a john catt publication fieldbook … · references to assessment issues and rosenshine’s...
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THE LEARNING RAINFOREST
F I E L D B O O KTOM SHERRINGTONI L LU ST R AT I O N S BY O L I V E R C AV I G L I O L I
30 CASE STUDIES FROM THE UK AND AROUND THE WORLD
A JOHN CATT PUBLICATION
THE LEARNING RAINFOREST FIELDBOOK
St Columba’s College DUBLIN, IRELAND P.58
THE 30 FIELDBOOK SCHOOLS: MAP AND PAGE GUIDE
Saffron Walden County High School P.18
Turton School P.242
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Oldham College P.30 3
Kents Hill Park School P.364
Brune Park Community School P.42 5
Archbishop Tenison CE School P.48 6
St Matthias Primary P.54 7
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Portledge School LOCUST VALLEY, NEW YORK, USA P.62
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Nishkam High School P.68
13
Lebanon Evangelical School for Boys and Girls LEBANON P.7214
King Ecgbert School P.78
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Huntington School P.84
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Heathfield Community College P.90
Gordonstoun School P.96
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21 Cramlington Learning Village P.102
Chace Community School P.108
St Stithians College JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA P.114
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The Rise School P.11819
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London Academy P.124
St Andrew’s International School BANGKOK, THAILAND P.130
21 Penrice Academy P.136
Rectory Farm, NPAT P.140
Simon Senlis, NPAT P.142
MarketHill School P.148
Les Quennevais School P.154
St Joseph’s Primary School P.158
School 21 P.164
Parliament Hill School P.170
St Andrews High School P.176
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OLDHAM COLLEGE, OLDHAMMAP AND PAGE GUIDE
St Columba’s College DUBLIN, IRELAND P.58
THE 30 FIELDBOOK SCHOOLS: MAP AND PAGE GUIDE
Saffron Walden County High School P.18
Turton School P.242
1
Oldham College P.30 3
Kents Hill Park School P.364
Brune Park Community School P.42 5
Archbishop Tenison CE School P.48 6
St Matthias Primary P.54 7
10
Portledge School LOCUST VALLEY, NEW YORK, USA P.62
12
Nishkam High School P.68
13
Lebanon Evangelical School for Boys and Girls LEBANON P.7214
King Ecgbert School P.78
15
Huntington School P.84
16
Heathfield Community College P.90
Gordonstoun School P.96
21
18
11
9
8
9
11
18
21 Cramlington Learning Village P.102
Chace Community School P.108
St Stithians College JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA P.114
18
The Rise School P.11819
17
20
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
London Academy P.124
St Andrew’s International School BANGKOK, THAILAND P.130
21 Penrice Academy P.136
Rectory Farm, NPAT P.140
Simon Senlis, NPAT P.142
MarketHill School P.148
Les Quennevais School P.154
St Joseph’s Primary School P.158
School 21 P.164
Parliament Hill School P.170
St Andrews High School P.176
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8
11
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2 3
4
5
10
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THE LEARNING RAINFOREST FIELDBOOK
I first met James Pilgrim, Headteacher at Kents Hill Park, when I delivered some training for his previous school where he was Deputy. I was thrilled when he then contacted me to tell me the great news that he’d landed a job as the Head of a brand new school in Milton Keynes, opening with a Year 3 and a Year 7 in 2018, growing into a full through-school over the next five years. Later, I was honoured to be invited to provide some input for James’ staff development and to give him an outside perspective on the standards they were setting early on.
I will always remember visiting the new school building in the summer before the school opened – fully finished but empty, except for James! At that stage it felt like anything was possible – the school buildings symbolising the blank slate. It’s both incredibly exciting and daunting as I know from my own involvement with setting up a new school in 1999.
From the beginning, James was committed to the idea of a knowledge-rich curriculum and early on established the school motto: Confident, Independent, Forward-thinking. I passed him a copy of The Learning Rainforest because I felt it might chime with some of his thinking – and as the case studies show, I think there is a strong resonance.
Whilst setting out with ambitious goals, James isn’t someone to impose his ideas rigidly from on high and was determined that the first year was one of team-building, giving the first teacher recruits time to bond and to make their mark by designing their own areas of the curriculum. This has been a superb process to see in action; Katy, Susanne, Mark and Emily capture the spirit of it very well. Their willingness to reflect, learn adapt and change at this crucial early stage has been impressive. There are multiple references to assessment issues and Rosenshine’s principles and it’s attending to these details alongside the collective desire to
set-up a strong, rich curriculum with multiple experiences that has been so interesting.
