Developing Teaching Newsletter

Developing Teaching Newsletter Witton Park Academy

The One with the BALLOON Edition LAUNCHING THE WITTON 5

CELEBRATING OUR DEVELOPING TEACHING TEAM ASKING EFFECTIVE QUESTIONS

SPRING 2025 ISSUE NO. 01

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Developing Teaching

Introducing the Developing Teaching Team When a school embarks on a mission to transform classroom practices, they need an army of people to lead the charge. Without expertise on the ground, practices very rarely change. As we enter a new phase in education under a new government, with a new Ofsted framework ready to be confirmed and in anticipation of the findings and guidance from the national curriculum and assessment review led by Professor Becky Francis, we know we need to be ready to respond to the new demands and measures quickly. We are delighted therefore to introduce you to our Developing Teaching team who are poised and ready to blaze a trail for success in all of our classrooms.

Jo Colling: Jo is Associate Assistant Headteacher for Ebacc and has been a Teacher of History for over 25 years.

Emma Moss: Emma is a dedicated Teacher of Art with a passion for creativity and hands-on learning.

Sana Patel: Sana is the leader for Psychology, a role that reflects her long standing passion for the subject, which began in high school.

Kulsum Issa: Kulsum is Associate Assistant Headteacher for Social Sciences and Ethics, specialising in Religious Education.

She mentors and drives departmental excellence.

Dilly Ali: Dilly is responsible for whole school Reading and Literacy with a passion for inspiring pupils through the rich canon of literature.

Falak Chaudhry: Falak is a member of the English team. She uses data led decision making to transform classroom practices.

Tayyabah Arif: Tayyabah is a dedicated Teacher of Social Sciences and Ethics, specialising in Religious Education.

Dan Griffiths: Dan is a Maths teacher with a passion and gift for the digital and the potential for how tech can transform the way children learn.

Sarah Matts: Sarah is Associate Assistant Head for Science. She loves bringing Science to life and engaging students by introducing them to the world beyond the classroom.

Neil Hayes: Teaching for many years, Neil recently returned from a secondment at one of our other Trust schools to drive up standards and practices relating to assessment.

Rio Fielding: A science teacher with a passion for bringing learning to life and making thinking visible in the classroom.

Developing Teaching

The One with the Balloon...

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In this Issue

With so much to celebrate and with even more to shout about across Witton Park Academy, we are pleased to introduce the very first issue of ‘Developing Teaching’ Newsletter.

The newsletter will be a termly publication which captures some of the wonderful, innovative, and in many cases, transformational practices that are taking place across our school and in our classrooms everyday. As we enter a period of significant change and improvement under the newly design Witton 5, it is vital that we keep up to date with all of the research and training that will drive standards up in our classrooms.

Each issue will be made up of examples of excellent teaching from across the faculties, work and training from our developing teaching briefings and CPD events, and also work from individuals who are happy to share some of their successes and own development journeys.

We hope you find the pages of this issue filled to the brim with the authentic voices of our students, staff, teachers and leaders. Finding inspiration!

This first issue focuses on “the one with the balloon” and the importance of breaking the mould of previous teaching and learning frameworks as we head towards a more

robust and challenging set of descriptors.

The Witton 5 is at the centre of the issue and each term we will put a spotlight on one of the key 5 areas of the framework and begin to unpick what that should look like in the classroom.

We hope you enjoy,

Developing teaching team

Developing Teaching

“Welcome to the new framework for developing teaching at Witton Park Academy.”

A new teaching and learning framework

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Developing Teaching: Spotlight Each term we will focus on a different element of the Developing Teaching Framework. This term we focus on what high challenge should look like in our classrooms. All staff will take part in a second round of lesson observations after the Easter holidays, with these key descriptors used to guide staff to create great lessons.

High challenge and ambition for all.

Teachers create and deliver a curriculum that is inspiring, inclusive and innovative - in particular for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. Descriptors 1. Teachers know their class well and are fully aware of the needs of all pupils - seating plans, PLPs, adaptive teaching strategies, reasonable adjustments to resources etc are effectively used to support all pupils to access and succeed with the planned learning.

2. Teachers demonstrate consistently high expectations for all pupils in terms of behaviour, attitude, engagement, participation and the quality and quantity of work pupils produce each lesson. Pupils follow LEARN. 3. Lessons are ambitious and inspiring and provide opportunities for pupils to grapple with desirable difficulties, demonstrate creativity and independence, and discover the rich knowledge of the discipline.

4. Pupils are provided with a range of activities that enable them to use and apply their knowledge and skills in various contexts.

5. The pitch and pace of lessons is well managed, allowing enough time for teaching, practising and revisiting content.

6. Lessons are designed so that knowledge and skills build hierarchically and cumulatively - aiming for supportive cognitive challenge and cognitively challenging tasks.

7. Reasonable adjustments are made for those who may need it in order to access and meet the demands of the challenging material as they attempt to master it.

8. Modelling, scaffolds, pre-teaching, targeted teaching, adjusted materials are some ways teachers may do this.

9. Text choices that are used in lessons are chosen to both challenge and heighten the experience of the curriculum and should represent the “best” the subject has to offer. This includes appropriate reading age material and tier 3 vocabulary.

10.Other professionals support a culture of high expectations and high challenge and actively support all pupils to access and meet the demanding aims of the curriculum.

