Our aim as a school is inspiring, engaging teaching that is rooted in the best evidence-based practice.  We are proud that we prioritise the quality of our teaching above everything else and we are committed to a professional development programme that empowers creative and engaged colleagues.  As a school, we work within our established principles of what makes excellent practice and supplement this with professional autonomy, with the result of teachers who are proud to deliver the very best lessons they can and students who are supported to learn and flourish.

The AHS Learning Plan is used by teachers as a guide to plan relevant, purposeful and stimulating lessons. Teachers can be confident that if each of these elements is considered during planning, then the lesson or series of lessons will be more likely to actively engage students in their learning. By definition the cycle does not mean that each element is discrete or linear, rather it is intended to provide the basis for a strategic and cohesive sequence of activity that will enhance the students’ learning.

Our definition of learning

‘The primary goal of instruction should be to facilitate long-term learning – that is, to create relatively permanent changes in comprehension, understanding, and skills of the types that will support long-term retention and transfer’

Strategies and ideas that we use to support learning

Rosenshine – ‘The Principles of Instruction’

10 key principles of instruction:

1. Daily review
2. Present new information in small steps (across lessons and units)
3. Ask questions to all
4. Provide models
5. Guide student practice
6. Check student understanding
7. Obtain a high success rate
8. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks
9. Independent practice needs to be guided and modelled
10. Weekly and monthly review

17 instructional procedures from Rosenshine:

1. Begin a lesson with a review of previous learning (bell work)
2. Present new information in small steps with student practice after each step (new information)
3. Limit the amount of information they receive at one time (new information)
4. Give clear and detailed explanations (new information and clarify)
5. Ask a large number of questions and check for understanding (new information and clarify)
6. Provide a high level of active practice for all students (clarify understanding)
7. Guide students as they begin to practice (clarify understanding)
8. Think aloud and model steps (clarify understanding)
9. Provide models of worked out problems (apply)
10. Ask students to explain what they have learned (review)
11. Check responses of all students
12. Provide systematic feedback and corrections
13. Provide lots of examples
14. Re-teach information when necessary
15. Prepare students for independent practice
16. Monitor students when they begin independent practice

The AHS Learning plan has been mapped with each of these principles in mind.  Regular, whole-school CPD addresses each part of the AHS Learning Plan and looks at both the compelling evidence base for each stage and the research underpinning it, as well as giving practical examples for staff to incorporate into their teaching practice.