TEACH HorizonSeptember 2013 • Issue 3

Raising aspirations for all through quality, excellence and innovation

WHERE IS PARADISE?

In the latest issue of ‘Teach Horizon’ we continue our series on the different as-pects of the planning cycle

by looking at ‘Describing the outcomes’ and consider its place to assess where stu-dents are and where students need to get to.

If our goal is to ensure that students have the opportunity to get to the ‘Promised Land’, then this issue offers some ideas to help us move towards this aim.

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Teach HorizonIssue 3

The theme of this issue is that of looking to the fu-ture. Paradise is a place where we all dream of being. The NQTs will be on that lonely desert island during their residential. Michael Gove gives us ‘Teacher Standard’ 6 an excellent standard to help turn our student’s dreams into reality. Have you ever thought about being on a Greek island while sat in your arm chair? Well, c a n do all that and more for you!!

Back to reality. Many thanks to all contributors. The next issue will be published in December. If you want to contribute a resource or an article, or give details of a strategy that has worked for you, do let the Staff Learning Coordinator editor know.

ISSUE 3Training Opportunities - Staff Learning Co-ordinator Nargis Ola details this term’s training programmes.

Assessment for Life - Staff Learning Co-Ordinator Sarah Rhodes looks at assessment and the ways it informs our teaching.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

E-Learning - E-Learning co-or-dinator Helen Stokes gives us an update on our new VLA and other useful tips and informa-tion.

Head of School Phil Storey has ‘top tips’ for promoting a learn-ing culture in your lessons.

Take a look at what the NQTs got up to at their ‘Twilight ses-sion’.

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Teaching and Learning working group

The Teaching and Learning working group has been busy looking into new strategies to improve differentiation. The group has focused on the different ways students can work together, the idea being that each representative goes back to their department with ideas that have been shared, for use within each curricu-lum area. Gemma Stoyles presented the work she and Christine Malson did for the DrOPP course. Some food for thought, some excellent sug-gestions on how to engage learners in their group work and how this can aid differen-tiation.

http://prezi.com/w4bnrzoy-f0en/untitled-prezi/?kw=view-w4bnrzoyf0en&rc=ref-2967 7577

A n d r e w C a t t r e l l engaged the T&L group with his plate spin-ning! Some practical Kagan strategies to en-gage, enthuse and push the more able students so they thrive in a supportive yet challenging environment.

HORIZON TRAINING

Date Focus of the lesson Presenter Notes

Tue24 Sep

(Professional Development)

Kagan

Andrew Catterall All staff

Practical strategies put forward by the

teaching and learning extraordinaire -

Kagan.

Thu 17 Oct

Challenges during a parent’s evening.

Nargis Ola-Craig NQT

How would you deal with certain

situations?

Tue 19 Nov Kagan - Part 2 Andrew

Catterall All staff

Practical strategies put forward by the

teaching and learning extraordinaire -

Kagan.

Tue 3 Dec

(Professional Development)High Achieving

Pupils.

Kevin Harris All staffHow to engage and work with our high achieving students.

Thu 5 Dec

How to use SISRA

Claire Huddart

NQTs/All staff

A practical guide - effective use of

SISRA.

Thu 19 Dec

NQT sharing good practice.

Nargis Ola-Craig

NQTs An opportunity for NQTs to share and

support one another.

Unless there is a Parent’s Evening there will be an NQT session on Thursdays 4.30 - 5.30.

NQT Residential Fri 18 & Sat 19 Oct 2013.

Aud

ienc

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Nargis Ola Staff Learning Co-ordinator:Training, coaching and NQT induction.

Assessment for learn-ing is the key to suc-cessful teaching. It is simple, effective and

involves the following things: 1. Getting information from pupils about what they have learnt so you can plan amaz-ing engaging lessons.

2. Helping pupils understand what you are aiming for during the lesson and what they are going to get out of the learn-ing. Making sure learning; is not just ‘done to them’.

3. Giving feedback to pupils and allowing them opportunity to make changes and improve their work using different strat-egies. This will help them un-derstand what they have done well and what they need to do to improve (WWW/ EBI).

As a College we are working towards embedding consist-ent evidence of quality feed-back and pupils’ response.

Sarah Rhodes Staff Learning Co-ordinator Sarah Rhodes is responsible for assessment at Horizon. Here she details ‘Assessment for Life’.