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Developing Teaching Briefings

Mini-whiteboards In Spring term 1 Jeannie Credie led a focus on the use of mini-whiteboards to check for whole class understanding. Sessions focused on what actons to take when students have a gap in their knowledge and classroom routines to ensure that whiteboards are used effectively.

Careful planning of mini-whiteboard routines is essential. This includes considering the placement of the whiteboard on the desk, which should be on top of other work to save time.

Teachers should emphasize to students that they should not show their answers to others. Furthermore, teachers need to justify why students should not show their answers to others, to reinforce this routine.

Teachers should explain to students that writing in large, clear writing helps the teacher see their answers.

Teachers need to teach students to “hover” with their miniwhiteboards, rather than placing their pens down, to prepare to show their answers quickly.

Teachers should instruct students to use both hands when holding up their mini-whiteboards to prevent wobbling.

It’s crucial for teachers to communicate these routines with justifications to students and to practice and revisit them regularly.

Go deep on the routine (Tips for Teachers by Craig Barton)

Effective Questions Hagel’s Dialectic

Stretch it… (Socratic Method) In Spring term 2 Vicky Whiting focused on ‘Asking good questions, getting great answers’. Sessions explored creating higher order questions, using Socratic questioning to stretch thinking and Hagel’s Dialectic to improve the quality of pupil’s answers.

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Developing Teaching Briefings

Raising standards and expectations Raising standards and expectations in our classrooms is essential for supporting pupils to fully engage and fully understand the importance of organisation and being prepared for learning. Getting the basics right will pave the way for more exciting student centric learning.

The classroom rules around equipment being out and presentation in books are non-negotiable and daily QA focuses on what this looks like across school on a lesson by lesson basis. All staff must insist that pupils follow expectations about equipment and DUMTUMS to ensure that consistency and standards are high in every lesson.

The research shows that high expectations and habit forming behaviours are proven to raise levels of engagement and participation in learning. This will lay the foundations for staff to create increasingly challenging and exciting lessons for learners.

We continue to focus on the quality of pupils’ responses both verbal and written and effective questioning in daily QA.

Developing Teaching

In action...

Over two consecutive Fridays, my Year 8 class delved into the world of circle-related mathematics with real-life applications. The lessons were designed to spark discussion, encourage active participation, and demonstrate the practical relevance of mathematical concepts. Both lessons utilised 2 critical slides which formed the foundation for learning.

Lesson 1: Circumference and the Triathlon Challenge The first lesson took the students through the concept of circumference, using my personal experiences in triathlons as a springboard.

Activity Breakdown: Introduction to Circumference: The lesson began with a discussion about triathlons, focusing on the cycling leg and the distances involved. Students were introduced to the concept of circumference as the distance around a circle, relating it to the distance a bike wheel covers in one rotation.

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1. Calculating Wheel Rotations: Using my road bike as an example, students measured the wheel's diameter and calculated its circumference using the formula C = πd. They then explored how many rotations the wheel would need to make to cover a specific triathlon distance, such as 40 kilometers. This involved converting units, applying the circumference formula, and using division to find the number of rotations.

2. Comparing Wheel Sizes: To deepen understanding, the activity was extended to compare my road bike wheel with the smaller wheel of my son's bike. Students calculated the circumference of the smaller wheel and determined the number of rotations needed to cover the same 40kilometer distance.

3. Key Discovery: Through calculations and comparisons, students discovered the inverse relationship between wheel size and the number of rotations needed to cover a given distance. They found that halving the wheel size resulted in doubling the number of rotations, highlighting the practical implications of circumference in real-world scenarios.

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Lesson 2: Area and the Pizza Puzzle The following Friday we looked at the area of a circle, using the relatable context of pizza sizes and value for money.

Activity Breakdown: 1. Pizza Sizes and Prices: The lesson started with a discussion about different pizza sizes and their corresponding prices. Students were presented with a menu featuring various pizza sizes (e.g., 6", 10", 14") and their costs.

2. Calculating Pizza Area: Students used the formula for the area of a circle (A = πr²) to calculate the area of each pizza size. This involved finding the radius (half the diameter) and applying the formula.

3. Value for Money: Students then divided the price of each pizza by its area to determine the cost per square inch, a measure of value for money. They compared the values for different pizza sizes to identify the best deal.

4. Key Discoveries: Through their calculations, students made several interesting discoveries: They found that a 10" pizza was significantly larger than a 6" pizza, not just by a small margin but almost three times the size. This highlighted the non-linear relationship between diameter and area.

They also discovered that the 14" pizza offered the best value for money, as it provided almost double the area of the 10" pizza for a price that wasn't twice as high.

DEVELOPING TEACHING During the pizza activity, a student who can regularly disrupt lessons blurted out, "I love maths!". This unexpected declaration underscored the power of real-world applications in capturing students' interest and making maths enjoyable.

These two lessons helped demonstrate the relevance and applicability of maths in everyday life.

By connecting mathematical concepts to familiar scenarios like triathlons and pizza, pupils participated in an engaging learning experience that fostered understanding and sparked curiosity. Being able to personalise the lesson to my own experiences helped foster engagement and relatability with my class. They were focused and interested in displaying the ability to reason in maths that I had not seen before. .

Research consistently shows that making learning relatable and meaningful for students, through strategies like connecting content to real-world examples, offering choices, and fostering active engagement, significantly improves student motivation, engagement, and ultimately, learning outcomes

“It makes much more sense when you can see how it can be used in real life!”