham and the University of Birmingham. The aim of the research project was to evaluate the success of using lesson study to develop inquiry based learning. Lesson Study is a Japanese model of teacher-led research in which a triad of teachers work together to target an identified area for development in their students’ learning. Using existing evidence, participants collaboratively research, plan, teach and observe a series of lessons, using ongoing discussion, reflection and expert input to track and refine their interventions (tdtrust.org). The outline of the approach is as follows :Inquiry-based learning uses a central question to frame a curriculum unit or module. Students answer this central question for themselves, discovering and learning through a series of guided discussions, experiments, and hands-on activities over several class periods. Teachers find that students are more engaged in what they’re learning, and have a wider context for understanding the material rather than just hearing a lecture or memorising facts (Edutopia.org). The process began with explanations of lesson study and inquiry based learning. We then worked together to plan how the project would run as a collaborative group including all parties. The research team included members form the institutes of education from both universities, PGDipEd students and teachers from two schools; myself from Woodrush High School and teachers from a school based in Nottingham. We then divided into school groups and looked at how we could trial this within our school. Our Research The research conducted was carried out by myself, Sandy Wilkinson from the University of Birmingham and Louis Brailsford (PGDipEd trainee).The classes used for the lesson study were broadly comparative year 7 classes that were taught by the subject mentor (myself ) and the Trainee teacher. The process of lesson study involved the following steps; • Group planning for a lesson led by the mentor. • Observation of the mentor teaches the lesson. • Reflection on the lesson and joint planning for the trainee to teach the same lesson to the other group. • Observation of the trainee teach the lesson • Reflection on trainee’s lesson. The aim of the lesson was to develop scientific inquiry. We decided that to address this we would provide students with an open question in which they could use practical investigation to come to a conclusion. We focussed on topics that they had just completed including the reactivity series and electrical circuits and introduced the idea of creating a fruity battery. At the beginning of the lesson students were introduced to the question that they needed to answer, what equipment they were allowed to

On Wednesday 23rd June we held a research event to share all of the research that staff had conducted during the year. We were delighted to be joined by Dr. Deborah Outhwaite from Warwick University who talked to us about the benefits of carrying out education based research, how to go about research and shared some of her own experiences. Staff shared results from action- research that they had carried out during the year, for example taking learning outside of the classroom, raising attainment, strategies they had used for revision and with A level groups. We also had a number of staff share research from their Masters in Education, National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership and also a member of staff shared some research they have conducted as part of their Doctorate in Education. Many members of staff were able to share their experiences of being part of a research project with universities eg a literacy project with Birmingham University and a science based project focussing on teacher training with Nottingham and Birmingham universities. It was a great opportunity to bring staff together to share results and give ideas of research that can be carried out in the next academic year. Our research event will take place again next year and will be in collaboration with Nunnery Wood school and offer the chance for other schools to attend. If you would like more information, or to present your research next year, contact me through our Teaching School administrator Abi at teachingschool@woodrushhigh.worcs.sch.uk. Sasha Taylor is a Business teacher at Woodrush, currently working towards her Doctorate in Education from Worcester University, and working with Warwick University for publication and other research development. The full article was originally published in full in the WJECTT journal. Sasha will be able to talk in more detail about her findings at a future Evolve CPD event with Woodrush TSA.

use and timings. The lesson was extremely student led and the role of the teacher was purely to facilitate. At the end of the lesson conclusions were shared.

Attainment, pedagogy and policy: the persistent gap in academic attainment between students from different socio-economic backgrounds

Evaluation We found that there were many benefits of conducting a lesson study approach for all parties concerned. Mentors found that by carrying out joint planning it made planning more purposeful. It was also useful for the students as it was not just about learning content but about developing independent thinking.

Aim of research: Closing the attainment gap between affluent students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds is a main priority for policymakers across Europe (OECD, 2012). However, the objective remains challenging, because of limited research in this area (Blanden and Macmillan, 2016; Murphy, 2009). Resolving the problem will require studies targeted specifically at disadvantaged students to ascertain how successful strategies aimed at them work (Murphy, 2009).

The trainee found it useful to observe an experienced teacher which in turn gave them the confidence to carry out a lesson like this which is very student led in which the teacher is merely a facilitator. It also gave them an opportunity to look at how to embed these skills into their own teaching. As a result of this project the University of Birmingham have looked at how they can embed the use of lesson study into their initial teaching training programmes. We met in summer 2016 and shared the results of our research with the University of Nottingham. We will meet again in the Summer term 2017 and look at researching further into the area and how lesson study can be applied to initial teacher training. Laura Hollingworth Research and Development Coordinator for the Woodrush TSA

