At Ashby School we want our students to have a happy and successful learning experience. Exploring and developing learners is at the core of all we do and conversations about Teaching and Learning are at the heart of the school.
We recognise that students learn best in a positive, supportive and consistent environment. Well prepared and stimulating lessons encourage good attendance, positive behaviour and enable students to make progress and strive to achieve their potential. A teacher must plan, facilitate learning and be a good classroom manager. Guidelines are included in the Ashby Teaching Expectations document.
Our teachers are committed to continue learning to ensure the best classroom practice. We are proud to lead the way. Our aim is for all students to achieve their full potential and to leave feeling genuinely empowered to learn.
We are interested in each other’s classrooms and have an open door policy where we share experience, practice and support. Our Senior Leadership Team is present and involved within the classrooms. Lesson visits and learning walks are often themed in order to focus areas.
Observations are unannounced and provide opportunities to monitor and evaluate the learners and teaching. The teaching and learning team is valued and provides constant support to explore and develop practice.
It is important that all teachers at Ashby make progress at whatever level they are at. We provide comprehensive support for our newly qualified staff and also continue to explore and develop practice through our Lead Practitioner Team. This can involve observing, planning and team teaching.
We have also established a group of lead teachers to challenge practice in order to access the highest level of teaching and learning and achieve their potential.
Ali Jackson, Assistant Headteacher/ Director of Teaching and Learning
Simon McCarron, Lead practitioner
At Ashby School, we are committed to the recruitment and retention of the best teachers.
Our professional development provision ensures individuals feel valued at every stage of their career. As professionals, new staff are invited to attend an overnight residential to initiate their time at Ashby. Opportunities to get involved and progress are constant and we actively encourage talent spotting - and not just to participate on stage in our staff revue performance!
At Ashby School, we are committed to helping train the next generation of teachers. Each year, we mentor between 10 and 20 trainees during their journey to become education professionals. We are justifiably proud of the provision we deliver. During a placement at Ashby School, trainees undergo an induction where they meet the headteacher, have training sessions led by all members of SLT on their specialist areas, and are guided on the professional standards they are expected to follow.
In addition to receiving expert mentoring in their subject areas, trainees also have after school training on such diverse topics as teaching students with English as an additional language, special educational needs and pastoral care, delivered by expert teachers from Ashby School. As a result, Ashby School has established a reputation as an excellent place for student teachers to train and we have no shortage of partners wishing to work with us. Currently, we are working with Forest Way Teaching School Alliance School Direct, Leicester University, Loughborough University, Birmingham City University and the University of Derby.
Newly qualified teachers experience a comprehensive induction, monitoring and support programme when they join Ashby School. In their first few days, they meet the subject team they will be working with, are made aware of the daily procedures and take part in an overnight residential with other new staff.
Each NQT is assigned a mentor and a tutor within their subject area. They meet as a group regularly throughout the year and attend Monday night sessions during the autumn term with a variety of school staff. This provides them with an insight into how the school operates.
Ali Jackson and Simon McCarron are responsible for the NQTs and meet them regularly to help with the evaluation of their teaching and to offer advice on how to evidence the Teaching Standards. This results in a portfolio which the NQTs make available to the awarding body.
The NQTs are involved in a rigorous observation and feedback schedule to monitor progress, explore and develop good practice.
The presence of NQTs introduces exciting new opportunities for teaching and learning, and brings the latest educational and research ideas to Ashby School.
Simon McCarron said: "We are delighted that the school has continued to recruit the next generation of highly qualified classroom practitioners. We continue to support them in their quest to fulfil their potential as they embark on their careers in the classroom."
Teaching and Learning has become a significant part of our continued professional development programme which has at its core the desire to improve teaching and learning outcomes for all students.
We believe, and our work has shown, that securing success for every child is best achieved through professionals working together on real issues of teaching and learning that matter and ultimately make a difference to the students they teach. Through meaningful, focused and sustained collaboration and enquiry, professionals can learn from each other, generate new knowledge and change practice in the classroom, where it matters most.
The most powerful form of professional learning we have is where teachers work together, share ideas about practice and challenge each other to push the boundaries of their thinking. This is not about best practice but rather effective practice.
We are proud of the work undertaken in preparation to implement the new linear qualifications at both KS4 and KS5. All faculty areas attended exam board courses to ensure we had the knowledge and understanding of the new requirements. We worked collaboratively to ensure courses were developed to embed mastery, recognising that exams now require students not only to possess the knowledge but also the reasoning and the ability to apply the appropriate skills learnt throughout the courses.
This progress was evident in the first outcomes achieved for courses at Ashby and should create lifelong learners. We work hard to establish expert teaching within our classrooms. We have recently reevaluated and developed new feedback policies with a focus that students will receive feedback every lesson, recognising that 'feedback causes thinking'.
We understand that marking provides a valuable opportunity for written feedback but is not the only method. As such, it should be meaningful, manageable and motivating. We have ensured that students are aware of their responsibility within the teaching and learning process and can recognise and respond to feedback.
Our Feedback policy can be accessed here.
The realisation of the Learning Hub has allowed the teachers of Ashby School to have a place to explore and develop teaching and learning: to be professionals.
The environment has empowered teachers to undertake creative and purposeful planning. It is a place where teachers can take considered risks, explore potential and develop their theory and practice.
All subject areas are involved and the hub is booked continually for lessons and training. We are extremely proud that our research into learning spaces and embedded use of technology within teaching and learning has provoked interest and involvement from other schools across the country.
