Week 7: Foundation Lesson

Self-Study Tasks

Collectively, plan a PE session that is inclusive and develops children's physical literacy. Use the Edge Hill Primary Principles of Planning to support you.

Given what you have learned so far, what are your Professional Practice targets for next time?

• Set high expectations to challenge pupils’ learning. Think about the ability of your children and the steps, however small, they need to achieve to make progress.

• To establish children’s resilience with regards to independent learning – ensuring the children know it is ok to make mistakes; it is all part of learning.

• To actively promote engaging and effective methods that support pupils in reflecting on their learning.

• To be able to contribute to curriculum planning and developing and producing effective learning resources within a placement setting.

• Get to grips with the expected standard (for your year group) in all the subjects for a baseline of the ability your children should be at – obviously you will have different abilities, but it’s a starting point.

• Continue to develop your own subject knowledge in all areas and subjects. Use other more experienced teachers to ask questions as they’re always there to help.

• To put into practise, the use of assessment for learning and methods that can be implemented within the classroom e.g. questioning / observation / marking books to inform future planning.

• Do lots of internal assessments with other teachers you work with or in different year groups, and have discussions afterwards to talk about your opinions. This will develop your confidence in assessing work.

• Always evaluate your work and lessons. It can be reflective time mentally, or write down some notes of what did and didn’t work and how to progress from there.

• To be involved in the wider school life and community events.

Reflect on the feedback from the school after your lesson has been delivered. What have you learned that you will put into practice in the future?

Mentor-Led Discussion

Feedback to the trainees after the Foundation lesson has been delivered to allow them to assess the quality of their plans.

Feedback to the trainees about the PE plan and whether it is inclusive and is likely to develop children's physical literacy.

Questions:

Read OfSTED's "Eliminating Unnecessary Workload Around Marking" document. Answer the questions below.

1. According to OfSTED, what is ineffective marking?

• It usually involves an excessive reliance on the labour intensive practices under our definition of deep marking, such as extensive written comments in different colour pens, or the indication of when verbal feedback has been given by adding ‘VF’ on a pupil’s work.

• It can be disjointed from the learning process, failing to help pupils improve their understanding. This can be because work is set and marked to a false timetable, and based on a policy of following a mechanistic timetable, rather than responding to pupils’ needs.

• It can be dispiriting, for both teacher and pupil, by failing to encourage and engender motivation and resilience.

• It can be unmanageable for teachers, and teachers forced to mark work late at night and at weekends are unlikely to operate effectively in the classroom.

2. What are the 3 principles of effective marking?

• Meaningful: marking varies by age group, subject, and what works best for the pupil and teacher in relation to any particular piece of work. Teachers are encouraged to adjust their approach as necessary and trusted to incorporate the outcomes into subsequent planning and teaching.

• Manageable: marking practice is proportionate and considers the frequency and complexity of written feedback, as well as the cost and time-effectiveness of marking in relation to the overall workload of teachers. This is written into any assessment policy.

• Motivating: Marking should help to motivate pupils to progress. This does not mean always writing in-depth comments or being universally positive: sometimes short, challenging comments or oral feedback are more effective. If the teacher is doing more work than their pupils, this can become a disincentive for pupils to accept challenges and take responsibility for improving their work.

3. With regard to marking, what do OfSTED not expect to see?

Ofsted does not expect to see a particular frequency or quantity of work in pupils’ books or folders. Ofsted recognises that the amount of work in books and folders will depend on the subject being studied and the age and ability of the pupils. Ofsted recognises that marking and feedback to pupils, both written and oral, are important aspects of assessment. However, Ofsted does not expect to see any specific frequency, type or volume of marking and feedback; these are for the school to decide through its assessment policy. Marking and feedback should be consistent with that policy, which may cater for different subjects and different age groups of pupils in different ways, in order to be effective and efficient in promoting learning.

While inspectors will consider how written and oral feedback is used to promote learning, Ofsted does not expect to see any written record of oral feedback provided to pupils by teachers. If it is necessary for inspectors to identify marking as an area for improvement for a school, they will pay careful attention to the way recommendations are written to ensure that these do not drive unnecessary workload for teachers.

References

• INDEPENDENT TEACHER WORKLOAD REVIEW GROUP, 2016, Eliminating unnecessary workload around marking [online]. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/511256/Eliminating-unnecessary-workload-around-marking.pdf [Accessed 8 March 2021].