Reflection on Phonics and G&T Maths

After meeting with the KS1 Teacher and reflecting on the past term, we have decided to change the way we do Phonics. Currently we are teaching phonics within our own classrooms. This is becoming increasingly difficult due to the spread in children's understanding. As there is some cross over between our classes, we have decided to do phonics at the same time and create five groups in which children will be put in - making the best use of our time and utilising our teaching support to teach a group as well. The majority of my class are entering Phase 3, so I will be taking a Phase 3 group. The KS1 teacher will also take a Phase 3 group, starting a few weeks ahead with digraphs. My teaching support will take some of my class back to the beginning of Phase 2 to focus on writing, blending and segmenting the sounds. Splitting the classes in such a way will challenge all pupils to achieve their potential.

There was also a possibility to allow one of my children who is displaying as G&T in maths to join the KS1 class for their lessons. We have however decided that it would be better for her to receive 1:1 attention within the Foundation Setting, as this will also allow her more time to play freely with her peers. I will work closely with the KS1 teacher and use a similar level of work in my sessions with the child. 

Formal Lesson Observation One - Tuesday 5th March 2013

Numeracy Observation: Grade 3 with some good aspects.

Grade Two

• Lesson planned very well
• Good use of support staff, planned so they make significant contribution to learning.
• Pupils know what to do
• Pupils have the opportunity to engage in a variety of learning styles.
• Lesson is chunked to provide variety.
• Pupils understand how their work will be assessed
• Pupils of all abilities drawn into learning. 

Grade Three

• Resources are to hand
• Resources varied
• Prompt orderly start
• Learning outcomes made clear to pupils
• Pupils understand what it is they have to learn
• The work is interesting and varied
• There is enough challenge to keep all the pupils interested
• Pupils given scope to make choices and apply their own ideas
• teacher responds well to pupils having difficulty with their learning
• Support staff well managed and make a contribution most of the time. 
• Pupils are engaged and involved productively
• Pupils work collaboratively
• Most pupils learning is at least adequate
• Relationships are at least constructive
• Pupil performance is praised and rewarded
• Sensitivity is shown to the needs of individuals and groups.

Grade Four

• Lesson disconnected
• Teaching lacks pace
• No differentiation
• No reference to learning at end of the lesson
• More time spent managing behaviour than learning (in one group)

Copy of Planning:

My Comments:

As my first observation (11th teaching day) I feel this is very a very positive report which highlights some key areas on which I can work. By improving my pace I will ensure there is time left at the end of my lesson to have a proper plenary, where children's attention can be brought back to the LO. I think an increase in pace will also benefit some pupils who become easily distracted, allowing me to focus more on learning than behaviour. 

Education show

Early Years - Sing it Out - Sue Nicholls
Early Years - Developing Enterprise on the early years: The business of play.
Early Years - the future: developing resilient learners...speaker not here.
SEN - developing a working memory.
Outdoor classroom - natural products

NQT Assessment Part Two:

Taken from my NQT Assessment Report:

Jenny has an understanding of the needs of the pupils in her class, including those with special educational needs and circumstances. She is developing an awareness of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn and is using a range of strategies to help to overcome these. Jenny continues to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support the children, adapting teaching to support pupils’ education at their different stages of development. (Theme 5)

Jenny is beginning to use relevant data to monitor the progress of children and often gives oral feedback. Her marking is usually accurate and she encourages pupils to respond to the next steps suggestions in their books. (Theme 6)

Jenny is beginning to establish good relationships with pupils and exercise appropriate authority. She is developing rules and routines for behaviour in the classroom. She uses a range of strategies, including praise, rewards and sanctions, in line with the school’s behaviour policy, to establish a framework for discipline. (Theme 7)

Jenny is able to communicate effectively with parents regarding pupils’ achievements and well-being. She is developing effective professional relationships with colleagues, drawing on advice and specialist support. She takes responsibility for her own professional development in order to improve teaching and responds well to advice and feedback from colleagues. (Theme 8)

Objectives for next term

As identified in observation feedback, Jenny must be clear about the starting points, individual abilities and prior knowledge of each pupil in order to plan teaching that will build on these, setting goals that stretch and challenge pupils of all backgrounds, abilities and dispositions. (Themes 1 & 2)

Jenny needs to demonstrate her knowledge of when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches which will enable pupils to be taught effectively. She should reflect on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching, developing pupils’ understanding through more structured use of lesson time. (Themes 4 & 5)

Jenny should know and understand how to assess the relevant subject and curriculum areas and begin to use formative and summative assessments to secure pupils’ progress. (Theme 6)

Take more responsibility for promoting good and courteous behaviour in classrooms and around the school. Have high expectations of all pupils so as to manage classes effectively, using approaches which are appropriate to pupils’ needs in order to involve and motivate them. (Theme 7)

Section 2: Personal and Professional Conduct

Jenny is making good progress against the standards in this section.