The complexity of improving academic attainment is often misjudged with many schools focusing solely on teaching and learning approaches (Leithwood et al., 2010; Ball, 2010; Levin, 2006; Gorard, 2010). However, low attainment is primarily linked to factors outside the control of schools and strategies implemented to overcome them should reflect this (Gorard, 2010). Although schools have inspiring staff, who work extremely hard to narrow the gap in educational attainment, problems persist (Levin, 2006). This indicate there is a need for contemporary research exploring factors aimed at identifying strategies for closing the attainment gap, particularly focusing on influences external to schools. Research has shown that schools in the West Midlands experience the widest gap in academic attainment

in the UK (Ofsted, 2016). Of particular concern is the fact that while some primary schools have managed to narrow the attainment gap, this was not always replicated in secondary schools (Richardson and Sellgren, 2014). Primary leaders suggest secondary schools lack understanding or are confused about the new ways pupils’ attainment in key stage 2 tests are reported (Ofsted, 2016). This is because there is no shared language between schools, as pupils progress from primary to secondary (ibid, 2016). There is thus a need for greater collaboration and communication to overcome this challenge (Wilson, 2014). Furthermore, research promoting communication and collaboration between primary and secondary schools, especially during transition, could help to identify best practices that could be replicated and sustained. Carter-Wall and Whitfield (2012); House of Commons (2014) have argued that there needs to be research that will inform practice and policy into not just the causes, but also how to close the attainment gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds. Within this context, there needs to be research that will critically examine the pedagogical implications of closing the academic attainment gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds with the of objectives: •

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Examining the effectiveness of current teaching, learning and assessment strategies in a feeder primary and secondary school in South Birmingham. Evaluating parental engagement and their perception of education across both schools. Examining the implementation strategies at the end of KS2, KS3 and KS4. Identifying best practices that can be replicated and contribute to more sustainable methods for closing the academic attainment gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds.

Research and Development

Teaching and Learning

Sam Hammond is a Lead History teacher at Woodrush. He completed his MA in Education at Birmingham University. Sam is currently on the Leadership Legacy programme with the SSAT. Sam will be able to talk in more detail about his findings at a future Evolve CPD event with Woodrush TSA and will also be at our subject network meetings for Humanities.

Catch Up Literacy; ‘Bond With Books’ project

An investigation into effective strategies to improve the attainment of most-able pupils in GCSE History Aims: During the 2015/16 year, I completed my MA in Education at the University of Birmingham, completing an investigation into strategies to improve the attainment of our most-able pupils in GCSE History. In particular I chose this topic because as a department, the attainment of the most-able was a target for us last year as, historically, our middle-achievers had made good progress but our most-able seemed to fall a little short. In my research, I also hoped to ensure that there was as narrow a gap as possible between most-able students of different genders and socio-economic backgrounds. I also wanted to use this as an opportunity to understand how most-able status and provision is perceived by both students and teachers. Methodology: In order to achieve this, I carried out a range of interventions including: • Content less exam-technique sessions which honed in on exactly what the question was asking of the student; for example rather than “describe the policy of containment” and “explain the impact of containment on US Foreign Policy 1945-1975, we used questions such as “describe how to boil an egg” or “explain why it is important for an egg to be cooked like this. • “Owning your knowledge” sessions which used competitions to make the knowledge more “relevant” to the students and encourage them to push themselves through things like Pointless style quiz shows where teams would compete against each other for the most obscure (but correct) answers. Finally, I triangulated data with surveys and pupil data with semi-structured interviews with staff about what they thought of the idea of the title most-able and the provision that is provided to these students. Findings: Accordingly, I found out that there is no that there is no magic bullet with the most able when it comes to strategies, but rather a range of techniques are preferable. Our tailored exam technique sessions without content were found to be effective with the pupils that took part in these witnessing a noticeable improvement in attainment, particularly when compared to the pupils who did not attend. Additionally, within pupil questionnaires the “own your knowledge” sessions without exam technique proved popular due to their competitive nature; this was particularly the case for boys but was also noticeable amongst girls. However, it is argued that one reason for this was the fact all pupils within the sample were of a similar ability and held a mutual respect for one another, and within other groupings this may not always be the same. With regards to staff and student perceptions amongst the most able, some interesting patterns were noticed, with most staff interviewed appreciating that most-able provision was important but, due to the educational climate we operate in, other things take priority. There were some colleagues that saw it as a priority didn’t feel particularly confident in carrying out strategies for these pupils as they did not feel sufficiently experienced enough in the teaching profession. Amongst the pupils, the majority of most-able pupils who were above or on target were aware of being most-able, while those were unaware that they belong to this group were generally underachieving.

Subsequent recommendations: • Offer regular opportunities to most-able pupils such as guest-speakers to ensure that pupils remember the high expectations that they have in a positive, less pressurised way. • This also helps to provide most-able pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds with greater learning opportunities with which to achieve their potential. • Identify specific deficiencies which are hindering the progress of the most-able before offering intervention; this should allow for the development and deployment of more precise strategies in order to iron out any issues. • Alongside traditional revision sessions, offering tailored revision sessions focusing on utilising the pupils learning allows the students to “own” their knowledge and develop higher-level thinking skills. • Introduce strategies in class, and also through revision, which stimulate competition in ways that engage both male and female learners.

