Roselyn House School and The RHISE Service

Shared Practice Policy

We continue to follow our shared practice at Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service and observation across our teaching staff. We have worked together to improve the teaching and learning which is delivered in order to fulfil the ever-changing needs of our students at Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service.

We continue to build upon that which is sound practice and monitor an effective system to improve Teachers’ skills further.

What do we consider outstanding teaching at Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service?

We accept that outstanding teaching looks different across the staff group and can vary in terms of subject content. Outstanding does mean that there is a high student engagement, enthusiasm and a sense of excitement. The way this is delivered can vary considerably and is infectious throughout the school; pulling in students and creating an ideal climate across the curriculum; with students and staff alike. We see students make significant progress, meeting lesson outcomes and ‘loving the lesson’.

At Roselyn House School/The RHISE Service we consider a lesson to be outstanding whilst striving towards the best possible outcome for our students when:

• Tasks are challenging and match pupils’ needs accurately.
• Lessons are well-judged and imaginative teaching strategies are consistently used.
• Expert use of questioning, probes understanding and teases out misconceptions. All learners are enthusiastic and keen to move on.
• Teaching of literacy, numeracy and other skills are exceptional; every opportunity is taken to develop skills in other subjects.

Formal Observation and feedback.

At Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service all teachers are observed by The Headteacher and the Deputy Headteacher (s), and a formal recorded observation takes place with a feedback session following the lesson and targets set for development. This covers areas such as:

• Use of assessment in planning.
• Level of challenge.
• Use of teaching assistants (TAs).
• Opportunities to develop reading, writing, maths and ICT skills.
• Use of strategies and tasks to engage pupils.
• Pace and depth of learning.
• Use of questioning.
• Assessment of learning during lessons.
• Marking and feedback.
• Corrections.
• Homework.

Appraisal Meetings

These formal observations are fed back into appraisal meetings which take place once a year during the Summer Term. From these meetings, teachers are assessed against teacher capabilities and targets set for future professional development. Observations are for whole lessons.

In addition to this, Teachers and Learning Support Assistants have been asked to reflect on their practice and provide some detailed self-assessment which has lead into whole school self- evaluation and future planning.

As part of the formal process of observation, books are looked at, data reviewed and students spoken to. In assessing student progress, we look at a wide range of evidence, particularly as part of lesson observations:

• Observing work done in exercise books and assessment data.
• Observing sub-grade lessons, to illustrate where there is room for improvement.
• Reviewing planning, exercise books and the data.
• Talking to the students at the end of the lesson to find out how they are getting on.

Direct feedback is given to teachers following observations as this creates an improvement in practice and makes the teacher feel valued. Any suggestions from this feedback are followed up and ensured they are implemented within the line management system of the school.

We talk to students during the observation process and aim to understand:

• Do you enjoy the work/ lesson?
• How are you getting on?
• What do you need to do to improve?
• How is your homework?
• Do you understand what you are doing?
• What do you think about the marking?

Continued Professional Development

Staff are encouraged to take part in CPD as part of the appraisal process. This may be to look at support for improvement, development of existing skill areas or promotion of a wider skill base.

Inset Training

We aim to provide up to half day sessions per annum during INSET trainings which looks at outstanding practices. This has included demonstration lessons which have been observed as outstanding by SLT. The Teacher will recreate this lesson with other teachers and open discussion is encouraged. Monthly Twilight sessions have been extremely effective in achieving this.

Peer Observation

We have so many skills as a group of professionals, we need time to share, reflect and trial what other people do. Peer observations are a vital part of the shared practice programme and as such each teacher supports at least one other teacher weekly on the timetable. This way they can regularly see how the other works and feedback in teacher meetings. This way there is a strong focus on teaching in the school and everyone feels accountable. We encourage teachers to try out new techniques which can be discussed and measured against their peers.

Planned focus/demonstration observations take place during these sessions also and can have paired or whole teaching group feedback. This works well in the school as staff can share what they believe to be outstanding, support each other, get to know the students better and experiment with teaching strategies that they may not otherwise get the opportunity to.

Through the timetable of shared practice, we are often able to place stronger teachers with those who are requiring support or are undergoing Professional Development/Training. This works well as part of our teacher training and ECT Schemes within the school and supports teachers who may be satisfactory or underperforming following appraisal.

