Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Learning at The Suthers School
As soon as pupils enter the classroom and cross the learning line, they engage with the learning following a structure known as Fully Guided Instruction (Killian, 2016). This model of teaching and learning is underpinned by academic research, e.g. ‘Principles of Instruction’, (Rosenshine, 2012), and guides our pupils to become successful learners.
Fully Guided Instruction consists of:
Retrieval – all lessons start with a ‘connect’ retrieval activity which supports pupils to activate prior knowledge that supports the learning of new content within the lesson. Retrieval of prior knowledge reduces a pupil’s cognitive load which frees up their working memory to learn new content within the lesson. Furthermore, the retrieval of prior knowledge helps to address the forgetting curve (Ebbinghaus, 1885) and embeds core knowledge into the long-term memory.
I do – expert subject teachers deliver powerful knowledge by modelling to pupils who listen, make notes and annotate, as instructed by their teacher. The subject teacher also models how to apply new knowledge to a task using metacognitive strategies.
We do – the subject teacher, through directed questioning, models how to apply new knowledge using a collaborative approach with pupils. This might include class discussion, paired work or whole class engagement.
You do – pupils work independently on a similar task to that modelled by the teacher. Pupils use their modelled examples as a scaffold to support them achieve their full potential. The subject teacher circulates the room providing bespoke feedback that pupils can action immediately. This part of the lesson provides the subject teacher with the opportunity to identify misconceptions that might be common to several pupils in the class and which can be addressed through live feedback via the visualiser. Alternatively, the teacher might use a check-point as to not disturb those who are exceeding the task. This ensures that learning opportunities are maximised for all pupils.
Review – subject teachers use this final part of the lesson to check that pupil’s have understood the main learning points of the lesson. This might involve the use of hinge questions to check for common misconceptions, exit tickets to measure understanding and to inform the planning of the next lesson, and directed Q&A. The review also provides the opportunity for the subject teacher to link the current learning to past and future learning.
Spotlight on Learning
Connects
Click here to read about the role that the Connect activity at the start of each lesson plays in helping your child to learn.
I Do
Click here to read about how the Connect activity at the start of each lessons supports your child to learn new knowledge during the ‘I Do’ part of the lesson.