When teaching we focus on motivating the children and building on their skills, knowledge and understanding of the curriculum. We use our schemes of work to guide our teaching. These set out the aims and objectives, and details what is to be taught to each year group.
We base our teaching on our knowledge of the children's level of attainment. Our prime focus is to develop further the knowledge and skills of the children. We strive to ensure that all tasks set are appropriate to each child's level of ability. When planning work for children with special educational needs we give due regard to information and targets contained in the children's Individual Education Plans (IEPs). (see Differentiation Policy) We have high expectations of all children, and we try to ensure that their work here at Chafyn Grove School is of the highest possible standard.
We plan our lessons with clear learning objectives. We take these objectives from the National Curriculum or from the Common Entrance Syllabus, where appropriate. Our planning contains information about the tasks to be set, the resources needed, and the way we assess the children's work. We evaluate lessons and so that we can modify and improve our teaching in the future.
Each of our teachers makes a special effort to establish good working relationships with all children in the class. We treat the children with kindness and respect. We treat them fairly and give them equal opportunity to take part in class activities. All our teachers follow the school policy with regard to discipline and classroom management. We set and agree with children the class code of conduct. We expect all children to comply with these rules that we jointly devise to promote the best learning opportunities for all. We praise children for their efforts thus helping to build positive attitudes towards school and learning in general. We insist on good order and behaviour at all times. When children misbehave we follow the guidelines for sanctions as outlined in our school Behaviour and Discipline policy.
We ensure that all tasks and activities that the children do are safe. When we plan to take children out of school, we first inform parents and obtain their permission and we carry out a risk assessment.
We deploy learning assistants and other adult helpers as effectively as possible. Sometimes they work with individual children and sometimes they work with small groups. Our adult helpers also assist with the preparation and storage of classroom equipment.
Our classrooms are attractive learning environments all Main School classes equipped with Interactive whiteboards or projectors. We change displays at least once a term, to ensure that the classroom reflects the topics studied by the children and, as far as possible, using the pupils' work in our displays. We ensure that children have the opportunity to display their best work at some time during the year. Classrooms have an appropriate range of dictionaries and reference books. There is fiction and non-fiction books in most classrooms as well as displays relating to literacy and numeracy. We believe that a stimulating environment sets the climate for learning, and an exciting classroom promotes independent use of resources and high-quality work by the children.
All our teachers reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and plan their professional development needs accordingly. We do all we can to support our teachers in developing their skills, so that they can continually improve their practice. This takes place within departments, through departmental meetings and observations, within year groups and through whole school INSET.
We conduct all our teaching in an atmosphere of trust and respect for all.
We acknowledge that people learn in many different ways and we recognize the need to develop strategies that allow all children to learn in ways that best suit them. We take into account these different forms of intelligence when planning.
We offer opportunities for children to learn in different ways. These include:
We encourage children to take responsibility for their own learning, to be involved as far as possible in reviewing the way they learn and to identify ways to improve their learning.
We are aware of the need to review the school teaching and learning policy regularly so that we can take account of new initiatives, changes in the curriculum, developments in technology or changes to the physical environment of the school.