Learning and Teaching Policy

Learning and Teaching at The Bishop Wand Church of England School

At The Bishop Wand Church of England School we seek to ensure that every student achieves their God given potential throughout their learning.  This document sets out the standards expected of all teachers in every lesson in order to ensure that students make the progress they need to in order to be successful and achieve.

Schemes of Work

Heads of Department are responsible for ensuring that schemes of work are in place for all year groups.  Schemes must be designed to allow teaching staff to quickly access all the information they require to plan engaging and differentiated lessons as part of a longer term framework.  All schemes must meet the needs of the National Curriculum at each Key Stage.

Learning objectives and success criteria

These should be planned and derived from the scheme of work. The learning objective will outline what the teacher wishes the students to learn and why they need to learn it. Success criteria will enable students to identify their own strengths and weaknesses in any lesson.

Lessons will usually include a starter activity to settle students, engage them and link their learning to previous lessons. A range of development and consolidation activities are key as part of the main body of the lesson and will develop learning and understanding of both knowledge and skills.  Learning should be reviewed with a plenary activity.  This can take place within or at the end of the lesson.

Differentiation

Teachers should use prior data to identify which students will need support and extension.  This must be planned to enable every student to access the learning activities and be engaged in developing their understanding.  Some students will have a Learning Support Assistant assigned to them, and their support must be planned by the teacher of the lesson.  All students should be stretched and challenged within their lesson regardless of ability.

Assessment for Learning

Assessment for Learning is fundamental to effective learning for each student. Every student must be clear about where they are in their learning, where they need to get to and how to get there. This should lead to students who can articulate their strengths and weaknesses and how to improve. The use of personalised learning checklists can facilitate this process.

Homework

Teachers will set homework regularly on Satchel:One each time allowing at least four evenings for it to be complete. Students will complete one piece per week for core subjects and one piece per fortnight for other subjects.

It should take students in KS3 approximately 30 minutes to complete each piece of homework, and 50 minutes for students in KS4.

Homework will be monitored by teachers each time it is set and sanctions put in place if necessary.

Behaviour for Learning

All students are expected to behave in a manner that enables them, and their fellow students, to learn in the lessons.  All staff are expected to support them in this, maintaining high standards and modelling the behaviour they expect of the students by following the school behaviour policy.

Expectations of Teaching & Learning

Expectations	Examples
Assertive teaching	Calm, composed teaching Positive learning atmosphere – good relationships between teacher and students; students feel safe All students on task, engaged, and enthused as they can access the learning Hands down to answer, hands up to ask Lessons are memorable for the student – exciting / energetic
Every Student Challenged	Differentiated work Growth mind-set language – if it isn’t your best, it isn’t finished / if you are not struggling you are not learning / keep thinking. Single Learning objective – Teach to the most able ( not the middle) and scaffold downwards Reference the next level up – link GCSEs to KS3 Students working individually, to reach a goal --> re-drafting if the first attempt is not good enough Display in the classroom- showcase the best work
Learning to learn and self-regulation (Metacognition)	Students have ownership of their own learning- they understand how today’s lesson fits into other lessons Students understand how they have learnt something new Students use different strategies to overcome difficulties in their learning Students know when it is appropriate and when it is not appropriate to request the support from their teacher Students are able to identify what they understand and what they don’t understand at different stages in the lesson Students ask relevant questions, can self-reflect, write their own questions, explain their thought processes and/or solve problems with peers
Hard Thinking	Questioning that allows for differentiation – consolidation & stretching Follow up questions to gain a better response and encourage students to use dictionaries to improve their vocabulary Time given to students to work it out – students are encouraged to tell you how they have tried before receiving additional help Work is linked to skills needed at the next level Answering student questions with questions rather than simply giving them the answer
High Quality feedback	Assessments in books/folders with clear feedback WWW/EBI each half term. DIRT work in purple pen. Students know what they need to do in the lesson they are in to achieve the learning objective; they can explain how they have improved since their last assessment Students can reference tracker sheets and use of purple pen to illustrate how they are making progress Literacy policy is evident in the students marked work Feedback genuinely allows students to develop specific skills Students reflect on their DIRT afterwards. ‘In order to improve my work…’
Progress made	Assessment for learning techniques are in use in the lessons, making it easy for students to see what they have and have not achieved DIRT work conveys how the students have improved after the assessment Tracker sheets are filled in and up to date, so it is clear if a student is making progress over time.
Respect for all	‘Doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place’ Actively learning and respecting other students in the class regardless of their ability, culture, religious beliefs and background Behaviour for learning is exemplary Quality of work and presentation is of a high standard Respect is evident for school equipment and other students’ equipment Excellent listening skills seen by all students
Expectations	What might be observed
Independent learning	Students take responsibility for their own learning e.g. flip learning Less teacher input required (80% student, 20% teacher) Clear routines in place if a student gets stuck – ‘Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss’ & B4MEASE Students working in groups to solve problems / complete an activity Skills are used to develop retention over time – interleaving Trackers in place and fully filled in Students are able to explain the progress they have made so far this year Students can confidently carry out extended writing tasks High quality peer / self-assessment completed