“We need to see that every pupil has had an oppor-tunity to improve their work and make significant changes”

Teacher Standard 6

Make accurate and produc-tive use of assessment

• Know and understand how to assess the rel-evant subject and cur-riculum areas, including statutory assessment requirements

• Make use of formative and summative assess-ment to secure pupils’ progress

• Use relevant data to monitor progress, set targets, and plan sub-sequent lessons

• Give pupils regular feedback, both orally and through accurate marking, and encour-age pupils to respond to the feedback.

ASSESSMENT FOR LIFE, LEARNING, LIVING, LOOKING AHEAD...

We need to see that every pu-pil has had an opportunity to improve their work and make significant changes which will impact on their level/grade. Using WWW/EBI alongside purposeful target setting, we should see a marked improve-ment each time an assessed piece is marked by the teach-er, a peer or themselves.

Assessment is the building blocks - it cannot be a buffet that we pick at - it has to be the main course that we sa-vour and enjoy! That is why we have set up the Assess-ment Tools for Teachers and I believe if we can cement our classroom practice around quality AfL then the future looks bright for our learners!

“Assessment is the building blocks - it cannot be a buffet that we pick at - it has to be the main course that we savour and en-joy!”

Remember PARA P - Praise (WWW)

A - Action (EBI) R - Respond to feedback A - Teacher acknowledges the improved work using stampers/ comments.

This is the third in our series of articles on the Horizon (Acceler-ated Learning) Plan-

ning Cycle. One thing’s for sure, it will be difficult for the teacher - and students - to measure their progress in a lesson if they are unclear about what the objectives and the outcomes of the lesson were. Setting clear learning objectives and outcomes are essential for any lesson.

It is worth highlighting that the use of the two terms ‘learn-ing objectives’ and ‘learning outcomes’ has changed over time, and they are now wide-ly used - in educational me-dia, on Twitter, educational publications - to describe the same thing. For our purposes at Horizon, a learning objec-tive is a statement in specific and measurable terms which describes what the student should know and/or be able to do by engaging in a learning activity.

Learning outcomes describe to students what the teacher is looking for and how they will know they are being success-ful in their learning. Learning outcomes need to be specific

and related to the learning ob-jectives and the activities set by the teacher.

It is clearly very important for teachers to decide, as part of their planning, how they are going to assess the learning outcomes during the lesson and they should always be able to review these learning outcomes.

Examples of learning out-comes (success criteria) are below:

Differentiate those outcomes

As we move on to the next stage of Horizon’s journey, so the focus falls sharply onto

1. Ensure learning outcomes are dif-ferentiated accord-ing to NC/GCSE levels.

2. Make sure out-comes are measur-able and specific

3. Provide review opportunities for students to check their progress against outcomes.

4. Use the review phase to inform planning for the next lesson. How did students get on with today’s ob-jectives and out-comes?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

Keith Hirst

The third edition of a series of arti-cles, outlining the Horizon Planning Cycle

KEY PRINCIPLES OF SETTING LEARNING OUTCOMES

Next time…

‘Input/New Learning’

Use the 5 key words when writing

the introductionUse a pencil and a ruler to draw Science

equipment used for this experiment

Search a database to

find 5 pieces of information about The Jungle Book

Peer assess your partner’s work by giving

a point for improvement

Share your opinion in a group

of 4

Demonstrate a forward and backward roll

different groups of learners - LAPs, MAPs, and HAPs, EAL, SEND etc. It is essential that in our teaching we meet the needs of all groups of learn-ers. In this sense, differen-tiation is king! As the start of the lesson planning process it is vital to be clear about the desired learning outcomes for different groups of learners; this is often made explicit by links to either National Curric-ulum or GCSE (or equivalent levels). Are you expecting a student with a benchmark of a D to produce the same level as an A* student?

Unpacking progress

Some subjects have devel-oped the use of outcomes into a ‘progress grid’ approach, where ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ progress for different groups of learners is identified and shared with students. An ex-ample of this approach in ICT is shown below: Example of clear learning objectives and outcomes (History).

Note the specific reference to GCSE grade criteria.

Learning Objectives

TECH FOR TEACHERSFrog Update: Follow the hopper!

The Frog VLE has be-gun to make huge leaps forward in a bid to support teach-

ing & learning. The Summer Term saw all department Frog Champions being trained in building their department sites ready for September. A variety of content can be made avail-able to all pupils and staff, anytime, anyplace, anywhere!

