Victoria English School Teaching and Learning Policy (2020)

Victoria English School Teaching and Learning Policy (2020) 

Author: Keith Sykes 

Implemented: June 2020 

Last Reviewed: n/a 

Section A: The Overview

During the school year 2019-20, on many occasions curriculum teams spent time discussing and  reviewing what constituted good practice in teaching and learning. This involved all staff in all  phases and subjects. The objective was to try and avoid a long and complicated view of teaching and  learning when we had a huge reservoir of skills and experience in school.  

We finalised 10 key common points that are displayed in all classrooms. 

The VES principles of Teaching and Learning 

• Lessons will be prepared and organised using expert subject knowledge. 
• Collaborative planning of lessons will include a variety of activities and learning styles.
• There will be an environment characterized by high expectations and good behaviour established through the principles of Positive Discipline. 
• Lessons will be differentiated with scaffolding to help some students and extension activities  to challenge others. 
• There will be attempts to promote critical thinking through high order questioning, discussion  making and the structuring of opinions. 
• Independent learning will be present to promote creativity and engagement – including  homework tasks. 
• Lessons will link to core skills and make connections to the wider world through the use of  practical examples, trips and visits, and wider life skills. 
• Students will be supported in developing self-management and learning skills, including  organisation and the appropriate use of technology. 
• Regular assessment and feedback will inform teaching and planning, in addition to helping  students to develop and improve their progress. 
• Links to parents will be fostered to ensure quality homework and an effective home-school  partnership.

This is the central core to our commitment to quality Teaching and Learning. It is also underpinned  by 5 main principles; 

1. Well-Being

The primary focus of our work is to ensure the well-being of our community. We believe that  without this learning cannot take place. Students will be supported to work in school and at home,  with connection, self-management, self-awareness and strategies to maintain a healthy body and  mind. The school operates a positive discipline policy that rewards positive behavior whilst helping  to correct negative ones. Part of this process is to cultivate the home-school partnership.

2. Differentiation

Work will involve differentiation by task, resource or progression with scaffolding for all students  and extension work for the more able. Learning Support will be offered to all students who are  identified by our Learning Development Policy

3. Feedback

Positive, purposeful and effective feedback is recognized at the most powerful tool in Learning.  Feedback is provided through….

• Teacher comments verbal and written
• Peer and group discussions
• Peer and self-assessment 
• Review processes
4. Data to Inform Teaching and Learning

Baseline, formative and summative data (internal and external) will be used to inform seating plans,  sets, groupings, interventions and other progress related mechanisms in and out of class.

5. Blended Learning

Students will have a parallel online curriculum set up of project work to be undertaken and completed online. This will include project based learning that will allow the development of deeper  learning, technical skills, research skills and autonomy and resilience. Students will use online  portfolios to evidence VES Student Profile competences.

Section B – Teacher and Learner Standards

The delivery of excellence in Teaching and Learning requires the skills, expertise, experience and  commitment of our teaching staff. These expectations are outlined in our VES Teacher Standards. 

VES Teacher Standards 

1. Professional integrity
• Demonstrates the highest levels of integrity, ethics and standards of personal and  professional conduct; deeply committed to her/his own CPD and Performance  Management.
2. Positive Relationships
• Establishes and maintains positive, respectful and ethical relationships with students,  parents and colleagues 
3. Knowledge
• Has a well-developed, detailed knowledge of their subject specialism. Shows a developing  knowledge of relevant teaching and learning developments.
4. Planning
• Plans and teaches well- structured lessons and programmes that engage, inspire and  challenge students; developing intellectual curiosity, engagement and links to the real  world. 
5. Expectations
• Sets high expectations for students; inspiring, motivating and challenging students to  achieve excellent progress and outcomes  
6. Differentiation
• Adapts and tailors teaching to the needs of individual students, creating a student-centred  environment, with independent and confident learners. 
7. Assessment
• Demonstrates extensive knowledge and use of data and information alongside formative  and summative assessment to refine practice and promote outstanding results. 8. Behaviour for Learning
• Has high expectations of behaviour, controls the classroom and uses a variety of strategies  to ensure effective and productive lessons. 
8. Behaviour for Learning
• Has high expectations of behaviour, controls the classroom and uses a variety of strategies to ensure effective and productive lessons.
9. Wider Contribution
• Actively and enthusiastically contributes beyond the classroom to the benefit of the school  community.

