an ethos for learning
Pupil 1: For me a good teacher is a teacher that will make you understand your work so that when you leave the lesson, you leave feeling satisfied; whereas, an excellent teacher will do the same thing but make the lesson fun and interactive so that when you leave you leave happily and look forward to the next lesson.
Headteacher: There's no secret. There is no secret - some of us think there’s a secret to what makes a school excellent. There's not a secret. The most important ingredient is that teacher in the classroom. That is absolutely number one. The high quality, high calibre teaching delivered by teachers who are well prepared, who have planned, and who have progressive work going on for the youngsters. That's number one.
Teacher 1: The staff are constantly innovating and constantly making sure that whatever they do is the best they can possibly achieve. And that, for me, is one of the things that I think about this school... is that it's not a school that has achieved and that's it. It's a school that is constantly looking and re-evaluating what they're doing and making sure that in the future they add on to that.
Teacher 2: The key differences which have been implemented in learning and teaching in the last few years have been based around the formalisation of formative assessment, basically using the different aspects which have been proven to raise attainment. We have introduced these into the subjects within the school. The staff have also been undergoing training on Teaching for Effective Learning. All pupils with varying learning styles and things like that are able to access the curriculum, which, I think is something we've been working on and as a school want to take a consistent approach.
Teacher 3: In the school we've got a number of very, very talented classroom teachers; however, they don't rest on their laurels. They're self-reflecting professionals. They pay great attention to continued professional development and there's a very extensive system in here to allow teachers to continue to improve and take forward initiatives like Teaching for Effective Learning, Assessment for Learning, ICT and all the other educational initiatives which do make a difference to children in the classroom.
Teacher 4: We work hard for the children of St Andrew's and obviously the families and parents of St Andrew's, because at the end of the day, that's why we are here and if we can get the best for our young people that they can possibly achieve, then we are doing a good job. In fact, we're doing an excellent job.
- Posted on 17 February 2009.