Liverpool Archdiocese Secondary Schools’ Partnership Good Practice Case Studies
All Hallows Catholic High School
Overview In 2011 we recognised a need to improve and develop the teaching and learning in school and add structure to this development. Assessment for Learning was a particular target. Most teaching and learning CPD had been piece meal. CPD had been relatively ineffective with little impact recorded. We sought to change that by improving our practice and changing habits.
Purpose We realised that the most powerful teacher knowledge is not explicit; telling teachers what to do doesn’t work. Teacher learning is just like any other learning in the same way that teachers cannot do the learning for their learners, leaders cannot do the learning for their teachers. We knew we had outstanding teachers delivering outstanding lessons. We wanted to ‘tap’ into this powerful resource and share our ideas as well as fostering a commitment to continuous improvement and a collaboration of good practice. Our aim was to focus on those things that make a difference to students.
What we did We set up Teaching and Learning Communities. (TLCs, an idea promoted by Dylan William) We chose 8 outstanding teachers and invited them to become ‘Learning Leaders’. These leaders were allocated a group of between 6-8 teachers. All teaching staff are involved and the meetings are timetabled for once every half term. The Learning Leaders meet with the Teaching and Learning Co-ordinator two weeks prior to the meeting. The Teaching and Learning Co-ordinator runs through the meeting schedule and explains the focus and agenda. Resources are handed out and discussed and amendments made. The first year was devoted to developing AFL across the school. TLCs are now focussed on raising the standard of Teaching and Learning in a variety of areas. The overall objectives of the TLCs are: a commitment to engineer effective learning environments for teachers creating expectations for the continuous improvement of practice keeping the focus on the things that make a difference to students providing the time, space, dispensation and support for innovation supporting risk-taking mutual support and challenge provide time to reflect on, and discuss, our practice a forum for change at individual level