The VES Student Profile 

To deliver our Principles of Teaching and Learning, we have a view of the profile a really successful Student would have. Of course, it is the responsibility of the curriculum and the teaching to help develop these qualities amongst the student body.

This profile will be shared with students and parents and students will be asked to provide examples of where they can demonstrate successes on each of the profile areas.

1. Section C – Online Learning

The imposition of school closures during the Covid 19 crisis in 2020 moved the school firstly into a remote learning phase (when we replicated school online), and then into an online learning phase(where a specific schedule and way of working was established). The key principles to our online strategy are…

• Flexibility of access and differentiation of approach – using pre-recorded video.
• Important real time and social contact – live video and chat functions.
• Assignments with clear learning objectives and feedback – not reliant on screen time.
• ELP – Extended Learning Projects – Project based on higher order thinking and enrichment or cross curricular focus completed entirely online (see separate section)

When school buildings are closed or partially closed we will move to our online strategy.

Section D – Assessment

Assessment at VES

At VES, as in most schools, we employ 3 types of assessment. 

Formative assessment

Formative assessment occurs frequently during the course of a unit, while students are still gaining  knowledge and practicing skills. Formative assessment includes teachers’ feedback and guidance.  Formative assessment can for instance be draft assignments, oral presentations, questioning, discussion,  visual representations and quizzes.  

The information gathered is used by the teacher to monitor student progress towards achieving the  overall and specific expectations, so that teachers can provide timely and specific feedback to students, 

scaffold next steps, differentiate instructions in response to student needs.  

Results of formative assessment are used by students to provide feedback to other students, monitor  their own progress, make adjustments in their learning approaches, reflect on their learning  (metacognition) and set individual goals.  

Formative assessment provides students with opportunities to learn new skills and to achieve better  results while taking risks and not being afraid to make mistakes as they are not working towards the  achievement of grades.  

Summative assessment

Summative assessment occurs at the end of a period of learning (unit or lesson). It is used to evaluate  student’s progress and growth and to inform further instruction. Summative assessment is used by  teachers to make judgments about the quality and quantity of student learning on the basis of  established criteria, to assign a value to represent that quality and quantity, and to support the  communication of information about achievement to students, parents, teachers and administrators.  Examples include unit tests, Mid-Year Exams, End of Year exams etc. Each summative assessment should  be differentiated and allow students to access the age related grades available in their year group using  the NC Level Descriptors in KS2 and (I)GCSE Descriptors in KS3/4. 

External Summative assessment

These are external, standardised, approved tests which are used to inform teachers, subject leaders and  senior leaders. Senior leaders use this information to compare the school locally, nationally and  internationally. Students can use them for access to Further and Higher Education. Examples include  IGCSE, IAL, CAT 4, PISA tests etc.

Grading 

Ordinarily, students will receive 3 kinds of grades on their report cards. These will be… 

1. Attitude to Learning (A to D)

This employs a “best fit” model to apply a grade to students in terms of their approach to their  studies. Students do not have to complete each element to be included in a category as it’s not  a checklist. These are regularly published to staff, parents and students. 

2. Term Grade

This grade will be recorded as a NC Level (1-5 a/b/c) , IGCSE Grade (1-9 a/b/c) or IAL Grade (A*- E) as appropriate and will represent the academic level of the work provided during classes and 

homework. It will be a holistic judgment that will look at all aspects of classwork, homework and  any other assessed pieces of work. Students will engage in peer and self-marking and target  setting as part of this process. 

All Assessment dates in each subject will be published in advance on the Assessment Calendar  along with detailed rubrics to show the criteria for the assessment.

 

These may include….

               

These may include….

               a.      Project 

               b.      Essay

               c.      Presentation/ Demonstration 

               d.      Multimedia 

               e.      Verbal interview/ Viva Voce 

               f.       Tests 

 i. Multiple Choice online

 ii. Online Presentation

 iii. Verbal Exam 

g. Standard Tests

This grade will include at least 3 formally assessed pieces of work in each reported subject.  