The literacy and numeracy catch-up premium gives schools additional funding to support year 7 pupils who did not achieve the expected standard in reading or maths at the end of key stage 2. Groups in Year 7 and 8 are receiving additional literacy and numeracy small group support. Students are withdrawn from Humanities and Computing on a rolling half term programme to minimise negative impact on 1 subject for a prolonged period. As part of the catch-up programme, each group spends 1 half term on a ‘Bond with Books’ unit, led by Jenny Robertson and Kaye Parker. The key aim of ‘Bond with Books’ is to make reading relevant to the young people requiring ‘catch up’ who do not currently read. They said, “Having a smaller group has enabled us to focus on individual needs, addressing both their learning and social skills. It was highlighted that many of them feel ‘inferior’ when in a large class due to their academic ability in comparison to others. The following issues were highlighted by all groups of young people as their main concerns: • Being asked to read out loud in class • Being put on the spot to answer questions in front of large groups • Reading and spelling tests • Homework – and not understanding what to do The books are selected ensuring they can be related to issues relevant to young people. In the first half of the year the book was ‘Pale’ by Chris Wooding. Some young people were extremely quiet in the first few sessions and demonstrated low levels of self-esteem. As the sessions progressed we noticed them begin to interact together as peers and build relationships. Their confidence developed during the sessions, which was evident as they began to answer questions and read out loud. A number of students significantly increased their Accelerated Reader Scores in tests following the unit. In the last session of the unit, we had an extended session to explore the book creatively through drama and art. Engaging parents has been a key element in this project. We encouraged young people to read with their parents and it became evident that those who did progressed more rapidly. Each half term, we now hold a social evening in youth centre for students and parents involved in the Bond with Books unit. Food is provided, along with friendly competitive games parents vs child. There is an introduction to Accelerated Reader and the Outcomes Star for parents. Each student is then given a free book to take home. In addition, since beginning the project approximately 55% of young people have joined the Youth Centre and/or become Student Librarians. “

Teaching and Learning; Continuous development Wednesday morning training sessions were set aside As part of our Appraisal process this year, all teaching staff were asked to choose one of 4 key Teaching and Learning areas for focus in 2016/17. This would be the main area of deliberate practice where they wanted to further develop their teaching. The four key areas are ; • Use of feedback and assessment to improve knowledge, understanding or skills • Use of questioning to develop higher order thinking and to deepen understanding • Use of differentiation to meet the needs of all learners from their relative starting points • Use of strategies to stretch and challenge all students from their starting points

for staff to come together in those groups to do / plan to • Reflect on current practice – strengths and areas for development. • Research pedagogy linked to the chosen area. • Link with other staff who had similar development needs or pair up with ‘opposites’. • Arrange paired / triad peer lesson obs • Use VEO to capture snapshots and aid self / peer reflection • Reflect on things trailed in the classroom and the impact on learning. In June we are hosting a ‘Research-meet’ and it would be great to see as many staff as possible sharing their ongoing work / findings.

Teaching and Learning

VEO Flexible Functionality

VEO - Video Enhanced Observation Improving Teaching and Learning at Scale

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Introducing VEO to Woodrush ; For several years now, a few of us had been looking at various products on the market that enabled teachers to record classroom practice to help improve Teaching and Learning practice. Last summer I was told about VEO and spent some time over the holiday investigating the product and liaising with their CEO. We purchased VEO in September 2016 and introduced it to staff in a Twilight training session in the Autumn Term. In my view, VEO definitely has the potential to be a really exciting development in further improving Teaching and Learning at Woodrush. It enables teachers to capture snapshots of their own practice and reflect accurately and the possibilities for collaborative working, coaching and mentoring and sharing good practice are endless. We are just at the start of our VEO journey and if you haven’t tried it yet, now’s the time. I know it’ll take us a bit of time to get over over the initial horror of seeing ourselves on camera but the long term, the benefits could be huge.

• “Tags” are fully customisable. This allows you to use, or extend, your existing assessment frameworks with VEO. Tags can focus on micro-level skills and bigger picture interaction – in any language. Observations can focus on teachers and students.

What is VEO?

Easy and intuitive sharing is the latest innovation to be introduced to the VEO system. This allows teachers and trainer to share videos of practice at scale, to drive effective discussion and reflection on teaching and learning. This can works effectively at distance, breaking down barriers and isolation in the classroom, while maintaining control over who views your video.

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The Benefits of VEO

Claire Sheppard, AHT Teaching and Learning

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VEO is an innovative video-tagging app and system for continuous improvement. Developed as a Newcastle University spinout company, VEO seamlessly combines video and data to enable new possibilities for training and learning across education. VEO reduces time spent reviewing teaching practice, teachers jump directly to key moments of video. This maximises the value of observation, through data-enhanced evaluation, discussion, and sharing to drive real improvement in teaching and learning.

“VEO was developed in collaboration with schools and teachers worldwide, creating an affordable, easy to use, flexible and effective system to help educators improve.”

How VEO works 1. Record - Lesson is filmed and tagged using the VEO app. 2. Jump to key moments to discuss, evaluate and reflect. 3. Upload video to personal portfolio. 4. Review, Comment and Share. 5. Learn, Develop and Improve. With VEO, teachers are encouraged to work with colleagues to identify good practice and areas for development, creating a teacher-led approach to improving professional practice.

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extracts full value from observations with convenient filming, any time, by anyone

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improves communication between the observer and the observed, enhancing trainee satisfaction

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Identify and share good practice quickly and easily

Video can be live-tagged via the app, or retrospectively on our online portal. This means that video files from any device can be tagged, as well as shared and discussed online, so recording and reviewing is device-neutral.