Jenny demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, maintaining the standards of ethics and behaviour within and outside school. She treats pupils with dignity and respect, ensuring that personal beliefs are not expressed in ways which might exploit pupils’ vulnerability or lead them to break the law.

She has a good understanding of the need to safeguard pupils’ well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions and at all times observes the boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position. She acts within the statutory frameworks which set out the professional duties and responsibilities of teachers.

Jenny holds fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and respect for the rights of others.

Objectives for next term

Assist in reviewing policies and/or practices within the school to develop a proper and professional regard for the ethos of Westfield Junior School.

NQT Comments:

I have enjoyed my first term teaching at Westfield Junior school. Whilst it has been challenging at times, it has also been very rewarding, and I have seen many pupils make good progress, especially those in intervention groups that I have taken responsibltily for. My behaviour management techniques have improved greatly, and I now have a number of methods to draw upon to create a safe environment. I have enjoyed helping in chess club which is run weekly at lunchtimes and hope to run my own club next term. Next term I would also like to have more opportunites to observe other teachers, using my PPA and CPD time to do this. I would particularly like to observe how teachers manage classrooms through non-verbal communication and how support staff are deployed within the lesson. I have arranged to attend a course on Behaviour Management Techniques run by the NUT and have recently attended the education show where I attended several CPD courses focusing on music, enterprise, and developing reluctant readers. I hope I can use the knowledge gained on these courses to improve my teaching skills further.

Teaching Standards 5 - 8

5    Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils 
a) know when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches which enable pupils to be taught effectively.
b) have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these.
c) demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development.
d) have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.


6    Make accurate and productive use of assessment. 
a) know and understand how to assess the relevant subject and curriculum areas, including statutory assessment requirements
b) make use of formative and summative assessment to secure pupils’ progress
c) use relevant data to monitor progress, set targets, and plan subsequent lessons
d) give pupils regular feedback, both orally and through accurate marking, and encourage pupils to respond to the feedback.

7    Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment.
a) have clear rules and routines for behaviour in classrooms, and take responsibility for promoting good and courteous behaviour both in classrooms and around the school, in accordance with the school’s behaviour policy
b) have high expectations of behaviour, and establish a framework for discipline with a range of strategies, using praise, sanctions and rewards consistently and fairly
c) manage classes effectively, using approaches which are appropriate to pupils’ needs in order to involve and motivate them
d) maintain good relationships with pupils, exercise appropriate authority, and act decisively when necessary.

8    Fulfil wider professional responsibilities 
a) make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school
b) develop effective professional relationships with colleagues, knowing how and when to draw on advice and specialist support
c) deploy support staff effectively
d) take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development, responding to advice and feedback from colleagues
e) communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievements and well-being

Literacy Differentiation / Intervention

Literacy - Differentiation

Rather than participating in whole class work, I had two of my lowest attaining pupils work on word-level activities, practising phonic skills, before moving on to verbally telling stories using story dice.

Ofsted Observation

Verbal Feedback from Ofsted Inspector following Science Lesson:
Statements taken from grade descriptors for Science.

"Good"
Responded well to pupils’ questions, using effective dialogue that stimulated further discussion.
Effective teaching strategies - appropriately targeted support [staff].
Positive climate for learning in their lessons and pupils are interested and engaged.
(Most) Pupils engaged well in practical work.
Used a range of relevant contexts to exemplify the value of science and its impact.

Requires Improvement

The behaviour of some children was unacceptable. Some children spending too much time using  the resources rather than writing up the task. One child spent the whole lesson looking at his shoe laces.

SEN and Differentiation Walkthrough

During the last week of half term (Spring A) whole school SEN and Differentiation walk-through's were completed by the SENCO's.

I was observed during Science, during which 6 children were taken out of the lesson by an LSA to do an experiment in the kitchen (as a reward for good behaviour) whilst myself and another LSA supported the remaining children comparing and contrasting different solids and liquids. The children in the Kitchen looked at different materials and their states, and what happened when these were combined to make a "paint". They then used the paint to make pictures and put these in the microwave for 30 seconds - causing the water to evaporate leaving a 'solid' impression of their drawings. Following this, the children wrote a short piece about the experiment in their science books. The idea for this experiment came from the blog "housing a forest". Within the classroom we looked at different solids and liquids and found similarities and differences between them.

Written Feedback:

Jenny Jordan
Science: Liquids and Solids
10.25am

The children were comparing liquids and solids and their properties.

Children were on the carpet when I arrived. behaviour was fussy, but this ended when they went to thier desks.