3. Exam Grade

           This grade will be recorded as a NC Level (1-8 a/b/c) , IGCSE Grade (1-9 a/b/c) or IAL Grade (A-U) as appropriate and will represent the grade achieved in the Mid-Year or End             of Year Exam. The  End of Year Exam will be the official end of year grade in assessed subjects. 

Arabic, Islamic Studies, Social Studies and Moral Studies – plus Behaviour and Activities are not  included in the English National Curriculum and are assessed and graded according to MoE guidelines.

Passing Criteria for the Year

All End of year grades (End of Year Exams Grades) will be formally submitted to the Ministry of  Education for the final transcript. NC Levels, IGCSE and IAL Grades are transferred automatically into a  score /100 using an official conversion chart. This can broadly be summarised as.. 

These scores out of 100 are then averaged and a student requires 50/100 in each subject to  automatically progress to the next academic year. If a student fails a subject, a retake is available

1. Academic Honesty

The core school values of Community, Responsibility and Respect underpin all we do, including our work  during the online period. 

At Victoria English School we place an extremely high importance on honesty, and this extends to all  assessment tasks, class work, homework and examinations. The school treats academic dishonesty very  seriously. 

Key Stage 2 and 3 (Years 3-9) 

When completing assessments, homework, class work and examinations, the academically honest Key  Stage 3 student: 

• Recognises and mentions help from parents and friends 
• Acknowledges the source of direct quotations 
• Acknowledges information taken from: books, magazines, internet sites, videos and other  sources 
• Knows what plagiarism is and abides by the school’s rules concerning cheating • Asks what kind of external help is permissible 

The academically honest Key Stage 2 and 3 (Years 3-9) student does not: 

• Use notes during an assessment unless allowed by a teacher 
• Copy from another student or the homework of another student 
• Hand in work as their own that has been copied or copied and pasted from another source • Do homework or assessed work for another student 
• Give another student their work to copy 
• Submit work done by another student, a parent, a friend or a private tutor 

Teachers in all subjects will show you:

1. 1. 1. What constitutes cheating in that particular assessment 
      2. Paraphrasing and adaptation of source material that is allowed

 Ways to acknowledge source material so you don’t claim other work as your own.                                                                                                                                                                               

Key Stage 4 &VIth Form (Years 10-13) 

When completing assessments, homework, class work and examinations, the academically honest Year  11, 12 & 13 student: 

1. 1. • Documents source material appropriately 
      • Understands the concept of plagiarism
      • Understands the consequences of cheating in school-based work and external assessments and  examinations 
      • Acknowledges the appropriate help provided by another person 

The academically honest Year 10, 11, 12 & 13 student does not: 

1. 1. • Copy the internal assessment work of others 
      • Give another student their work to copy 
      • Use notes during a test/examination unless allowed by the teacher or permitted by the  examination rules 
      • Present material written by another person as their own work 
      • Purchase and submit pieces of work written by someone else 
      • Copy and paste text, diagrams or any other material from the internet without full referencing • Write essays for other students 

Teachers in all subjects will show you: 

1. The rules for acknowledging source material based on standard practice 
2. Research writing techniques 
3. Data gathering techniques 
4. The planning preparation and execution of research writing assignments.

Plagiarism 

• Students are respected for their individuality and gifts. Therefore, they have no need to  substitute the achievements of others as their own to be recognised as valued contributors to  our community. 
• Students must learn to document and acknowledge sources of their research correctly. They  must process their sources and integrate them appropriately into knowledge meaningful to  themselves. This rules out, then, a simple cut-and-paste approach to using the information and  ideas of others.

Consequences 

• Students detected deliberately plagiarising for the first time will lose 50% for that assessment  task and they will not be permitted to redo the task. Their parents will be informed. • Students detected deliberately plagiarising on further occasions will receive a zero mark for that  assessment task and they will not be permitted to redo the task. 
• The school will not support repeat offenders as candidates for external examinations. • All cheating in external exams will be immediately reported and students risk being disqualified  from all public examinations by the exam board. 
• A copy of the plagiarised work will be placed in the student’s file

Appendix A

Attitude to Learning – Profiles

Students will be awarded the grade that closest describes their Attitude to Learning. It is a fit model – it is not necessary to have fulfilled every criteria to still fit the profile.

