8 November 2020

WoW – guarantee CPD Focus – Reading and Vocabulary

This Week:

Trainees – in timetabled lessons within subject areas this week.
New staff and trainee CPD – No CPD this week
Reminders:
- Continue to add lesson resources into weekly folders for each class in Teams.
- Use Oak National Academy (or other online lesson bank) for cover lessons.
Year 7 teachers – please use the ‘golden rules’ emailed out last Friday morning with ALL year 7 classes.
Year 10 teachers – Core subjects used the attached ‘Golden Rules’ with 10D before the break. They worked. Please use across ALL subjects from now moving forward.
T&L Update – please listen to this if you haven’t already. Staff updates are saved here.

Reflect…

Link to this term’s CPD focus – Reading and Understanding

As we move into the half-way point of our first term, it is appropriate to refer back to our Teaching and Learning Policy and to evaluate how we are embedding it. Our focus this term has been Reading and Understanding. SO, how are we ensuring that we are each promoting reading within our classrooms?

Last week’s Top Tip saw the Science Department sharing some of their approaches to ensuring that reading intervention is happening within their classrooms. Remember, quality first teaching and addressing key priorities (such as reading) is the most effective lever for driving improvement. The EEF recognises teaching reading comprehension strategies as having a high impact based on extensive research:

So, with this in mind, consider these elements of our T&L Policy relating to reading. Do they feature within your planning and teaching?

Do you actively promote reading (talk about books/extended reading that may link to the topic)?
Do you explore tier 2 words within lessons? – list in teacher planners
Do you explore tier 3 words within lessons?
Do you give students reading strategies when tackling difficult texts (articles, exam questions, etc)?
Do you give students the Reciprocal Reading questions and roles to help them to dig deeper?

Middle Leaders have been looking at this focus in their Middle Leader Groups last week. Please discuss in subject teams at your earliest opportunity.

Useful references:

Remote Learning Policy

Teaching and Learning Policy (containing blended learning approach)

TOP TIPS

Many thanks to the Progress Coordinators team for their Top Tips. There is one below and a further one to follow later in the week.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Unconditional positive regard is where we accept and care for the person for what he or she is. Positive regard is not withdrawn if the person does something wrong or makes a mistake
Receiving every student into your room with positive care regardless of what they have done to you or other staff previously.

How can we do this?

Greet your students at the door, welcome them to your lesson, notice the new hair cut, the smiles and frowns, see what moods they are in hear their news as they enter the room
Tactically ignore the chair swinger, the coat on, the chewing and the trainers, quietly resolve these issues without fuss during your starter.
Ask about a child's wellbeing if you sense it may be different from normal.
Demonstrate positive behaviour to them no matter what they have done to you or your colleagues.
If a student need to be spoken to about behaviour outside by you or another member of staff, welcome them back in as if nothing has happened.
Do this every day and every lesson until that is what is normal in your room.

CPD CASCADE

Teaching and Learning – Test Yourself!

The new staff and trainee induction session last week was introducing them to our Teaching and Learning Policy. If you would like a revision session to see if you understand the different elements, test yourself using this questionnaire.