OBSERVE Using the App you can film a lesson, tagging and commenting on key moments.

personalises CPD so trainees take charge of their observations, conveniently reviewing to improve performance over time facilitates peer-peer continuous improvement networks, focusing trainers’ time onto critical interventions

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enables collection and sharing of good, real practice as a training resource

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collects evidence of improvement to demonstrate quality and compliance

The ‘Questioning’ focus group by Claire Sheppard 5 of us have been focusing on Questioning as our chosen area of Teaching and Learning to focus on improving practice this year. Helpfully, we span 5 different Faculties – DT, CArts, Maths, Science and PE. In our Wednesday morning training sessions we have discussed which specific aspects of Questioning we want to focus on improving, and what we want to trial. We’ve done some paired obs and used VEO to capture and reflect on Questioning technique. A few key things we’ve focused on have been ‘The Big Question’ to help frame learning objectives, specifically planning, structuring and sequencing Questions, using strategies like ‘Pose, Pause, Pounce, Bounce’ and also in Music and Art, I’ve been focusing on developing learners into ‘successful questioners’. Just one thing below that I’ve found in the research :

Asking questions to increase challenge

Teachers use questioning as part of their teaching for many reasons, but often to: Basic range of challenge • • • • • •

Medium range of challenge • • • • •

VEO’s Global impact: SHARE VEO encourages teachers to share videos, favourites, comments and key moments.

Harvard University researchers are using VEO to analyse teacher-pupil interaction in some of the most innovative classrooms in the USA. VEO is the ideal tool to drive understanding and advancement of practice, with direct benefits to student learning.

IMPROVE

By sharing best practice you help promote a change in behaviour and culture.

seek the views and opinions of pupils asking students to articulate their reasoning and get more students involved by sharing their partially formed ideas provide an opportunity for students to share their opinions and views - seeking responses from their peers create a sense of shared learning and avoid the feel of a ‘lecture’ differentiating by directing specific questions to certain students challenge the level of thinking and possibly mark a change to a higher order of thinking

Highest range of challenge • • • • •

VEO’s Global impact:

maintain the flow of the learning within the lesson engage all, groups or specific students with the learning assess what has been learned in a previous lesson and check exist knowledge check and test that what has been learnt is understood and can be used improve student participation in the lesson test student memory and comprehension

Encourage collaborative thinking, negotiating and challenge, making learning active promoting focused individual and shared thinking and problem-solving dispositions model higher order thinking using examples and building on the responses of students foster speculation, hypothesis and idea/opinion forming encourage creative thought, generating ideas & imaginative/innovative thinking

Teaching and Learning

Techniques

When SEND support works best: What does it look like?

Secret Student

General tips • • • • •

Knowing your pupils, so you can remove barriers to learning by supporting their difficulties and facilitating their learning. Using your learning profile folder: it’s your own teaching guide to your students’ needs. Refering to the SEN register & the Additional Needs register for the info you need. Knowing that ‘Support’ is not just differentiated work(sheets)… what else do pupils need support with? Making best use of Learning Support assistants in your classroom ? Making sure they are supporting the learner but not doing the work for them. Ensuring that non-completion of tasks by the learner is challenged.

The Basics: Environment • • • • • • •

Strategic seating arrangements ‘Volume’ – is it too much for SEND students ? Behaviour management- avoid whole class punishments Copying from the board is often not accessible Powerpoint – Background in pastel colours rather than white Sans serif font works best and & no less than size 24 text Use bold and underline but don’t use Italics

The Basics: Communication • • • • • • • •

Consider your language/vocabulary level ( some of our students have a comprehension age of 4 ) Auditory processing/working memory – give 1 instruction at a time Keep instructions short and relevant Give instructions one at a time, individually as necessary Allow processing/thinking time Back up verbal with visual Don’t ‘infer’ or give hidden messages – SEN students often can’t ‘read between the lines’.

Impact of Positive Behaviour Management Objective: Use positive behaviour management techniques to assess if it has an impact on attitude to learning and progress over time The group: I trialled a variety of positive behaviour management techniques with a year 9 group and a middle set year 7. Both groups had poor A2L and for the year 9 group, where achieving none or limited progress. The particular behaviour management techniques I was using were not having a significant impact anymore, and the same pupils were getting poor A2L levels at every progress report. The same pupils were also repeatedly getting detentions.

Start of the lesson: At the start of each lesson a random student is selected but not told. Throughout the Lesson The teacher secretly watches the Secret Student to see if he or she is displaying good behaviour–on task, waiting quietly in line, helpful, etc. At the end of the lesson If the student has done a good job, the teacher reveals the student’s name with congratulations and a small reward (a sweet will normally do). If the student has not done a good job, the teacher does NOT reveal the student’s name, but instead tells the class that the Secret Student was having a hard day (as we all do from time to time) and that he or she will probably do better next time. Next Lesson The same pupil is watched by the teacher to see if their behaviour/attitude to learning has improved.

Pupil of the Week Start of the lesson: No preparation required During the lessons and week Watch pupils and how they’re approaching each lesson. End of the lesson Pick on pupil from the group who has worked especially hard during the week. The pupil of the week’s name gets put into a draw, and a winner is drawn each half term

Blocks

Prizes are up to the individual

Start of the lesson: Give all pupils four/ three blocks (or coins or pieces of paper). During the Lesson Each time a pupil is misbehaving, late to lesson without a reason, or distracting others, take another block off them. End of the lesson Pupils who have kept all four blocks get rewarded with a merit or name on the ‘hall of fame’ You should decide upon a consequence for pupils that have lost all four blocks.