I was curious to learn that the school’s logo was designed by two members of their Academy Trust based on a locally famous sculpture of a boy and girl by Robert Koenig. The lines now also represent threads in the curriculum.
KENTS HILL PARK SCHOOL, MILTON KEYNES
Location: Milton Keynes, UK
Type of Institution: All-through mixed comprehensive
Age Range: Eventually 2–18, presently Year 7 & Year 3
Year Founded: 2018
Motto: ‘Confident, Independent, Forward-thinking’
Recent significant sports event/triumph: Our first ever trophy won by the Y7 boys football team
Notable quirks/alumni: No-one has ever said ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’!
It genuinely is a pleasure to come to work each day and help create something that will be here long after the first set of pupils and staff have passed through our doors. If someone had said to me that I would get the opportunity to set up my own school and shape it with the very best educational thought, I wouldn’t have believed them. It is hugely rewarding, but made great fun by the team I have with me.JAMES PILGRIM HEADTEACHER
James Pilgrim Headteacher
PROFILE
We are very much at the plantation stage, but taking the very best bits of the rainforest to grow and develop an exceptional environment for learning. We are fortunate that we can grow from the ground up, taking only one secondary and one primary year group each year until we are full. This gives us the luxury of time and the opportunity to plan whole-scale and long term. Whilst keeping a view of ultimate outcomes, we have focused entirely on KS3 and built our CPD around the curriculum plans.
Using Christine Counsell’s ideas around core and hinterland knowledge, we have mapped in detail, down to the week, exactly what we expect every pupil to know at every stage of KS3. We have looked at how these topics and knowledge content flow throughout the years and forms to give a coherent, structured approach to the knowledge required for the curriculum.
INTRODUCTION
The first Year 3s and Year 7s have had a wonderful first year, blazing the trail, and it will be fascinating to see how the school grows.
KENTS HILL PARK SCHOOL, MILTON KEYNES
We have also looked at which key figures, books, art, music, literature, visits etc. we are teaching so that we can be precise in our rationale and thinking around our curriculum.
All of this has required considerable time and has been mapped in our CPD programme. We run short, regular CPD sessions and a good proportion of this time has been given to staff to work collaboratively across the subjects and curriculum. This has seen some superb and intelligent conversations around our curriculum intent, and some robust discussion. It has taught us as much about each other as it has about curriculum, and made us an even tighter group of staff, clear in our purpose.
Knowledge organisers and topic booklets to further support the pupils; we have trialled lead lessons to the whole year group, and DEAR time is now a fully embedded part of our routine. We have seen clear impact on the quality of discussion and the level of work produced, and the pupils’ vocabulary is developing well as they are focused with more challenging texts and higher expectations.
As a new school, the ethos, expectations and attitudes embedded within the school have been a key aspect of our work. Although the curriculum is very much part of our long term strategic direction, our behaviour and expectations are key to being successful now and setting clear boundaries for how we perform in the future. Centralising as much of this as possible has been an important driver, and ensuring a collective responsibility for behaviour and ethos has been incredibly important to allow staff to get on with what they do best without distraction.
In planning for future years we are looking at how we can further synchronise our primary and secondary phases. We very much feel as though we are one school, but there is more to be done around the curriculum, timetabling and developing staff skills through all phases.
Our pedagogy at every stage is based on Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, but we also refer greatly to Tharby and Allison’s ‘Making Every Lesson Count’1. These are reflected in our routines and evaluations of the quality and impact of teaching, and woven through our curriculum plans.
As we write this we are also consulting with stakeholders around extending the school day to include a ‘prep’ session at the end of the day. In this time homework would be completed and support and intervention groups would run. We think that it would have a significant positive impact on all pupils, but particularly at the low and high ability range.
The school that will be here in five years’ time will, I imagine be very different from the one that we have just started. What won’t be different, however, will be the ethos and vision of excellence that we have created and the positive impact we are already having on our community.
PROFILE
Age and Year Group: 12, Year 7
Most recent:School Trip: Big Bang Fair, BirminghamExtra-curricular activity: Football 1st TeamScience experiment: Energy/Forces – series of mini experimentsBook studied in English: The Invisible Man, HG WellsHistory topic: The TudorsArts project: Replicating van Gogh
Learning:Subjects Studied: All KS3 subjectsRecent learning highlight: In English I learnt about structure. We used the image of a building to think about the different layers and structures to help consolidate our understanding. It really stuck.The most stand-out/interesting/challenging topic you’ve studied at school: I enjoyed studying/learning about science because it always keeps me engaged and I love the experiments. They really bring our knowledge and learning to life.One of my favourite teachers: I enjoy lessons with Mrs Sewell who teaches me Science because there are so many cool facts in science about the world that we live in.A favourite feature of the school: Here at Kents Hill Park, I believe the staff have really been able to motivate the students and help them through this first year. I have been able to learn in an amazing environment and with this knowledge rich curriculum I think that students will really be able to do very well in the future exams and the real world.