Jenny had good visual aids for the topic.

There was some discussion time, then the children were sent back to their desks. Tasks were differentiated. All children were engaged  Children knew what they were doing and could explain their answers. A variety of whole class, group and paired work was used. Talk partners was used.

Jenny recapped the lesson for a child who came in late.

LSA was used to support less able and behaviour.

Jenny used a combination of short bursts of activity  followed by their reviews or mini plenaries on the carpet, which worked well in keeping the children's interest. She referred to previous learning and there were cross curricular links to literacy.

Jenny made use of strategies to control behaviour and was very calm throughout the lesson.

--SENco

Assessment Grid Photos:

From this, and through verbal feedback I have decided on the following targets:

- To reduce the amount of carpet time.
- Continue to expect high standards of behaviour from the children, as this is continuing to improve.

Numeracy Intervention

Intervention Group: A reflection

The intervention group has been running for three weeks now, and has been very successful. Not only are the main lessons able to continue with less disruption and a faster rate, but the children within the intervention are consolidating some basic maths skills and gaining a greater understanding of these concepts. Learning objectives are taken from the Collins Numeracy Plans (in line with whole-class learning, and to cover gaps in children's knowledge identified using b squared ) A lot of the work is practical based, so were possible we take pictures or record a short message in their books to keep a record of what they have done. As a result of this group we have started another group to run tues-fri with another three students. This group keeps pace with the main group in terms of Learning Objectives but has more support from an adult. 

29 / 01 / 13 

Today we looked at creating repeating patterns using three colours.

Inset Day: Differentiation

INSET DAY: REFLECTION

One Size Fits All? Differentiation for Effective Teaching and Learning: By Jennifer Nork

Overall, the day was useful in consolidating the knowledge and pedagogy that was taught during my PGCE year. Although this was useful, I would have liked the opportunity to learn some more "in-practice" techniques and resources I could use to aid differentiation on a day to day basis. In addition, much of the day focused on differentiating for poorly attaining pupils, specifically those with SEN rather than differentiation generally or for G&T pupils. While this is useful for this year, as I am teaching low attaining year three, from a long term perspective (being in a broadly mixed ability class) this was not as useful. Additionally, even within each class some children will be, in comparasion to their class mates "high attainers". The day, did however, generate more ways in which to utilise adult support staff and how my class in particular can be organised to allow minimal disruption to the majority, without detracting learning from the minority. 

To begin the day, we explored our individual and group understanding of differentiation using the snowball technique. Interestingly there was little variation in the definition within my group, and indeed between groups.

"Modifying the task, resources or outcome of an activity to allow it be accessed by all, allowing children to achieve their potential." 

↓  ↓

"Adapting pedagogy, learning and resources to meet the various needs of groups and individuals, allowing them to access the curriculum, ensuring they can reach their potential through both support and challenge."

↓  ↓

We then discussed the various obstacles which we perceived would have to overcome when differentiating effectively, before identifying possible solutions and catylsts which could facilitate differentiation. This was particularly interesting as we working with members of staff from varying years and schools and although some core obstacles were perceived throughout, opinions tended to be divided on many potential problems and there solutions. 

Perceived Obstacles

Pressure of SATS league tables/Inclusion of SEN Unit within League Tables (Ofsted)

Inflexible timetable - would like PPA jointly shared within year group

Not knowing needs of children (ESBD/SEN - Day-to-Day reactions)

Where does differentiation stop? It doesn't.....so when do we stop planning?

Time

Over Assessing

Lack of training in New Initiatives

Space

Government Targets

Time

Equipment

Range of difficulties

Number of pupils within catchment

Communication

We then moved onto discussing who differentiation was for. We created a list of the differences between pupils in our class. These lists were then used to discuss ways of coping with these differences and create a poster to share our groups ideas. Pictures of the posters are displayed below.

Within my pair we perceived these differences between pupils:

Ability Spread: 1c - 2a

Gender Mix: 6 girls, 15 boys

Speech and Language 

ADHD

ESBD

Child Protection

Looked After Children

Dyslexia

"Middle of the Range" Children

Sight / Hearing Impaired

EAL

EAL - Elective Mute

Autism

No Preschool Experience

Gifted and Talented

Not Fully Toilet Trained

This led our group to create this poster in which the teacher has to balance a diverse range of needs. High Attainers, Low Attainers, and Behavioural Issues tended to take up the majority of the teachers attention both in planning and during class, leaving the "middle of the range" children left to drift through each year of school. It was also discussed that it is no longer just the teacher who has sole responsibility for each child, rather a team of teachers, support staff, and specialists.

We were then given a chance to discuss our own differentiation with year groups and its subsequent effect on our planning.