Teaching and Learning
In Moor Row Primary School we are committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning and we are relentless in our desire to continually raise standards. We recognise the importance of creating a climate in which children can learn effectively and believe that consistent teaching and behaviour management strategies are key to this.
Our Teaching and Learning Policy promotes five core principles and we believe that these apply to all subjects across the curriculum. The expectations, routines and signals associated with these principles are relevant to all aspects of school life. Therefore, we have adopted these consistently throughout the school, for all lessons and for all staff.
All staff should embrace the five core principles and must:
1. Know the purpose of every activity and share it with children, so children know the one thing they should be thinking about.
2. Be passionate about teaching so they can engage children emotionally.
3. Teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning.
4. Ensure that every child participates throughout the lesson. Partner work is fundamental to learning.
5. Praise effort and progress – not ability.
We believe that we can only pay attention to one new thing at a time. If we are asked to learn too much at once, we give up. Therefore, each teaching activity presented to children should have one clear purpose which is set at the beginning of the activity so that children know what they are learning and why.
We need children’s minds to be free to learn. For that reason we devote considerable time to practising routines until they become second nature to both staff and children. We believe that when everyone uses the same routines effectively, behaviour management can be transformed in school. Children will be in no doubt of the expectations when they move between groups and classes and teachers won’t waste any time in establishing a new set of routines. New staff will be able to slip into the same routines quickly.
We have a range of silent signals that are key to these routines and children are praised for routines they do quickly and quietly.
It is important that all pupils participate in all opportunities for learning. For this reason we have a policy of no hands up for learning and instead place emphasis upon partner work and use a range of feedback strategies that engage pupils and ensure that they all think and contribute to lessons.
It is important that children understand that effort is always required to learn something new. They need to understand that sometimes things are hard to learn and therefore they need to practise even harder. Children always feel good when they are working hard and succeeding so we believe in praising effort rather than ability at every opportunity.
Emotional engagement is necessary for children to learn something new. The greater their engagement the more they learn. Children mirror the teacher’s mood. When teachers are enthusiastic, children are too.
We expect our staff to:
• Smile – if staff aren’t enjoying the lesson, the children won’t either.
• Love the children who need winning over – they need it more than the others. When the teacher enjoys having them in their lesson, these children behave better and learn more.
• Prepare thoroughly so that they can concentrate on children’s progress. If teachers are trying to remember their next step, they find it hard to be passionate.