STUDENT: SARAN
1. Allison, S and Tharby, A. 2015.
Age and Year Group: 12, Year 7
Most recent:School Trip: Body Works exhibition in LondonExtra-curricular activity: CricketScience experiment: ForcesBook studied in English: The Invisible ManHistory topic: The TudorsArts project: African Masks
Learning:Subjects Studied: All KS3 subjectsRecent learning highlight: The Big Bang Fair in Birmingham was amazing. It was such a good way to get involved in Science and how it relates to our world around us. It was so inspiring.The most stand-out/interesting/challenging topic you’ve studied at school: I enjoyed studying/learning about forces in Science because it’s really challenging and interesting. In fact, it’s mind-blowing to know all these things are going on around us and we can’t even see them.One of my favourite teachers: I enjoy lessons with Miss Riley who teaches me English because she makes the lessons really interesting and challenging, but in a fun way, and we get to look at literature that we wouldn’t normally do. I love reading, so DEAR time is also really fascinating.A favourite feature of the school: Our knowledge-rich curriculum is absolutely great in helping me remember my key knowledge. The knowledge organisers are also really helpful and regular quick-fire quizzes help us to remember the important subject knowledge. It is a great way to challenge our thinking and help us to identify what we still need to work on.
STUDENT: KAI
THE LEARNING RAINFOREST FIELDBOOK
It is a great way to challenge our thinking and help us to identify what we still need to work on.KAI
Age and Year Group: 12, Year 7
Most recent:School Trip: The Big Bang FairExtra-curricular activity: Art Club, Code Club, Tennis ClubScience experiment: Setting methane bubbles alightBook studied in English: The Invisible Man, WonderHistory topic: The TudorsArts project: Whole school art project (style of Jackson Pollock)
Learning:Subjects Studied: All KS3 subjectsRecent learning highlight: I liked the lead history lesson to the whole year group in the hall as it was interactive and prepared us for similar lectures in the future.The most stand-out/interesting/challenging topic you’ve studied at school: I enjoyed learning about the book ‘Wonder’ because it was extremely interesting and well written. One of my favourite teachers: Senora Holland – Spanish – because she makes me smile.A favourite feature of the school: My favourite place is the library because it is well equipped and a place where you can relax and escape into other worlds through a wide range of books. I love reading and we get the opportunity to read far more than I have experienced before. It’s brilliant.
STUDENT: ALINA
A place where you can relax and escape into other worlds.ALINA
I have been able to learn in an amazing environment.SARAN
General Area: Curriculum Design
Author: Katy Tough, Assistant Headteacher, Primary Lead
Having the opportunity to create a unique knowledge-rich primary curriculum that suits the needs of our brand new, ever-evolving community, has been extremely fulfilling.
The structure of our planning has been influenced by Christine Counsell’s ‘Core and Hinterland’ model, mirroring that of the Secondary School. Rather than planning lessons by thinking of activities first, ‘core knowledge’ and the ‘hinterland’ are now carefully considered, identifying what the children need to know and what will support them to learn it. This is a significant change to how I planned previously and has made the planning process more rigorous, structured and gives greater clarity for expected outcomes. Knowledge organisers have further supported my change in planning style. They have been gradually introduced through the year in History and Geography and are having a positive impact on the children’s knowledge retention and recall. I have found the organisers to act as a scaffold for all abilities, enabling those who are developing their long-term memory retention to recall facts with improved confidence as well as acting as a platform to challenge the more able pupils through deeper questioning.
A high quality text lies at the heart of every topic and creates the framework in which purposely chosen core knowledge sits. A wide range of texts, both fiction and non-fiction, have been chosen to widen the children’s experience of literature, provoking questions and inspiring thinking and creativity. As the children progress through each topic, and the academic year, intentional links are made between lessons and topics to enable schema to develop and embed.
Taught lessons are, of course, essential but so is knowledge delivered by those who have experienced events first hand. From mountaineers to World War Two evacuees, visitors provide the children with vital hinterland knowledge to ever strengthen schemata.