Evaluating planning within the Curriculum

When evaluating teachers’ planning, the Deputy Head (s) and Headteacher look for clear objectives and evidence-based planning with outcomes that are judged against the objectives. Assessment for Learning is expected within every lesson and despite adjusting a variety of systems over the past three years we feel that we have a straightforward system which provides continuous feedback to students and staff.

This is based on a 1-4 scale which is reflected within the levelling system used in the school to measure subject specific progress and attitude to learning. It is simplistic for students to understand using numbers, words and has a colour coding system for visual learners. It informs the next piece of work/ learning, following the learning objective and helps the student set realistic targets. Students know where they are and what they have to do to progress. This is then effective in feeding back to parents/carers and the education authority. This follows the school’s Assessment and Marking Policy.

Effectiveness of a lesson

When considering the effectiveness of a lesson, we focus on what the teacher delivers and the behaviour of the students. We understand that each of our students’ starting points may be different in terms of behaviour and can be affected by specific diagnosis, needs and daily life. So, in order to be effective, the teacher needs to plan for this by taking into account the students’ EHCP, Medical Reports, Care Plan and abilities. They need to plan for the effective use of resources and learning styles, mark work regularly, assess well and evaluate outcomes.

Behaviour in lessons

Behaviour in lessons is not necessarily quiet but we do expect to see the teacher delivering a well-planned, controlled lesson which leaves students engaged, enthused and wanting more. They understand the needs of the individual students within the group and adapt classroom positioning to the suitability of the task. They should work within the school’s Curriculum and Behaviour Policy.

Learning Support Assistants/ Learning Mentors

Teachers should utilise Learning Support Assistants with confidence and show evidence of prior planning. Teachers should make judgements on whether to utilise support in the classroom or for withdrawal purposes.  Learning mentors have weekly communication meetings to ‘get to know’ the students they are working with and should feel confident that they can work effectively with those students. Where possible they should discuss students with teachers and reflect on best practice and recommendations for meeting students’ support needs. Learning mentors are valued at Roselyn House School and lessons could not be outstanding without them.

Outreach Mentors

Teachers are expected to work closely with our Outreach mentors and discuss specific needs of young people who are following our RHISE programme and are educated out of school. They should consider that student as an equal member of their year group or key stage, and the value of their achievements should be considered the same. The students’ reasons for not being able to attend within the school building or The RHISE Centre are varied but justified and as such deserve the same access to an outstanding provision as if they were attending daily class lessons. Assessment, marking of work and planning should be equally implemented for progression. Outreach workers have regular meetings to discuss students’ progress and need to collect work from teachers. Outreach mentors are often a bridging gap between teacher and student, and are influential in helping young people return to effective education.

Induction for New Teachers

When a new teacher starts, regardless of experience and length of service, they will be paired with a class teacher of the subject or subjects they’ve been employed to deliver. This ensures that all professional standards are passed on and support for new teachers is constant. During this time, they will be provided with regular feedback by this teacher and the Deputy Head (s) in the form of a face-to-face or TEAMS meeting. Progress will be discussed during the teacher’s probation meeting with either the Headteacher or Deputy Head (s). Targets will be set and clear expectations given.

Students

Clear expectations are given to students through the Behaviour and Curriculum Policy across the curriculum. Students are set realistic targets in lessons and in their IEBP’s and work within the levelling system in order to achieve these regularly. They are consistently spoken with to influence changes to policy and practices through SEAL activities, PSHE lessons, Teacher discussion/feedback, Mentoring Sessions and Student Council.

Summary

At Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service, we believe we have a range of dynamic professionals with an expansive skill set. Understanding of the needs of our students and who bring a unique set of styles to our diverse and individualised curriculum. All outstanding lessons cannot be similar in delivery and method, but we recognise that teachers have to be true to their own personalities and style. Humour and nurture work particularly well at Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service, which encourages and helps our students to remember, enjoy  and be influenced by a lesson. Relationships are extremely important to us and a positive, caring, warm teacher who works well with support staff will demonstrate to our students that their learning matters and that we want the best from their progress. Our teachers work hard to ‘get it right’ for our students. Smiling and laughing matters and is essential to fulfil our ethos:

‘Moving forwards together to a positive future’.

Reviewed June 2023

S.Damerall