Results The positive behaviour management techniques have had a positive effect on 80% of the pupils with A2L that needed to be improved. Within year 9 this has been ongoing over the past two progress reports. Pupils have also been on motivational report on occasion within this group

Niamh McConnell

One Size Fits All Resources One size fits all resources are resources that can be used with different age groups and abilities with only a small amount of altering from the teacher. If a resource is created which focuses on skills, content can be added to this to ensure it stays relevant to the topic but also can be tailored to students’ abilities and age group. They can serve two purposes: Workload: If a resource is created which does not need to be changed significantly each time it is used, it means this may cut down on time spent by the teacher creating further resources. Ensuring a focus on skills: This also ensures the focus on the task will be on skills rather than content. This is especially useful with G + T students, but also ensures students of lower abilities attempt more difficult skills and concepts Ellie Hemsley & Chris Jolly.

History: In History we have developed two resources that can be used for various age groups and abilities. They are centred on two skills, source analysis and source exam technique. Both can be used independently or in unison with students. Resource 1: This is for source analysis, a source is put into the middle or given separately and the students have to answer a certain amount of questions from the boxes. This means the students get used to asking these questions about sources, so eventually they should be able to ask these questions of themselves therefore, being effective at evaluating sources. Resource 2: This can be used after resource 1. This allows students to easily formulate exam answers surrounding sources, a skill most students struggle with. This makes it very simple to follow and gives students the template to follow when writing answers independently.

Drama: In Drama we have developed a series of assessment booklets which can be tailored and adapted to support learning across a range of topics. Each booklet is differentiated by year group, term and skills set. However the framework is consistent, ensuring that all students from year 7 through to year 11 are familiar with the structure of the assessment booklets in both practical and written work. Resource 1: Year 7 This booklet is differentiated to provide the most support for assessment. Pupils are given their target grade then are familiarised with the marking criteria on the front page. Throughout the booklet is material designed to support pupils during practical work, including a basic PLC and definitions of key skills. This booklet has been designed to use in conjunction with a script, with an aim for encouraging independent learning and self-led rehearsal time. When assessed, the teacher will highlight WWW and EBI on the front page and circle their ‘Working At Grade’ so that pupils are instantly aware of their grade and able to reflect on/improve their work based on this.

Resource 2: Year 10 This resource is used to support and inform a GCSE unit based on ‘Devising’. It contains all assessment criteria and materials, a module brief, support and stimulus materials for both written and practical work. It follows the same structure as the KS3 units but has been altered to meet the needs of the pupils and to ensure that pupils are able to complete coursework independently.

ANALYSE THIS! Utility • How useful is this source for answering the question? Does it tell you what you need to know? • What other information might you need? • What might be missing? Origin • What is the source? • Where has this source come from? • Who has made/written it? • When has it been produced? Purpose • Why has it been made/ written? To inform, to persuade, to entertain, to mock, anything else? • Might the author have a particular view that they are trying to share?

Context • What event has triggered/inspired this source? • What other events were happening at the time it was made? Could they have had an impact upon the source? • What is about to happen? Own Knowledge • What knowledge do you have on this subject? • What knowledge could you use to back up/challenge this source? Typicality • Is this source what you would expect to see? • Are you surprised to see this? Does it agree with what you know about the event/time period?

Identification • Who/what is mentioned/ pictured in the source? • Are there any symbols/flags that you recognise? Reliability • Why might you be able to trust this source? • Does the author have a motive?

NQT Celebration We congratulated our NQTs who successfully passed this year. Building on gaining the Induction Quality Mark, the NQTs received a high level of support and guidance from Woodrush staff This week we also welcomed NQTs from Nunnery Wood who we will Accredit for their NQT year. Amanda Bennett is our Lead Teacher for NQT Accreditation, and will primarily work with School Induction Tutors to ensure NQTs complete their year successfully. If you would be interested in using Woodrush TSA to accredit your NQTs, please contact us for more information. You can find an outline of the three packages towards the back of the Acorn.

NQT Award At our celebration event in 2016, Kim Whiting from our Awarding Body SIPS, came and presented the NQT Quality Mark award. Sam Bullivant, last year’s Induction Tutor, received the award on behalf of the school. We were delighted to hear praise from Kim on the high level of support given to our trainees during their Induction year. The award was a real team effort for not only Sam but for everyone involved in supporting our NQTs during this challenging first year in their careers- as the proverb suggests- it ‘takes a village to raise a child’ and a whole school community to effectively support an NQT.

NQT Sharing Good Practice At the whole staff market place in June our NQTs shared projects that they have been working on during their Induction year. Over the next few pages they share not only tips for future NQTs but also ideas for all teachers regarding marking, supporting PP students making resources and many more time saving tips.

“It’s not the size of the marking, it’s what you do with it that counts” An NQT guide to ensuring progress through feedback without excessive marking! The problems...

The aims

1. You don’t have enough time to mark in the depth you would like to. 2. After 65 papers you become tired and the quality of your marking deteriorates. 3. It’s disheartening when the kids don’t read your very specific comments. 4. You wonder how much they have learnt from the experience and you spent so much time on Sunday night doing it! 5. You worry that if you don’t do it, you won’t show progress in books and your HODS will ask why.

1. To help you adhere to school policy without spending hours marking. 2. To provide some beginner time saving tips. 3. To enable explicit progress through effective feedback.

