In September 2021, we began our teaching and learning focus on Rosenshine. This work provides a highly accessible bridge between research and classroom practice, and is used in many schools nationwide. Rosenshine’s initially created a list of 17 principles, that have since been refined into 10. These 10 can be further grouped into 4 categories that were the focus of our Professional Learning Groups in 2021/2022. As a school, we began by exploring how these principles can be used to support our high ability cohorts and how they can be used more effectively within individual subjects.

The four strands that we explored were grouped into the following 4 areas:

• Sequencing Concepts & Modelling

  Effective teachers recognise that we need to break down new concepts and procedures in order to support deeper understanding. This is natural within certain areas such as dance, where we may learn the first two moves before adding more to the overall piece. Within classrooms, modelling can be used to demonstrate to students how to complete a piece of work, for example, when teaching a maths problem, the teacher may narrate the thought process they would go through. Scaffolding through the use of exemplar material or writing frames may also be needed in the first instance in order to build students’ confidence. This PLG are exploring strategies that can support sequencing and modelling across different subjects to ensure that students develop a full understanding of a topic, can apply their knowledge to different scenarios, and are able to work independently in the future.

• Questioning

  

  We know that effective questioning is extremely beneficial to both students and teachers. Effective questioning supports students with gaining a deeper understanding of the material they are processing. Alongside this, it allows the teacher to assess for understanding, provide feedback, and address any misconceptions. Rosenshine advocates teachers asking more questions to more students, probing in greater depth, and taking more time to check for understanding. This PLG are reflecting on the types of questions we ask and also how we ask them. Considering our questioning as part of the planning process for a lesson will allow us to be even more effective in the classroom.

• Reviewing Material

  We know that without regular use of information in our memory, we find it increasingly difficult to recall it. It is important that we build regular reviewing and retrieval practice into our teaching to support students with remembering information in the long-term. Whilst we may start our lessons by recapping what was covered previously, we also need to build in opportunities to review what was taught last week, last month, and even last year. It is also important that we vary the format of this retrieval practice to keep students engaged and continue to develop their understanding that can then be further built upon in the future. Within the PLG for reviewing material, teachers are considering how they currently review material and if they can make any changes to support students with quicker and more effective recall of information.

• Stages of Practice

  In order to excel at something, you have to regularly practice it. Learning to play a musical instrument is a perfect example of this; for the vast majority of people it would require regular and dedicated practice time in order to be able to play well. This applies within the classroom too; students need the time to practice applying their knowledge or implementing a skill, and this practice needs to be guided to ensure any misconceptions are addressed. Over time, this will build fluency with material, along with increasing students’ confidence and their ability to work independently. The outcomes from this practice all allow the teacher to recognise if any ‘re-teaching’ needs to occur in order to support students further, or indeed if they are ready to move on to be challenged further. This PLG is reflecting on how we ensure our lessons enable students to sufficiently practice new knowledge and understanding, and how this allows them to take their learning further when new material is introduced.

This academic year, we have built on this work further and are looking at how the strategies we have learnt about can be used in the following four areas:

1. Developing student autonomy
2. Delivering effective feedback
3. Meeting individual student needs
4. Extension of learning (e.g. homework and revision)