Frog can be used to:

• Engage learners• Extend the classroom • Provide access to media

rich resources, SCORM content

• Support collaboration, both learners and staff

• Support flipped learning• Increase communication

(Staff: Learner, Staff: Staff, Learner: Learner)

• Engage parents• Notices will appear in Frog.

Including staff notices, pu-pil notices and extra-curric-ular notices

• All i-Learning will be set via Frog

• Resources and lessons will be displayed on Frog; to support absentees

• All emails to pupils and be-tween pupils will be done via Frog Mail

Helen StokesAs highlighted in the first two issues, Frog is a major development for Horizon. Here Helen Stokes outlines the progress since the last issue and plans for the implementation of our new VLE.

You will need your network username and password to log in.

To log in to Frog at school go to: http://froghorizon

To log in to Frog outside school go to: http://forg.horizoncc.co.uk

If you require support with Frog, contact your department Frog Champion in the first in-stance.

Support videos and help sheets will be made available via the eLearning site on Frog.

Panoramio

Panoramio is a site that allows you to explore places around the world, local sites and places you and students have visited. Simply type in a loca-tion you wish to explore and images near that location will be displayed on a map. Click on the images to enlarge them and see all images for that lo-cation.

All the images are geo-located so the positions are accurate. All the images are of places and locations; you won’t have to sift through lots of pictures of pouting people!

Why not upload your own im-ages from a trip?

To use Panoramio go to http://www.panoramio.com/

Here are a couple of iOS

(whatever they are!!) for you to try. Helen says they are fab but don’t take her word for it, try them!!

Discover Apps (iOS) Discover Apps is a really use-ful app that helps you to find other apps.

Just simply type in an app that you like or choose an app from the featured list. This then generates a map of similar and recommended apps that might be of interest to you.

You can then read about

the app, look at ratings and screenshots and it then gives you the ability to download the app directly from the App store.

Strip Designer (iOS)

Use your iOS device to create your own comic strips.

You can choose your layout, add your images, add text, add filters and borders and add stickers such as thought bubbles and speech bubbles. Finally, you can export to your photo album or send as an email.

Why not use Strip designer to explain a concept or a process in your subject or get learners to create their own to show what they have learnt?

You can get more informa-tion from http://www.mexircus.com/Strip_Designer/index.html

“All the images are geo-located, so the positions are accurate. All the images are of plac-es and locations; you won’t have to sift through lots of pictures of pouting people!”

We have all had, have and will have in the future students in our

lessons who are more difficult to engage and, if allowed to will likely cause disruption to our lessons.

‘Disruptive behaviour is often, although not exclusively, a choice’: A choice that is made by an individual in response to a singular or combination of factors! No pupil is born ‘naughty’ and therefore for a pupil to demonstrate the traits that we would consider in this bracket it is usually a prod-uct of a variety of issues, cir-cumstances and factors and

this is a ‘need’ and is often a ‘barrier’ towards these individ-uals demonstrating the behav-iours that ‘we’ deem appropri-ate!

It is the easier option to remove children who pose behavioural challenges from the class-room but our goal has to be to create an environment where positive behaviour is promot-ed and pupils are encouraged and nurtured to demonstrate positive behaviour, not neces-sarily for learning, but so they CAN learn! A key to this is to develop a positive rapport with pupils, identify their interests, and show an interest. Many BESD pupils demonstrate dis-ruptive behaviour to gain at-tention - from you, their peers, anyone who will acknowledge them and to be honest they don’t mind whether it is a stick-er in their planners or a ‘pub-lic dressing down’ across the classroom. Either way they have had their itch scratched!

A few years ago a former col-league and I delivered a series of workshops in this area and in doing so compiled some ‘top tips’.

Catch pupils being good!

Emphasize the positives in a classroom. Whenever possi-ble, publicly praise those pu-pils who are being compliant.Be proactive not reactive us-ing positive cues!

Linked to Tip One, give rec-ognition to those pupils being good. Praise pupils in a close vicinity to the pupil ‘off-task’ aiming to redirect pupils to be-have appropriately.

Use ‘Wise Positioning’ in classThink about your position-ing - place yourself close to pupils behaving inappropri-ately whilst once again prais-ing compliant behaviour else-where in the classroom.

PROMOTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR

Phil StoreyOur new Head of School, Phil Storey outlines ways of im-proving learning in the classroom by “Promoting Positive Behaviour”.