Make the students do the work!

What if they get it completely wrong? Devise an activity in lesson to improve their knowledge and understanding. DO NOT cover the assessment in red pen, they are unlikely to read your comments and even if they do… Are they going to feel deflated? The task on the right was a simplified version of the exam paper with hints and tips on the board. By the end of the task ALL students had made progress.

Use peer and self assessment as much as is reasonably possible. Train your students how to do this effectively using mark schemes. Most importantly CHECK they are actually doing it!

I found many students were making similar mistakes and I was writing the same instructions on every single assessment. I created the table left (with power point) to inform students of which questions to re-attempt.

Let them reflect and choose their own targets! (why should you write them 30 times?) Finally………..Just make sure they make progress!

Devise time saving ways to feedback without rewriting the same comments! Students who performed really well would attempt the extension task. Those who needed to focus more on literacy were urged to correct spelling mistakes spelling. This task saved me 1 hour!

Make them check and correct their own spelling! Most classrooms at Woodrush have dictionaries. Don’t be afraid to give time in a lesson for this.

The task to the left was designed to improve students’ ability to make decisions. The task on the right was designed to enable students to improve exam technique by using a model paragraph to improve a section of an essay.

For the spelling geniuses, why not get them to create a spelling test for their peers!

School Direct Trainee Articles

Wonderland

AFL in Woodrush High School

When Alice first enters Wonderland she is bewildered. She looks around for people to help her and follows any instructions that she is given. Alice is lost and confused but deep down she has a feeling, a sense of familiarity like she has been to Wonderland before.

As a trainee from University of Birmingham I have been carrying out research on strategies for AfL for part of my first assignment. I have been putting into practice AfL strategies in my lessons to understand how they affect my pupil´s learning and how useful they are for me to check their understanding. As I said, I have been putting into practice AfL strategies in all my lessons but for this research I have been focused in just one class. Therefore, the first step was to select the class to implement the AfL strategies with. I considered the following: • A class I see on a regular basis. • The class has some experience with AfL strategies. • Good relationship with the pupils. • The behaviour in the class is good. • Most of the pupils are interested in the subject.

move on, identifying those with difficulties and acting upon misconceptions (in that lesson and differentiating in following lessons). Questioning: thinking time Giving thinking time is a very useful strategy to improve our pupil´s chance to be successful when questioning. Black et al. (2004) affirm that after asking a question, many teachers wait less than one second. That is what I was doing before starting this project and just a few pupils could answer my questions with such a short time. I decided to give thinking time when questioning (at least ten seconds) to verify what Black et al. defend that increasing thinking time can help more students become involved.

After these considerations, I decided to carry out my research with my Year 8 class because I see them two times per week, my relationship with them is very good, the behaviour is quite good and most of them show an interest in the subject.

During some lessons, I carried on questioning not giving thinking time and I observed that the mean on pupils putting their hands up were 3.7 and most of the time were the same students. Since I applied thinking time to my questioning the mean has been increased until 6.1 pupils.

I decided to focus on: • Self – assessment • Peer – assessment • Instant feedback: RAG cards and mini – whiteboards • Questioning: thinking time

Overall, the students have improved their performances giving answers because have more thinking time and a quicker feedback. Also, they now understand better the lesson targets through developing their skills to assess themselves and peers.

Self – assessment & Peer – assessment I used these two strategies mainly in the activities where the pupils were required to write a text covering all contents of the lesson and previous learning. My conclusions are that the students must be trained to be able to assess their work, the teacher must be very explicit explaining the goals of the task and most importantly, have a little discussion with the class to identify what went well and even better if because this can help the teacher to identify learning needs.

Luis Marinosa

Instant feedback: RAG cards and mini – whiteboards I put into practice this strategy with activities where the pupils were asked to give short and important answers. In my opinion, they are very useful tools to check the understanding of our students and decide when to Interactive modelling With my Year 10 group I have been looking at the effect that modelling the approach to exam style questions has on a student’s ability to firstly, identify what the question is asking for and secondly, to apply their knowledge to answer the question. I took the perspective that to teach somebody a new skill I needed to identify the key points and then explain how to piece them together. I found that I could show the students how to approach any Physics problem by having an example question, being explicit about what we were aiming at and then breaking the task down into manageable parts. That is, to identify what we know, write down what the question is looking for and then use the equation that links them together. Also, by identifying common mistakes and misconceptions the students were more likely to successfully complete the tasks. Through interactive modelling, students have an exemplary answer to refer back to that they understand because they have been part of the process that produced it. Things I still need to work on are the students’ retention of the required information and their confidence in applying the method to any question. Beth Newton

Similarly to Alice, as a PGCE student you fall into a strange unfamiliar place, following a path with many obstacles. You have a mission, an objective that seems so far away and difficult, the thought of succeeding seems impossible- but it is only impossible if you believe it is.

“Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad? Alice: You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All of the best people are.”