A

• Completes homework, often over and above what is required.
• Always hands homework in on time, often early.
• Always has everything required and shows great organisational skills.
• Listens attentively and actively in class.
• Always looks smart and in full and neat uniform
• Shows positivity and proactivity.
• Produces complete and neat work with great pride.
• Collaborates well and shows leadership in group activities.
• Self and Peer evaluates accurately and respectfully.
• A clear and accurate understanding of what is required to improve.

B

• Completes all homework to the required level.
• Hands homework in on time.
• Well prepared and organised.
• Listens carefully in class.
• Wearing correct uniform.
• Maintains a positive attitude to learning.
• Work is presented to good standard.
• Collaborates with others effectively.
• Self and Peer Evaluates work as required.
• Can articulate what is needed

C

• Completes most homework to a basic standard.
• Mostly hands homework in on time, sometimes late.
• Mostly well prepared, some work to do on organisation.
• Listens in class most of the time, but could improve.
• Has uniform mostly in place.
• Positive attitude for much of the time.
• Work is mostly presentable, sometimes untidy.
• Can work well with others when needed.
• Self and Peer Evaluation can be brief at times.
• Basic idea of improvements required.

D

• Homework often not completed.
• Rarely hands homework in on time, nearly always late.
• Often lacking equipment and poorly organised.
• Can lose concentration and not listen carefully.
• Often in incorrect uniform.
• Can show some glimpses of positivity and proactivity.
• Presentation needs attention as work is untidy.
• Collaboration skills need development.
• Self and Peer evaluation lacks effective detail and accuracy.
• Vague understanding of what is required to improve.

Appendix B

Attitude to Online Learning 

Profiles Students will be awarded the grade that closest describes their Attitude to Online Learning. It is a best fit model – it is not necessary to have fulfilled every criteria to still fit the profile.

A

• Completes assignments, often over and above what is required.
• Never misses , and takes a leading role in, live sessions.
• Always hands assignments in on time, and it’s clear extra effort has gone in.
• Contributes regularly and helpfully to the online chat in classes.
• Always has everything required and shows great personal organisational skills.
• Listens attentively and actively in live video class.
• Always looks smart and appropriately presented for live sessions.
• Shows positivity and proactivity.
• Produces complete and neat work with great pride.
• Collaborates well and shows leadership in group activities.
• Self and Peer evaluates accurately and respectfully.
• A clear and accurate understanding of what is required to improve.
• Regular and impressive participant in wider school activities.

B

• Completes all assignments to the required level.
• Is always on time and ready for live sessions.
• Hands assignments in on time.
• Contributes helpfully to the online chat in classes.
• Well prepared and organised.
• Listens carefully in live video class.
• Appropriate appearance for live sessions.
• Maintains a positive attitude to learning.
• Work is presented to good standard.
• Collaborates with others effectively.
• Self and Peer Evaluates work as required.
• Can articulate what is needed to improve.
• Regular participant in wider school activities

C

• Completes most assignments to a basic standard.
• Attends live sessions.
• Mostly hands assignments in on time, sometimes late.
• Mostly well prepared, some work to do on organisation.
• Contributes to the online chat in classes.
• Listens in live video class most of the time, but could improve.
• Mostly presented well for live sessions.
• Positive attitude for much of the time.
• Work is mostly presentable, sometimes untidy.
• Can work well with others when needed.
• Self and Peer Evaluation can be brief at times.
• Basic idea of improvements required.
• Has participated in some wider school activities.

D

• Assignments often not completed.
• Misses a few live sessions.
• Rarely hands assignments in on time, nearly always late.
• Often lacking equipment and poorly organised.
• Rarely contributes to the online chat in classes.
• Can lose concentration and not listen carefully in some live sessions.
• Sometimes not presented well for live sessions.
• Can show some glimpses of positivity and proactivity.
• Presentation needs attention as work is untidy.
• Collaboration skills need development.
• Self and Peer evaluation lacks effective detail and accuracy.
• Vague understanding of what is required to improve.
• Rarely taken part in wider school activities.

VES Progress Flightpath