Teaching and Learning Policy

'Creating a shared language of what great teaching looks like built on an understanding of what effective learning is.'

At Garswood Primary, we ensure a model of great teaching is in place which is underpinned by our core principles to be kind, ambitious and respectful.

We guarantee a well sequenced curriculum personalised to meet the context of the communities they serve living out the school’s motto:

'Roots to happiness, branches to learning.'

Our Teaching and Learning Model, is based on relevant educational research including the work of Evidence Based Education (Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review), Education Endowment Fund, Peps McCrea, Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli and Dylan Williams.

Successful implementation of the curriculum is driven by living out our school’s guiding principles, which inform and shape the domains within this Teaching and Learning Model.

Guiding Principles:

Kind: Nurture empathy, compassion, and care for self and others.

Ambitious: Inspire curiosity, resilience, and a drive to achieve personal bests.

Respectful: Foster responsibility, inclusivity, and appreciation of diversity.

Our aim:

in teaching and learning is to foster a love of learning that results in rapid progress and high aspirations for the future.

This document sits alongside Garswood schools bespoke curriculum policies for each core and foundation subject as well as our SEND strategy and Professional Learning Review process.

Click here to view our bespoke Garswood Curriculum Maps

Each containing their own intent, implementation and overview.

Our Objectives...

Our Priorities...

To ensure that all learners benefit from teaching and learning that is outstanding to ensure that progress is outstanding.
To provide a basis for monitoring, evaluating, and reviewing teaching and learning.
To ensure that teachers are given feedback on their strengths and areas for development within their teaching and targets set
To continually improve the quality of teaching and learning to improve progress and raise standards.
To provide opportunities for teachers to collaborate and develop cohesive approaches across the school.
To instil the school values, through teaching and learning in all areas of the school.

At Garswood we have reviewed existing research studies and frameworks that are relevant to the components and routes to improvement of teacher effectiveness. Our aim is to help teachers make better decisions about what they can best do to improve their effectiveness. We have identified four priorities for teachers who want to help their students to learn more:

Overall outcomes:

This will result in learners who are:

Confident individuals

who can live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.

Successful Learners

who enjoy learning, make progress, and achieve.

Responsible Citizens

who make a positive contribution to a Modern British Society.

Garswood presents a model that comprises these four overarching dimensions, with a total of 17 elements within them. An ‘element’ is defined as something that may be worth investing time and effort to work on to build a specific competency, skill or knowledge, or to enhance the learning environment. There is no implication that the complexity of teaching can be reduced to a set of techniques, but evidence suggests the best route to expertise is likely to involve a focus on developing competencies, guided by formative feedback in a supportive professional learning environment.

understand the content

creating a supportive environment

manage opportunity to learn

Activating hard thinking

For each of these four broad dimensions, we break it down into a set of nine elements, something that is worth investing time and effort to work on.

It will capture a specific skill, technique or area of knowledge that Garswood teachers should have.

The 9 elements

They will also understand what they are doing, how well they have done and how they can improve. As a result, learners’ progress will be at least good or better. These intended outcomes will be achieved through the successful implementation of the above strategies as evidenced by research groups such as the Sutton Trust and Education Endowment Foundation,

Pupils are encouraged to learn with and from each other through group work, peer feedback and cooperative projects.

Collaboration develops communication, empathy and respect for differing viewpoints.

Teachers model and promote kindness in teamwork, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued.

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