You meet many strange characters along the way: Manic, timid and presumptuous students; the munificent Mad Hatter mentors and colleagues that can explain all of Wonderland’s magic; and finally, the innovative, green, glowing trainee friends, together you can see the wonders that teaching has to offer, but simultaneously you recognise the madness that prevails. Training to become a teacher, you are in a similar position to Alice: Lost, excited and apprehensive about your decisions. After one term, in a School Direct PGCE course, I have learnt more lessons than I ever thought possible. Teaching is unlike any other job. You never ‘switch off’, you never finish your ‘to do’ list and you will never have a whole weekend to yourself. But funnily enough, this isn’t a problem. Teaching is a life choice, a way of learning new skills and responsibilities. Once the year is over and you have successfully completed the assignments; we can be pleased and proud to admit we will all be MAD Hatters. Danielle Sherwood Bringing languages to life Languages have taken a particular battering over the years, with so few British pupils choosing to continue studying languages post 16. This decline, has led us as a department to stand back, reflect on the situation and remember why we chose languages ourselves all those years ago... Ask anyone why they chose their subjects and they’ll remember the unusual lessons they had, their memorable experiences or teachers. For me, it was the cultural element of learning a language. I was so fascinated in the differences in French and English cultures and I wanted to immerse myself into the the French way of life. After much reflection, we have decided to breathe a bit of life into our curriculum, take a bit of a risk and try and immerse our pupils in some real life situations! Over the last few weeks we have taken pupils to the food technology room so they can make crêpes in

true mardi-gras style, following French recipes. This was a petrifying experience for a non-food technology teacher, but pupils had the time of their lives and it was great to see my year 9 class tackle unfamiliar language with absolute confidence in and enthusiastic way I have never seen before! Another French group planned and performed a fashion show. Suddenly, my rather reluctant year 7s who dont like to write extended pieces had penned descriptions of each other in French and were shutting their stuff on the runway! Whilst it is impossible to maintain this style of lesson, and there is still a need to ensure that pupils are stretched and challenged in preparation for assessments, it does us good to take stock and reconnect with why we chose to become teachers, and use such creative and memorable experiences as an aid to support progress and learning. Claire Croxall CPD Co-ordinator Woodrush TSA

Collaborative Writing L de Swardt To help move more able Year 6 pupils from ‘Working at the expected standard’ to ‘Working at greater depth within the expected standard’, a collaborative writing workshop between a group of 8 Woodrush pupils and Year 6 pupils from Hollywood Primary School was set up. In a preparatory meeting with the Year 6 and 8 teachers involved, the genre was decided: a historical narrative set in Victorian Times. Year 8 pupils had recently studied the context of ‘A Christmas Carol’ and were therefore familiar with the Victorian Era. Furthermore, some of the Year 8 pupils involved had been on a trip to Blists Hill Victorian Town which further enhanced their knowledge of that period of history. The Year 6 teacher, in turn, familiarised the selected students with the chosen timeperiod. Before the first session, a group of four Year 8 more able pupils were chosen to lead the workshop. Time was set aside for planning and preparation; this provided them with both a challenge and a sense of responsibility. During the first workshop session, pictures of Victorian children, toys and other such items were used as inspiration. Pupils were divided into two groups each with two Year 8 pupils who worked with four Year 6 students. Each group used sugar paper to plan the basic plot of their stories; the older pupils encouraged and posed pertinent questions, supporting the younger pupils to use their imagination to devise interesting narratives. Time was given to both groups to share their work, praising positive points and inviting recommendations to improve their stories.

Comments from Year 6 Pupils “Best English club and a good experience for secondary” “I thought it was an amazing opportunity to work with Y8 children.” “I enjoyed working with the students and it really helped me with my creativity.” “It was great and really helped me to learn how to use my imagination in stories.”

History Action Reaction Feedback In History, we have created ‘Action/Reaction’ resources relating to each assessment. Effective actionable feedback is essential after assessments but also takes an extended amount of time. These resources allow the teacher to instruct the student with actionable feedback which they then need to respond back to, with far less work for the teacher themselves. These resources specifically relate to each question on the assessment, providing tasks and questions to correct gaps in knowledge and further skill understanding. Obviously certain students require separate tasks, which can still be written individually, but this cuts down on writing very similar tasks repeatedly. They also allow a wide variety of differentiation, pushing the most able students and supporting those who need it. These are being developed continuously for each assessment, to allow effective marking that does not take valuable time away from planning and resourcing future lessons.

Comments from Year 8 Pupils “I was impressed that they know more grammar vocabulary that we did at that age.” “I found it interesting to see how they thought about the story and what they had learnt.”

The second workshop session was spent typing up each story where each Year 8 pupil worked with two Year 6 students, sharing their ideas and skills to produce high quality writing. Due to changes in the KS2 English syllabus, the year 6 pupils were delighted to be able to flaunt and impress the older pupils with their grammatical terminology. Although pupils had not quite completed their stories by the end of the second session, they were completed during class time. The end products were judged by the pupils’ peers to showcase superior writing skills and to add a competitive element to the task.

Art & Photography Questioning

For GCSE classes older sixth form Art students have been asked to demonstrate skills in order to engage and inspire students.

To get students engaged and thinking about the topic, we have tried asking students to create their own questions based on a piece of Art. This is what was asked by Year 7 students about the picture to the right

Photography – Using FrogSnap to upload photos and peer / self-assess work.

What inspired the artist to paint it? How long did it take to paint? Who is this painting aimed at? Why did they choose these colours? Do the colours symbolise anything? Is this a Still Life? What is the painting based on? Why does it look like an arrow target? Is there any meaning they intended to convey? Why does it look like it’s drawn by a young person? In older years for Artist analysis, students are asked to brain storm ideas using post-it notes.