Barak Rosenshine’s ‘Principles of Instruction’ lay at the centre of our teaching approach. Repetition, practice and daily review are threaded into our daily routines to create ever-connecting schemata and embed key information into pupils’ long-term memories. I have begun to use a larger proportion of lesson time ‘lecturing, demonstrating and asking questions’ rather than giving a longer time for task completion. This has led to increasingly in-depth discussions between the class as a whole, developing the children’s concentration and conversation skills. Furthermore, we have largely focused on ‘asking and answering questions like a scholar’ whereby we expect the children to speak in full sentences, using key terminology with accuracy. After the use of heavy modelling and scaffolds, such as sentence starters to link ideas and generate questions, the children are now far more confident to respond to their teachers as well as their peers.
CASE STUDY: HOW WE HAVE DEVELOPED KNOWLEDGE IN THE PRIMARY SETTING
KENTS HILL PARK SCHOOL, MILTON KEYNES
General Area: Teaching and Learning/Curriculum Design
Author: Susanne Riley, Head of English
We ask our pupils to retain and retrieve vast amounts of knowledge daily; DEAR time (Drop Everything and Read) further aids with this process and the rate of pupil progress. Across all curriculum areas, we are keen to develop the pupils’ use of vocabulary moving from tier one to tier two; increasing their use and understanding of high frequency vocabulary. Pupils find an increased need to use not only tier two vocabulary, but to delve into the use of tier three vocabulary when accessing particular topics and subjects. DEAR time will make a huge difference in normalising the type of vocabulary we aspire for our pupils to use with ease.
The decision to implement DEAR time at Kents Hill Park School came following a visit to Bedford Free School. DEAR time is used to encourage pupils to dedicate time to reading for pleasure, whilst developing an ability to read challenging texts; something that as teachers we strive to instil in our classes. Through the scheme, pupils are exposed to texts they may never have otherwise been able to access. DEAR time develops confidence in our pupils, encourages independence in their reading and asks them to be forward-thinking; keeping up with the book and thinking about what may happen next.
Our pupils have all had to buy-in to DEAR time and it has become embedded in their daily routine. Pupils, as a class, read a text, out loud and together during DEAR time; three times a week. These texts vary in genre and also complexity of language. The selection of texts covers the ‘classics’, whilst also including some modern novels that have sparked the interest of the pupils. Our text choices, create links to the PSHE curriculum, providing contextual
information on historical and current issues/problems we as a society face today.
Staff are undoubtedly playing a vital role in its delivery and impact. Staff facilitate the sessions and help provide an environment in which pupils feel they are able to read with confidence. Modelling, by staff, of how reading should be done, begins each DEAR session; followed by the reading from the pupils. Individuals are selected to read out loud to the rest of the class. There is a driving focus on the pupils tracking the text as it is read, ensuring they can ‘take over’ when it is their turn. Delivery of the text, when read, is another element that requires focus when DEAR is being delivered. Mistakes in pronunciation and delivery are corrected and repeated by the pupils before they read on, creating a supportive nature in the lessons and between peers. When taking part in DEAR time, pupils are working on the fluency of their reading, as well as understanding how to use pace and expression to bring the text to life. DEAR happens in all subjects, from English through to PE. Reading has quickly become part of our ethos.
At this relatively early stage, pupils have engaged well with the implementation of DEAR time. It has seen all pupils engaged in compulsory reading for one hour a week. Confidence in those who would never volunteer to read out loud has increased, with some of our most reluctant pupils volunteering to read first. This has only been further highlighted through the success of our ‘Pop-up Reading Café’, which was implemented as part of World Book Day. Pupils who initially were disengaged with reading are now far more engaged and we see them choosing reading in their own personal time.
CASE STUDY: HOW INTRODUCING DEAR TIME HAS SUPPORTED LEARNING
Title: The Use of Knowledge Organisers in Maths and Humanities
General Area: Curriculum Design/ Assessment
Authors: Emily Yates, Head of Maths, and Ellie Horton, Head of Humanities
Our knowledge organisers are given to pupils in each subject each half term. They provide facts, figures, vocabulary and content that will be covered that term. In skills subjects such as maths it includes more methods, rules and routines, showing examples of how to apply them.
Within the humanities subjects, pupils are expected to bring knowledge organisers to lessons as part of their equipment, as they are used as an extra resource to support their learning. As pupils progress through the course they are encouraged to acknowledge which part of the organiser they are working on and retrieve relevant information from it. Weekly homework is revision based on the knowledge organiser with pupils being given a specific section to revise which is then tested with small, in class topic tests. Pupils are expected to achieve a score of at least 70% as a minimum. As a result of this the expectation of pupils to have a deeper understanding of the content is higher than I would have previously had.
Within maths pupils are given the knowledge organisers at the end of a topic to summarise everything that has been learnt and give pupils simplified methods and routines to answer different question types. Examples are included to show how these can be applied, with some specifically chosen to highlight common misconceptions. The knowledge organisers can then be used by the pupils to revise for end of topic and end of term tests. In maths lessons where new skills are being introduced, there is a heavy focus on teaching the mathematical understanding; the knowledge organiser provides reminders of the rules once these have been understood.