Assessment

Assessment is a means by which the progress of students is monitored. It seeks to inform curriculum planning and the development of learning. Assessment encompasses a variety of activities, formal and informal, summative and formative. At Bishop Wand, we believe that regular and robust assessments for learning are essential tools necessary for ensuring successful teaching and learning.

Pupils are at the heart of our assessment policy. Assessment enables pupils to understand where they are in their learning and to understand what they need to do next. Assessment provides pupils with the opportunity to work in partnership with the teacher and pupils should expect a variety of achievement to be recognised and celebrated. Assessment should enable pupils to review their progress with staff on an ongoing basis. Immediate assessments should involve consistent use of plenaries, soliciting feedback from pupils and evaluating every lesson to ascertain the occurrence of learning.

Formal Assessment occurs each half term

• Set by the head of department or teacher in charge every half term
• Completed under strict assessment conditions (Art/Photography assessment is ongoing throughout the half term)
• Students needing additional support should have this support made available whenever possible
• These assessments must be marked promptly by the teacher (in green pen) and students should receive written feedback to include:

WWW (What Went Well)

A summative comment to highlight what has brought about the success. 

EBI (Even Better If)

A formative comment to support the student in moving forward in their learning.

• The feedback and improvement work completed in purple pen must be placed in the students normal book or folder

INT (I need to..) or DIRT (Directed Independent Reflection Time)

Each time work is returned, students should be given time to reflect on their work, respond to a teacher’s comments and/ or make improvements. DIRT might also be used prior to handing in work to allow students to assess whether they have taken on board teachers comments from previous marking or verbal feedback.

• A grade and a target for improvement based on this assessment should be recorded on a tracker sheet that is clearly visible in a student’s normal book or folder. Y7 assessments in the first half term do not need to be graded, but must still have a target for improvement.

• The grades from these assessments must be recorded in the teachers mark book and/or on the departmental spreadsheet

• Where a class is taught more than 3 times a week by the same teacher two assessments should occur each half term.  This would be the case for most core subject lessons and KS5 classes.  If a class is only taught once a week or fortnight only one assessment would be expected per term.

Other Assessment / Classwork / Homework

No other assessment requires formal written feedback by the teacher, but from time to time the teacher may choose to provide additional feedback in this way.  Other work in books, especially homework, should be monitored and a record of this monitoring be made either in a teacher’s mark book or on a departmental spreadsheet.

Possible ways homework might be monitored:

• Marked by the students following marking guidance provided by the teacher (peer or self-assessment).
• Acknowledged by the teacher with a stamper or signature.
• Used in class and verbal praise given for the learning outcomes achieved as a result.

Literacy across the curriculum

Each half term at least one piece of written work should be marked for literacy.  This could be part of the student’s formal or other assessment.  Where a specific whole school focus is in place particular attention should be made to this, otherwise the usual marking rubric should be followed.

Marking Rubric

Mark Symbol	Meaning
	Correct
X	Wrong/incorrect
--^--	Pupil has missed out a word or phrase
NF	The work is incomplete and the pupil is expected to finish the work.
Sp	Spelling error, circle in green Find the correct spelling and write it down 3 times.
P	Punctuation error, underline in green Check full stops, commas, apostrophes. Check capital letters.
T	Check tense, underline in green
G	Check grammar, underline in green

Corrections – it is up to the teacher to decide what pupils should correct and how this should be done. On occasions this may involve redrafting the whole piece of work, on other occasions pupils may be asked to write out the correct spellings 3 times.