This allows everyone’s ideas to be pooled together and help when writing about the artist in detail.

Motivating boys in Design and Technology Choice-Competition-Caring-Teamwork-Success

Key to the work we have been doing in the Design and Technology department are the following key strategies; Designing lessons that end in a creative product Geoff Hannan says “… 70% of boys learn better by doing things, i.e from experience.. of interacting with objects and systems, using trial and error, strategies that involve speculative thought” Structure lessons so that they are have a competitive element to encourage the boys to push for progress. Develop lessons with motor activity to help to embed skills. SOWs and lessons that allow boys to address unsolved problems starting with a ‘hypothesis’ or big question. Combining teamwork and competition in lessons. A focus on independence and self-direction in the classroom – giving pupils choice and a menu of task to choose from with a common end goal. A ‘root and branch’ analysis of the department focusing on Organisation, Learning and Teaching and Assessment as priorities linked to making the best possible progress for boys.

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Andy Griffiths Head of DT • According to Rupert Kirby [1] “The subject of raising the achievement of boys is one that is attracting a lot of attention and interest in the current educational scene”. Indeed this has been long a point of conjecture and one we are really keen to address in the subject of Design and Technology.

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Boys at a disadvantage from the beginning? According to Geoff Hannan, an expert in the field of teaching boys [2], at the age of 11 boys are 11 months behind girls in oracy, 12 months behind in literacy and 6 months behind in numeracy. The question is how do we re-address the balance and teach boys in a way that ensures their motivation and desire to improve? The following table is a useful reference for the ‘differences’ observed in learning styles and one that we have used as a department when analysing our Schemes of Work and delivery of our lessons.

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• As Rupert Kirby states “It would be easy to continue for hours with this fascinating and rich subject into the study of the achievements of boys” For us as a department although re-addressing the balance for boys, of equal importance is the achievement of girls in the workshops. We encourage mixed paired work in our Year 9 classes. As Geoff Hannan states “…Classrooms should be socially engineered for the best learning experiences. The teacher should decide where a pupil sits with whom he or she will work.” From our findings pairs are generally

far more effective than larger groups Hannan suggest “highly structured tasks for mixed ability pairs will give the best results. Pairs should be swapped frequently. When larger groups are used it is suggested that they contain children who have already worked as a pair” Pupils are often encouraged or as Geoff Hannan states“.. forced to co-operate..” creating a single piece of work between them. Each has a shared responsibility for the quality of the work. Research by Hannan has found that boys have been found to use 35% more language skills in mixed gender pairings. Having high and low attainment children paired together encourages the more able to think through a task in order to explain it, gaining insight, and gives the low attaining child an explanation at their own language level.

Other strategies used currently include; • • • • • • • • •

What’s the Point Starters? Boys need to recognise the relevance of learning. From observations boys often need to know “what to do with the learning when we’ve got it”. When homework is to be set, try to make it “active” and different, rather than merely “more of the same”. Short term targets for boys, and reviewing the literacy skills of years 7-9 Encouraging groups to complete ‘Extended Writing’ tasks in class. Recognising success. Boys’ attitudes often hinge on whether they feel successful or as if they are achieving something. They do appreciate having their efforts recognised - but are sometimes embarrassed Involvement Involve everybody in the class by encouragement of active participation with more small group work. Boys tend to appreciate a greater variety of short activities - and an element of competitiveness in class. [3] TALK LESS Boys are not terribly good listeners. Cut the words you use down to the absolute minimum. Get boys active early in the lesson. Avoid a long preamble.[3] KEEP IT CLEAR Explain tasks simply, step by step. Put the steps up somewhere and refer boys to them.[3] BE BRIEF - BE POSITIVE - BE GONE Go around and encourage boys with a quick word of praise. And move on to the next student. We all like some praise! [3]

Gender balance in classes is important if the strengths of both genders are to be exploited. Classroom management and the content of some lessons are issues being continually challenged. To quote Rupert Kirby “The scale of the task ahead of us in tackling underachievement, not just in boys, but also in the socially disadvantaged and disaffected, is not an easy one.” The table represents stereotypical behaviours only and it is important to recognise that very few children conform wholly to type - but they may well respond to expectations. Hence, although it may be useful to use these indicators as a “rule of thumb” guide, it is essential that teachers realise that every child needs to be treated as an individual. Figure from; [http://brainboxx.co.uk/A3_ASPECTS/pages/LSandGendChart.htm]

However by continued hard work and effort of the department and the school a difference can be made in the progress of the learning of our pupils – both boys and girls. References; http://website.lineone.net/~rupert.kirby/rrr/boysachi.htm [1] http://brainboxx.co.uk/A3_ASPECTS/pages/Genderbridge.htm http://brainboxx.co.uk/A3_ASPECTS/pages/LSandGendChart.htm http://brainboxx.co.uk/A3_ASPECTS/pages/LSgender.htm

Recognising the work of Geoff Hannan (7 Feb. 2012) Outstanding Teaching, Outstanding Learning, Outstanding Leaders - The Geoff Hannan Method Grosvenor House Publishing Limited [2] West, P. (2002) What is the Matter with Boys? Choice Books, Sydney [3]

SEND Research