Reiterate to refocus

Ask questions to refocus a off-task pupils - for example a group of pupils are ‘off-task’, approach them but pay no attention to their ‘off-task’ be-haviour instead ask redirect-ing questions such as ‘How’s it going? Do you need any help? Do you need me to check the work that you have done so far?’

Discretely redirect

Most ‘disruptive’ pupils are ei-ther striving to ‘create a scene’ seeking attention or in contrast respond badly to public rep-rimanding, therefore a more discreet approach will be more successful. For example a pu-pil has stopped focussing on their work so you quietly move to their side and ask them to go back to the task they have been set. Don’t look for an immediate response, in fact move away from them to give them time to comply - if suc-cessful don’t forget to praise improved behaviour!!

Overtly Redirect

Rather than confront pupils displaying inappropriate be-haviour getting drawn into an argument, acknowledge the inappropriate behaviour while at the same time redirect the pupil to the actual task in hand. For example A couple of pupils are having a chat rather than working and naturally you ask them to stop and get back on task only to be met by the ‘standard ‘cock-sure’ response’ of “I’m only asking them what we’ve got to do?” Follow this up with a statement along the lines of “I appreciate that you might be unsure but you can

always ask me and now that you are aware can you get on with the task thanks. Adding the ‘thanks’ subconsciously you are expecting compliance from the pupil.

Rule Reminders

Regular assertive remind-ers of your classroom rules are a very effective and non-confrontational way of tackling ‘off-task’ behaviour. For exam-ple “Kieran, remember that our rule for answering questions is to put your hands up and not shout out, let’s try that thanks”. Using ‘Our’ de-personalises the enforcement of the sanc-tion and takes away the ‘be-cause I said so’ element that can cause confrontation. Again thanks are used to en-courage compliance.

Let pupils make the choice

Establish with the pupil that they are ‘choosing’ to behave in an inappropriate manner but provide them with the alterna-tive (more suitable) choices they have. Reinforce the con-sequences that will come should they not choose to be-have appropriately - “Liam I need you to stop shouting out (desired result), if you choose

not to then you know I’ll have no option other than to write in your planner which then puts you only one step away from an On-Call (consequence pending) which I don’t want to do so lets be quiet now thanks”

Consistent Consequences

If despite your best efforts, a pupil continues to make ‘poor choices’ it is essential that you do follow through with the de-sired consequence outlined once again leaving scope for compliance and corrected be-haviour. Continuing with the example from before - “Liam you have chosen not to take my advice, bring me your planner (write comment) I hope that you will now make the right choice so that I don’t have to have you removed, back to your seat now thanks.”

Restorative Removal

Unfortunately in a school of our size, there will be occa-sions where pupils continue to significantly prevent you from teaching and affect other pu-pils learning and despite all your best efforts you are left with no option other than to have them removed from the lesson (On-Call).

Following an On-Call it is es-sential that the issue is fol-lowed up with the pupil and restorative work undertake where the pupil is given the opportunity to reflect and un-derstand ‘where they went wrong’ so that they can make better choices next time!!!

“Emphasize on the positives in a classroom. When-ever possible, pub-licly praise those pupils who are be-ing compliant.”

Congratulations to our NQTs who have all successfully com-pleted their induc-

tion year. NQTs were treated to a twilight session with vari-ous workshops, firstly looking into the new teachers pay and conditions, linking these back to the teacher’s standards.

Kevin Harris followed with a fantastic exercise to engage all learners.

The exercise developed mys-tery, questioning, effective cooperation, competition and a sense of achievement. If you would like more informa-tion about the work that Kevin does, he will be more than happy to go through his work-shop.

Sarah Rhodes started her session by setting the scene, a mystery style exercise that showed how powerful ques-tioning can be. The exercise,

which again wasn’t resource heavy, allowed students to develop deeper thinking. The work generated interest and a determination to ‘find the truth’. Again if you would like more information about this see Sarah Rhodes.

Punctuation

Finally Sarah Cross introduced

punctuation to our NQTs. Sa-rah actively asked the group to demonstrate how difficult it is for some students to use dic-tionaries but also how impor-tant it is to develop student’s vocabulary. Again, Sarah will be more than happy to go through any literacy strategies with anyone wanting any addi-tional support.

NQT TWILIGHT SESSION

Above: A tweet about Visible LearningLeft: A simple idea to assess what each person has contributed within the group.