Shire Oak Academy
Shire Oak Academy Turning potential into excellence Teaching and learning at Shire Oak Academy At Shire Oak Academy, we believe in the concept of lifelong learning and the notion that learning should be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone. Through our teaching and learning activities, we equip our pupils with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary for them to achieve their hopes and aspirations for their futures and make informed choices about the important things in their life. We acknowledge that all pupils learn in many different ways and we recognise the need to develop a range of teaching and learning strategies that allow our pupils to learn in ways that best suit them. Ofsted’s view
Lessons are stimulating and students and their parents appreciate the good teaching that students receive. A key feature that is typical of most lessons is the good use of lesson objectives which helps students to become more involved with their learning. Teachers plan a variety of activities that engage students’ interest and active learning. Questioning is a strength because teachers encourage students to explain their reasoning and to argue their case. Teachers have a wealth of information about students’ standards and their targets to guide their planning. The best lessons reflect some very effective use of these assessments to match specific students to appropriately challenging learning outcomes and activities. We aim to achieve this by: providing a caring, rich and varied learning environment that allows our pupils to develop their skills and abilities to their full potential, by providing a positive climate for learning; encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their own learning, to be involved in reviewing the way they learn and to reflect on how they learn; developing enquiring minds that encourage pupils to want to learn more each day; encouraging our pupils to be conscientious young citizens who are tolerant and respect other people’s values; encouraging pupils to take a pride in their achievements and have a desire to succeed. We believe our pupils learn best when: there are high expectations of all pupils in work, behaviour and presentation; they have a clear understanding of the expectations of work and behaviour; lessons enable children’s understanding to be developed through active, practical and first hand experiences, involving individual and collaborative talk, exploration, questioning, prediction and investigation, so that the lesson makes a difference; they have a positive attitude towards their work; they take responsibility for their own learning; work is challenging but achievable; they are encouraged and praised; they have access to high quality support whenever necessary; they get regular feedback about their work and are given time to reflect; lessons are well planned, resourced and delivered to meet all the needs of the pupils. In order to ensure that lessons in academy reflect our aims and beliefs, Directors of Learning and the Academy Leadership Team regularly monitor the work of teachers in departments. This monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning will include: observations of lessons; work checks, looking at pupils’ books, folders etc; analysis of tracking data which compares current progress to target grades; evaluation of any pupil or parental questionnaires; learning walks to provide focused “spot checks” on lessons taking place; planner checks to ensure homework or ILUs are being properly set and marked. Fact sheet 8: Teaching and learning @ Shire Oak Academy
Lessons are stimulating and students and their parents appreciate the good teaching that students receive. A key feature that is typical of most lessons is the good use of lesson objectives which helps students to become more involved with their learning. Teachers plan a variety of activities that engage students’ interest and active learning. Questioning is a strength because teachers encourage students to explain their reasoning and to argue their case. Teachers have a wealth of information about students’ standards and their targets to guide their planning. The best lessons reflect some very effective use of these assessments to match specific students to appropriately challenging learning outcomes and activities. We aim to achieve this by: providing a caring, rich and varied learning environment that allows our pupils to develop their skills and abilities to their full potential, by providing a positive climate for learning; encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their own learning, to be involved in reviewing the way they learn and to reflect on how they learn; developing enquiring minds that encourage pupils to want to learn more each day; encouraging our pupils to be conscientious young citizens who are tolerant and respect other people’s values; encouraging pupils to take a pride in their achievements and have a desire to succeed. We believe our pupils learn best when: there are high expectations of all pupils in work, behaviour and presentation; they have a clear understanding of the expectations of work and behaviour; lessons enable children’s understanding to be developed through active, practical and first hand experiences, involving individual and collaborative talk, exploration, questioning, prediction and investigation, so that the lesson makes a difference; they have a positive attitude towards their work; they take responsibility for their own learning; work is challenging but achievable; they are encouraged and praised; they have access to high quality support whenever necessary; they get regular feedback about their work and are given time to reflect; lessons are well planned, resourced and delivered to meet all the needs of the pupils. In order to ensure that lessons in academy reflect our aims and beliefs, Directors of Learning and the Academy Leadership Team regularly monitor the work of teachers in departments. This monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning will include: observations of lessons; work checks, looking at pupils’ books, folders etc; analysis of tracking data which compares current progress to target grades; evaluation of any pupil or parental questionnaires; learning walks to provide focused “spot checks” on lessons taking place; planner checks to ensure homework or ILUs are being properly set and marked. Fact sheet 8: Teaching and learning @ Shire Oak Academy
