Course Details

Centre for Educational Excellence in the North 

A Partnership between Salford Professional Development Ltd and the National Education Trust 

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Wednesday 22nd May 2013, 09.30-15.30, Media CityUK

Outstanding primary classrooms can be created when dedicated professional teams place children at the centre of their vocation and ensure that every child matters. By doing this they can reduce the achievement gap between children from different backgrounds. There are a number of factors that are key contributors, namely; appointing staff of the highest quality and investing in and developing them; treating children as individuals, supporting them well and expecting them to achieve well; having staff who are passionate about finding ways of doing things better, with an unremitting focus on learning, development and progress; and demonstrating high-quality leadership to promote, support and sustain the drive to perfect teaching and maximise learning.

A clear common factor across the successful primary is having high expectations. These expectations come from strong values and they are set in a way that leaves everyone – pupils, parents, staff and governors – clear about what they are. It is then important that those high expectations are applied consistently and never relaxed.

In primary schools a key driver is centred on putting children first and faith in what children can achieve and teachers can do. Transformational school leaders with a belief that all pupils can achieve high standards, given sufficient time and high-quality support, is an important background to the creation of an outstanding primary classroom.

This is a course aimed at creating outstanding teaching and learning in the primary classroom. A copy of the specially written book ‘Sparkling Classrooms’ will be available to course participants.

Rooted in Roy Blatchford’s observations of over 8000 classrooms around the world, he will share practical ideas and approaches against the backcloth of the new Ofsted framework, and the 2012 Teachers’ Standards, which he co-authored.

Attendance at this course will provide you with a knowledge and skills set that you will be able to take back to your classroom to the benefit of your school and institution, including:

• The journey to the classroom
• The fun and fundamentals of learning
• Values and expectations
• Knowing your subject
• Knowing your students
• Smart Classrooms
• Interventions and digressions
• To teach is to learn
• Reflection and evaluation
• What have I learned as a teacher

Tutor

Roy Blatchford 

Roy Blatchford is Executive Director of the National Education Trust (www.nationaleducationtrust.net) and the NET Academies Trust (www.netacademies.net).

Agenda

09:30  Registration and Coffee

10:00  Opening Presentation: Creating Outstanding Primary Classrooms

10:15  The Journey to the Classroom

• Creating stimulating environments in which to explore new skills and knowledge

10:45  The Fun and Fundamentals of Learning

• Providing a climate for learning that engenders confidence and motivation amongst the learners
• Opportunities for risk taking, exploration of new knowledge and concepts and experimentation
• Education – “to lead out”- underpins the learning environment

11:15 Coffee Break

11:30  Values and Expectations

• The importance of “How” we teach
• Doing things differently for different people

12:00  Knowing your Subject

• The teacher who loves their subject and shares that passion with their students  

12:30  Lunch

13:30  Knowing your Students

• Knowing your pupils’ individual predispositions to learn
• Recognising which teaching and learning styles are more or less effective
• Having a clear grasp of the potential pupils have to develop their multiple intelligences, talents and aptitudes in various directions

14.00  Smart Classrooms

• Moving the lesson to a higher level through “applied learning”
• Ensuring that book and technological resources are accessible and fit for purpose
• Understanding the optimum group size that is conducive to good learning and progress

14:30  Coffee Break

14.45  Interventions and Digressions

• Building on pupils’ previous knowledge and encouraging them to think differently through creative digression
• Knowing when to intervene and when to draw back from the learner

          To Teach is to Learn

• Understanding what true independent learning means
• Managing independent learning in the best interest of the learner

          Reflection and Evaluation

• Allowing learners the opportunities to reflect
• The importance of regular reflection and creating two-way pathways
• Valuing what students are producing, indicating its strengths an “even-better-ifs”
• Feedback is the fuel that propels the acquisition of learning

          What have I Learned as a Teacher

• Continually seeking improvement and development

15.30    Close

Target Audience

Head Teachers/ Teachers, Heads of School; Directors of Education; Directors of Children's Services; Education Consultants; Academia; School Inspectors and all relevant job roles from across the Education Landscape and organisations including Primary Schools; Colleges; LEAs; Voluntary and Community Sector; Academia; Private Sector and all those with an interest or engaged in creating outstanding primary classrooms.