Link to Learning Rainforest:• Curriculum /knowledge
• Assessment
• Building the knowledge structure
CASE STUDY: THE USE OF KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS
THE LEARNING RAINFOREST FIELDBOOK
General Area: Curriculum Design/Assessment
Author: Mark McGarvie, Assistant Headteacher, Curriculum and Standards
Initially to measure attainment, we established a tier-based system. Teachers would derive a judgment on pupil attainment from class tests and classwork. This was then assessed against subject criteria and a tier judgement was then made for each pupil.
Teachers were also asked to make judgements on attitude towards learning, homework, behaviour and progress.
We realised that the assessment system we had established did not tell us the information we wanted about pupil progress. Attainment judgments were difficult to track as they were subjective and did not identify clear gaps in knowledge and understanding. Its intended audience, pupils, parents/carers and teachers found it difficult to understand the context of the data. Teacher judgements on attitude to learning, behaviour and homework were being made after the fact and action needed to be more proactive using live data. We redesigned the whole of our assessment strategy and how it linked to our knowledge rich curriculum. We researched other models and invited contributions from staff.
We identified our key principles:
• Ensure there is a clear reason for the data we collect.
• Ensure we use the data effectively to impact on pupil progress.
• Impact of data collection on staff workload and keep collection of data to a minimum.
We introduced an assessment system across all subjects focusing on two specific approaches which linked into our knowledge-based curriculum.
Short term recall – This focused on providing teachers and pupils with individual information to address gaps in knowledge and misconceptions at a classroom level. High frequency low stakes topic tests are used in class and for homework to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding.
Longer term retention of knowledge – Mid and end of year exams which are standardised across each subject area. These are used to report to parents.
Teachers enter one active assessment piece of data per pupil following an assessed piece of work/test. The data is a ‘real’ standardised score (%) not a subjective judgment. The assessment score will be compared electronically against the pupil’s indicative outcome to determine progress at each point. Live information is being recorded using ICT systems which identify patterns and trends in pupil attitude towards learning, homework, behaviours, punctuality and attendance. All of this is centralised and auto-generated.
Whilst we still have much work to do, we now believe that we are in a strong position to identify gaps in pupil knowledge and support pupil progress. Linking the assessment of pupil attainment and progress to our knowledge-based curriculum provides real actionable data to support pupils in a proactive and effective manner.
CASE STUDY: HOW ASSESSMENT SUPPORTS THE KNOWLEDGE CURRICULUM
We realised that the assessment system we had established did not tell us the information we wanted about pupil progress.MARK MCGARVIE ASSISTANT HEADTEACHER, CURRICULUM AND STANDARDS
In maths lessons where new skills are being introduced, there is a heavy focus on teaching the mathematical understanding; the knowledge organiser provides reminders of the rules once these have been understood. EMILY YATES HEAD OF MATHS AND ELLIE HORTON HEAD OF HUMANITIES
The Kents Hill Park School journey links to several core ideas in The Learning Rainforest:
• The plantation/rainforest analogy – our school culture.
• Curriculum/knowledge
• Assessment
• Establishing the conditions
• Building the knowledge structure
• Exploring possibilities
Rather than planning lessons by thinking of activities first, ‘core knowledge’ and the ‘hinterland’ are now carefully considered, identifying what the children need to know and what will support them to learn it.KATY TOUGH ASSISTANT HEADTEACHER, PRIMARY LEAD
£16
Tom Sherrington’s 2017 book The Learning Rainforest won rave reviews for its brilliant weaving of research evidence into a powerful vision of how education can transform lives, even in the most challenging settings. In this follow-up book, Tom explores how these ideas take shape in the real world of education, referencing the journeys that a range of schools and colleges have been on in recent years.
15% of revenue from the sales of The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook will go to St Stithians Thandulwazi Maths and Science programme, created in 2005 to improve the quality of Maths and Science teaching and learning in public high schools. The money raised will have a direct impact on the education of a great many children in Johannesburg.
I love teaching; I love being a teacher; I love working in schools. It’s the relationship between a love of teaching and the quest for great teaching that informs a lot of what I hope to convey through the idea of the Learning Rainforest.
By the end of this year I will have visited well over 200 schools, travelled to the many corners of the UK and the Channel Islands, and delivered training in 20 countries. It’s been an incredible experience. I feel that I have been on a global adventure – I’ve seen the Learning Rainforest made real.
THE LEARNING RAINFOREST
F I E L D B O O K